325 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
325 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
Chaos Corner v01n01 25jun91
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A Beginning? or is it An Introduction?
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This is the first in what is hopefully a series of reports on random
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and (in my opinion) interesting things I have come across recently
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that might be of interest to some of you. Since I spend a lot of my
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time (when not in meetings) reading about or banging on new things, I
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think it is important to pass along what I might have discovered.
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Future topics will probably include such things as file transfer
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software, compression utilities, graphics viewers, and whatever else
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strikes my fancy. Comments, criticisms, and contributions can all be
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directed to rdc@cornella.cit.cornell.edu.
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One of the first resources that I am going to be pushing is the
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network (Internet and BITNET) and the community currently using the
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network to discuss almost any topic you might imagine (yes ... that
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one too!). There are three major information transports: file
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transfer, network news, and mailing lists.
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FTP
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The most direct transport in terms of your actions is "anonymous FTP"
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(where FTP means File Transfer Protocol). A large number of sites
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maintain archives of computer software, graphical images, inane
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discussions, and it is available to anyone with network access. The
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standard list of "known" sites that make files available to anyone
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across the network (anonymously) is normally accessible from a machine
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named pilot.njin.net in the directory "/pub/ftp-list" in the file
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"ftp.list". In case you want to try out getting the list, I have put a
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copy of the June 24 list on pelican, the RS/6000 in my office. To get
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the list for yourself enter:
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ftp pelican.cit.cornell.edu
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anonymous
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(in response to request for userid)
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<userid>@<machine>
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(in response to request for password --
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I would enter rdc@cornella)
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cd pub
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("change directory" to the "pub" directory)
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get ftp.list
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(retrieve the ftp list. In CMS the
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file will be named FTP LIST)
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quit
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(end the FTP session)
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The file is about 3200 lines long (a little over 160 Kbytes), so you
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may want to be sure you have enough disk space to hold it. Remember,
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when transferring compressed or executable files enter the "binary"
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command before issuing the "get" command. If you want to list the
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files available, use the "dir" command; use "cd <directory name>" to
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move down in the directory tree, and "cd .." to move up one level in
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the directory tree.
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Network News
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Network News is a set of more or less formal discussion groups on any
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number of topics (racism, fitness, french culture, movie reviews,
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etc.). The more formalized discussion groups are moderated which
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helps to remove a lot of redundant questions and answers. Since some
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people want to see the "raw data" there are sometimes unmoderated
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versions of the moderated newsgroups. Some number of the newsgroups
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also exist as mail lists (see below) or carry postings from mail lists
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in the newsgroup. If you want more information about getting access
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to Network News you will need to ask around and/or get a userid on
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Vax5.
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Mail Lists
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The easiest way to get involved in network discussions is through mail
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lists. There are both Internet mail lists and BITNET mail lists ...
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sometimes there is a connection between these for the same group and
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sometimes there isn t. For more information on BITNET mail lists that
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are currently available, from CMS enter the following command:
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tell listserv at suvm list global
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and from Unix or other systems send mail to listserv@vm1.nodak.edu
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where the text in the mail file consists of "list global". For CMS,
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the file LISTSERV LISTS is returned to your reader in Card Dump format
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(use the CARD LOAD command to read it in), for requests via mail, the
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response is returned as a mail file. If you see a list you want to
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subscribe to, just "tell" or send mail to a listserv "subscribe
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<name-of-list> <your-name>". If I wanted to join the Macintosh News
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and Information list I would enter (from the CMS userid where I wished
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to receive the discussion list mail files):
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tell listserv at yalevm subscribe mac-l Bob Cowles
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and I would shortly receive messages back that my subscription had
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been accepted. Alternatively, I could have sent mail to the listserv
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that consisted of the line "subscribe mac-l Bob Cowles".
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Internet Interest Groups and Mailing lists
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The Internet Interest Groups "List of lists" is available via
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anonymous FTP from ftp.nisc.sri.com in the file
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netinfo/interest-groups . The file is over 500,000 bytes long at this
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time. To get the file in smaller pieces via electronic mail send mail
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to mail-server@nisc.sri.com with the following line in the body:
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Send netinfo/interest-groups
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Requests to be added or removed from a mail list should never be sent
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to the list itself. For listserv's you would "tell listserv at <site
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-- suvm probably will work> unsubscribe <list name>" and for Internet
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mail lists you send a mail file to <list
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name>-request@<internet-site-name> requesting the desired action.
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(Note the addition of "-request" to the name of the list.)
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Guided Tour of Internet for Mac Macintosh HyperCard
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As I write this, I am transferring a file from a computer at U. Mich
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that is a hypercard stack providing a guided tour of the Internet.
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The file internettour.sit.hqx is located in the "pub" directory on
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pelican.cit.cornell.edu. For a future issue, perhaps someone will be
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kind enough to explain what the "sit" and "hqx" suffixes mean. Any
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takers?
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What's going on?
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Bug reports available from vendors
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Borland bug reports for TC++ and BC++ are available via anonymous FTP
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from sun.soe.clarkson.edu in the directory pub/Turbo-C++/bug-report
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and the file is updated on the first of every month. I seem to recall
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seeing that there are Apple bug lists available on apple.com, but I'm
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not sure. For Microsoft bugs,the only thing I know about is available
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on CompuServe and that gets expensive fast (has anyone been touched by
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Microsoft's new outreach program? A kinder, gentler Microsoft --
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except to IBM!). Hmmm, I just looked on apple.com and didn't find
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anything but Unix stuff; I ll leave it as a puzzle until next time.
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Online PC Software
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Extensive collections of PC software are available online. The
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wuarchive.wustl.edu has copies of a number of PC archives (including
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Simtel, PC-BLUE, and the Usenet contributions in comp.binaries.ibm.pc)
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and I find I am more successful at getting software from the wuarchive
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than from Simtel. I used to spend long periods just trying to get
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connected to Simtel and not get bounced for too many anonymous users;
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then there was a good chance of the connection getting dropped
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somewhere between here and White Sands (yes, Simtel really is at the
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White Sands Missle Range) in the middle of a transfer. In addition,
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Simtel runs on an aging DecSystem 20 and there are some real strange
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incantations for getting transfers of binary files to work between
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that machine and an IBM system.
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Online Windows software
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For Windows3 applications the best place I ve found is
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cica.cica.indiana.edu. Look in the pub/pc/win3 directory. One of my
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favorite applications is QVTNET in file qvtnet16.zip in the directory
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pub/pc/win3/util. QVTNET runs under Windows 3 and allows you to
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telnet (vt100 emulation only, no 3270 emulation) and ftp right from
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within Windows. It comes with a special module that handles the
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interface between the Ethernet packet driver (you have to get that
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from Clarkson) and the Windows dispatcher so that packets don't get
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lost while you're writing something like this in WinWord. QVTNET also
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allows reading Network News (if you can find a systems administrator
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who will give you access) and runs FTP server software that allows me
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to move stuff between CornellA and my PS/2 at work when I am logged on
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from home. If you try an anonymous ftp to puffin.cit.cornell.edu, the
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software can be seen in action. The "world's largest BBS," Exec-PC in
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Milwaukee, has all of its files mirrored at ux1.cso.uiuc.edu.
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Weather, space and other images
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If you're looking for pretty pictures, ames.arc.nasa.gov has many
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space-related images including ones from the Voyager missions and
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current images being sent back from the Magellan mission to map Venus.
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Daily satellite weather photos showing that we still aren't going to
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get rain are available on vmd.cso.uiuc.edu (you will need to enter "cd
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phil.515"). To the south of us, vmtecmex.cem.itesm.mx (yes, it's in
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Mexico) has a lot of GIF image files but more importantly contains a
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list of known GIF file archive sites on the Internet (I have a copy of
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that file if you're interested). An alternative that I have seen
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mentioned is to ftp to nic.funet.fi (yes, it's in Finland) where GIF
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files are stored by subject. If you see a GIF file that you want,
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write down the name and then retrieve it from wuarchive.wustl.edu (it
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will probably be there) where they are stored alphabetically. Please
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try to find the GIF you want at a US site before using the
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international network links. Some warped minds spend time looking for
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X and R rated GIFs, but by NSF policy they are not allowed to be
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stored on a US site that is connected to the Internet. Of course,
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CompuServe (the source of the GIF image format) has an extensive
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library of images.
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Postscript viewer - Ghostscript
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If you have ever wanted to view a PostScript file on your PC screen,
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check out Ghostscript (available at Simtel or wuarchive among other
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places). The latest version is 2.2.1 and comes with support for EGA,
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VGA and Hercules displays and a number of fonts are also available (in
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additional files). Look for GS22.ZIP for the executable and
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GS22FNT*.ZIP for the fonts.
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Great Roads survey
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Taking a trip this summer? The alt.rec.auto newsgroup has been
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compiling a Great Roads Survey. The current list contains about 75
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roads in the US and can be found at ftp.vitalink.com in the
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pub/usenet/rec.motorcycles/Road-list file. You are also invited to
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send in your own nominations for your favorite roads to be added to
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the list. (I wonder if Cayuga Heights Road would qualify, it
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certainly has enough dips!)
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The COPS security package
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A package of programs that address areas of Unix security is
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available: the Computer Oracle and Password System (COPS). Version
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1.02 attempts to automate security tests that are often performed (or
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should be performed) by a Unix system administrator. The files are
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found at cert.sei.cmu.edu. Does anyone have experience with this
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package?
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Online library card catalogs
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A list and guide to the over 200 library systems that can be reached
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across the Internet is available at vaxb.acs.unt.edu in the library
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directory (in ASCII, PostScript, and WordPerfect 5.1 formats). FLASH!
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The catalog is now searchable on-line. To access the catalog TELNET
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to vax.sonoma.edu and enter LIBS to the prompt for a username. This
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will not work well from CMS, but other versions of TELNET that can
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emulate a VT100 terminal should be OK. The database search software
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is available for evaluation only; they want you to run it on your own
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VAX if you like it. I also have a crude PC Hypertext implementation
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of a database that allows you to wander through the listing of the
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library systems. Ask about it if you're interested.
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Archie
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Along the lines of interactive access to search software, if you are
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looking for something that might be available by anonymous FTP, try
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TELNETing to quiche.cs.mcgill.ca and logging on as "archie". There is
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extensive help available once you are on. This one even works OK from
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CMS, but is bettwe from a emulator that understands VT100 terminals.
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X Window System software
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For X Window System software, the place to look is export.lcs.mit.edu
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in the contrib directory. The compressed file x-source-list.Z is a
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growing catalog of the programs that are available (there is much more
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available than is in the catalog). One example of a program available
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is xmartin (in xmartin.tar.Z of the contrib directory) that allows a
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number of options for decorating the background of your X display
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(known as the root window). While I have no direct experience, there
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appear to be options to generate some of the fractal patterns that you
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can see in Clifford Pickover's new book published by St. Martin's
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Press titled Computers, Patterns, Chaos and Beauty (Graphics from an
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Unseen World). I met Pickover when I visited IBM Research at Yorktown
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Heights last November and got to glance through a copy of the book
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then; now I have my own copy.
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CD-ROM
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Radio Shack now has a CDR-1000 CD-ROM drive they are selling for $399
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that fits into a half-height slot and comes with an adaptor card that
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goes into a short 8-bit slot. According to Byte Magazine, the
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transfer rate is good (150 KB/sec) but the seek time is slow. Of
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course, there is a headphone jack on the front of the drive and audio
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output jacks on the back of the card if you really insist on playing
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music. I called the local dealer at Pyramid Mall and he told me that
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they are "order-only" items for right now, so don't expect to walk-in
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and carry one out with you. He promised to get back to me with
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information on the actual lead time to get a drive but I would imagine
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that the blurb in Byte (July issue) won't make it any better.
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Macintosh help for a small screen
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On the small Mac front (also from Byte Magazine) Technology Fusion,
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Inc. has a TotalVision product that goes into a 9-inch display Mac
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(Classic, SE, or Plus) and tricks it into thinking the screen is 1024
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x 1024 rather than 512 x 342. As the mouse cursor touches the edge of
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the screen, it pans across the virtual desktop at hardware speed.
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"Hardware flex" and "hardware zoom" modes are also available. I'm
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still trying to figure out if I should repair my Mac at home and get a
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hard disk. The diagonal lines that go across the display suggest that
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a "hardware zoom" from a height of about 6 feet might be the most
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cost- effective option.
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--------------------------------------------------
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Convertor from Fortran 77 to C
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Finally, for those of you who could never quite master the C
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programming language, help is here! At oak.oakland.edu you can get
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f2c-exe.zip from the pub/msdos/fortran directory and it will convert
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fortran 77 code into C (source is available too, if you want it for
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other than a Intel platform). The really neat thing is that if you
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have a C compiler, this effectively gives you a fortran 77 compiler
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for free!
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I'm amazed at how once I got started there seemed like no good place
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to stop. Let me know what kinds of things you find most interesting
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and what you really hate; that way I won't have to make up the letters
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in the questions and feedback section.
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Dr. Chaos (I have a Master's Degree)
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rdc@cornella.cit.cornell.edu
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