INFORMATION ABOUT THE INTERNET part 2 ///////////////////////////////////// Everybody's Guide to the Internet http://www.eff.org/pub/Net_info/Guidebooks/Everybodys_Guide/Updates/ Gopher to: gopher.eff.org select -> Net Info thewn select-> EFF's Guide to the Internet and finally select -> Updates FTP to: ftp.eff.org in the--> /pub/Net_info/Guidebooks/Everybodys_Guide/Updates A monthly newsletter which is sort of like a guide and sort of a primer and sort of different. Look in the "Everybody's_Guide" root directory before moving on to the updates. This is put out by the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) and is a very well written resource. Good stuff! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWW FAQ file http://sunsite.unc.edu/boutell/faq/index.html A set of answers to introductory World Wide Web questions. Well done! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet-On-A-Disk email to: samizdat@world.std.com Subject: Newsletter request Body: subscribe Internet-On-A-Disk your@address A newsletter on public domain electronic texts, books, government manuals, and other free sources of info and software. Includes pointers to various other free resources. This might be a good way for public schools to get needed info into the classroom at a great price (free). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- New on the Internet! email to: new.on.the.net@reply.net. Subject: None Body: nothing need be typed - the newest issue will automatically be emailed to you (as per the email address you sent the request from) An updated collection of various places to surf to on the 'net. Sometimes good and sometimes not so good - this is worth getting in any case. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NetSurfer Digest http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/index.html ftp://ftp.netsurf.com/pub/nsd/ or... email to: nsdigest-request@netsurf.com Body: subscribe nsdigest-html (for the HTML version) Body: subscribe nsdigest-text (for the plain text version) A fairly new offering that spans a wide range of Internet related topics and is not limited to Web issues or is WWW exclusive.and resources. Usually a fast read but its varied info and interests make it a worth while e-text to read and savor. Contains links/pointers to other resources and info. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Virtual Mirror http://mirror.wwa.com/mirror/ A solid and well done e-zine. OK - maybe it's not really an e-zine but it looks, feels and tastes like one. In any case, this is well worth the time to surf on over and check this publication out. Links, pointers and other relevant info (plus well written info) make this a cut above the normal and tired digital publication. Hey - the newness of digital pubs is over - it's time for some substance - and this VM delivers the goods! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEBNEWS http://twinbrook.cis.uab.edu:70/webNews.80 Another well-written if not erratic offering. You never really know quite what to expect but whatever it is - the info is always fresh and fun and usually informative as well. Who said learning new things wasn't fun? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Edge http://www.dorsai.org/~tristan A publication that is done by a private individual - this guy knows his net stuff. Really good info reeks all over this one and it is maintained and updated monthly. Check this one out and be prepared to love it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CyberSurfing http://werple.mira.net.au/~jromney/ Written by Jason Romney from Australia. Now that's Aussie for surfin' mate! Usually well done although the breadth and length of info is not always certain. Worth the surf over to check it out. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bits and Bytes Gopher to: gopher.dana.edu then select--> Electronic Journals FTP to: ftp.dana.edu look in the--> /periodic A decent publication but why do so many start to look alike? Even though the info in here is well described, useful and educational in nature, it seems that other online publications that deal with the 'net have much the same info as this one. Still... it is worth reading especially for the K-12 crowd. Nothing fancy and nothing threatening or perverse. A good safe source for kids, adults and public institutions (schools). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyberwire Dispatch http://cyberwerks.com Gopher to: cyberwerks.com A **** four star online blurb that is short, sweet and to the point. Sometimes irreverant and funny - sometimes informative and serious, it is always very good and doesn't take long to enjoy. Get this now! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Effector Gopher to: gopher.eff.org FTP to: ftp.eff.org This online publication is put out by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and always has good news about legal hilites, rulings and ramifications of online and/or digital activities. Read this regularly if you can. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOTWIRED http://www.hotwired.com The digital version of "Wired" magazine (hard-copy). It's erratic and when it's good it's very good but when it's bad it's very bad. I'm not sure what those guys over there do but the ups and downs of this e-zine are extreme. Perhaps the espresso machine has been on the blink lately... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet Monthly Report (IMR) FTP to: venera.isi.edu in the --> /in-notes/imr/imryymm.txt FTP to: nis.nsf.net in the --> /internet/newsletters/internet.monthly.report IMR announces the online accomplishments, milestones, and problems encountered by a variety of organizations and individuals in the Internet community. A huge (albeit informative) document. It is over 120K in size. Mac users - TeachText or SimpleText isn't going to handle this one... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- META Magazine ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/mlinksva/meta.html A good publication but is only available in HTML format. Of course there is a HTML-to-Text application out there for Mac users that cannot handle the HTML format. This utility application will strip the HTML codes out of a HTML document and leave the user with a plain text file. Look in sumex-aim (or mirrors) to get this HTML-To-Text application it is called "HTML Markdown" (Just thought I'd mention this application). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- WebSurf http://www.crl.com/~whisper/WEB1TOC.html The info in here is largely non-web in nature but this publication does offer some good advice on how to write web pages and other HTML tips. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nisus Publishing http://www.xmission.com/~gastown/nisus Nisus publishing offers info pages in both Swedish and English about services (writing, editing, translation, graphic design, HTML-tagging). Also some hints for avoiding anglicisms in Swedish, useful for those who frequentliy write in both English and Swedish. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MicroPatent Web Services http://www.micropat.com/ Patent Images are finally available on the internet. You can test drive MicroPatent's Web Services and view any front page back to 1975 free of charge. You can also search the full-text of this week's US issued patents or last week's issued patents. Then you can view those front pages by simply clicking a button. All the pages of all the patents back to 1975 will be available shortly. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FAQ: How can I use the Internet as a telephone? http://www.northcoast.com/~savetz/voice-faq.html FTP to: rtfm.mit.edu in the ---> /pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services/voice-faq * This is a DRAFT FAQ. This document is new and in transition. If you notice that software for doing speech over the Internet is missing from this list, or information herein needs updating, please send e-mail to savetz@northcoast.com * *** TABLE OF CONTENTS *** Can I use the Internet as a telephone? How does it work? What software is available? For the Mac For Windows For UNIX Legal Stuff *** CAN I USE THE INTERNET AS A TELEPHONE? Yes. In recent months, several programs have become available that will let you, equipped with the right computer hardware, an Internet connection, and special software, to "speak" in real-time (or almost-real time) over the Internet - in effect using the network like a telephone. Some of the programs available to do voice on the 'net is free, others are commercial. Many of these products are ready for prime time, but others are still very experimental. Besides the software, you will need an Internet connection (a 9600 BPS connection will work for some software; others require as much as 56KBPS. Most of the PC-based software works nicely with a 14.4KBPS modem.) Shell accounts aren't enough: you need real IP access (such as a SLIP or PPP connection.) You'll also need a pretty speedy computer. Although the exact specs vary from program to program, a Mac Classic or a PC XT generally won't do the trick. A Mac '040 or PC 486 (or faster) are preferred.Your computer will need a microphone and sound output capability. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finding Listserv lists via WWW http://tile.net/listserv/ A new WWW site for finding LISTSERV lists. It is part of the tile.net project and is growing at a rapid pace as new listserv sources are being added. It is a heirarchically organized index to LISTSERV lists, grouped by name, topic, settings, etc, with a free-text search ability (via the freewais-sf). ---------- Sub-topic "tile.net" Tile.net is available at: htpp://tile.net/ Tile.Net is a searchable index of information available to the Internet community. tile.net also has indices to all Usenet groups, FTP sites, and computer products vendors. A growing and well-done searchable resource! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fred - A Free SGML Translation Service http://www.oclc.org/fred/ Fred is an ongoing research project at the Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC) studying the manipulation of tagged text. Fred includes tools to translate tagged text (SGML) to other formats. Currently, OCLC uses Fred to translate from SGML to HTML, TeX (PostScript), and ASCII -- showing that one should markup text in rich SGML and translate it to other formats as the need arises. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet ASCII codecs and Picture utilities site http://infolane.com/pub/picutils/index.html ftp://infolane.com/pub/picutils/ This site has them all in one place. You get a web page, fully listing all the utils for multiple platforms. UUDecode, MPEG, JPEG, Binhex, the whole enchilada is here plus many links to applications and programs for viewing after decoding. A Usenet junkie's dream site. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- GVU'S WWW User Surveys http://www-survey.cc.gatech.edu/cgi-bin/Entry GVU WWW User survey is now on! Wake up the kids, call the neighbors, fire up the modem! Make your Web presence known through one of the most comprehensive, ongoing online surveys. Your participation is encouraged by both NCSA and the World-Wide Web Consortium (W3C). All the results and data from these surveys are freely available to the entire Web community. Fill out your entry today! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet Index of Information web page http://www.openmarket.com/info/internet-index/ Win Treese has made available a very fun and informative web page that has information on wild and wacky Internet statistics along with info about the Internet that could be seen as "standard fare". Do you know how many Web pages are now registered with the Lycos search engine? Do you know how many Norwegian Television stations are on the WWW? How about knowing the amount of new users registered to AOL in the last month? Get the idea? All this and more await you including links to past 'net info on this web page. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIDS (Matrix Information and Directory Services) http://www.tic.com/mids/midshome.html All kinds of Internet statistics are available here. This service lets you know how many users are connected to the net and to the web. It divides the users into three market/demographic categories. Core users, consumer users and matrix users (do varied things i.e. cross-overs). The service can be quite beneficial to people or businesses that want to look at the stats before "diving in". This page gives a sampling of the services. You will also find info and press releases concerning the Internet and new laws being passed relating to the core Internet structure and some links to other 'net-news related places. A shame that only a sampler is shown - but even the sampler page has lots of info and stats to peruse. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet Transition News http://www.ra.net/routing.arbiter/NSFNET/NSF.transition.html Colleges and other institutions that have been using the NSFNet were advised to find alternate feeds (which have turned out to be primarily MCI, Sprintnet, and ANS, which actually ran the NSFNet backbone as a joint effort between MCI and IBM and then had most of its operations sold to AOL a few months ago). The final stages have ocurred - some of you may have noted some instability in the Internet recently. On Apr-21-1995, the routing tables for NSFNet - essentially, the subway maps for packets on the Internet - were removed. Some problems occurred and part of the routing was re-established. Also, all the major backbone operators (Sprintlink, MCI, PSI, UUnet, Network99, etc.) have been upgrading and moving their equipment at the major Network Access Point (NAP) in Washington, D.C., causing more instability. On April-30-1995, NSFNet was turned off for good unless something unexpected happened that required some additional perpetuation for a few more days. This marks a major leap for the Internet is now an all commercial network. Even if you decide to count education and the government as non-commercial, their traffic is carried on backbones operated by commercial enterprises. This could have dire consequences in the future for the Internet and the Internet community for the situation could soon be appalling. The government has put commercial interests in the ubiquitous position of managing and maintaining (for the most part) the largest network in the world. Stay tuned... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft Library Home Page http://library.microsoft.com The new Microsoft Library Home Page, provides a resource for the public to get additional, general information about Microsoft not available on the corporation's main Home Page (http://www.microsoft.com), as well as provide a good starting point for computer related information. Lastly, the Library Home Page is a tool to make Internet exploration fun and useful for business research, and to avoid overwhelming new users in the ever expanding realm of Cyberspace. Primary customers for the Microsoft Library Home Page are Microsoft Library Researchers and employees. Content of the Home Page is clearly geared toward their information needs. However, the Home Page will also be of value to Libraries around the world and to the general public. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shareware Central Interactive (SCI) http://www.intac.com/~dversch/swc.html I would like to take this time to introduce you to a great new concept called the Shareware Central Interactive Catalog. Shareware Central is a place in cyberspace on the World Wide Web from which users may download shareware and make contact with the authors of these shareware programs, all via hypertext links by access via the WWW. Users can read *accurate* descriptions (written by the authors themselves) of each program, and will be made aware of the size of each program *before* downloading. Authors who wish to see their products listed in the Shareware Central Interactive Catalog should visit the catalog to submit their entries. There is never a charge for downloading, and at this time there is no charge to authors for submitting entries. The Shareware Central Interactive Catalog was conceived and created by Q&D Software Development. I hope this stays "free" to users. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Accessing the Internet by email - FAQ by Dr. Bob Rankin. Send email to: MAILBASE@mailbase.ac.uk - the email body text must contain a one line message with the following: send lis-iis e-access-inet.txt or... FTP to: mailbase.ac.uk/lists/lis-iis/files/e-access-inet.txt --------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to set-up an anonymous emailaccount and newsgroup posting account email to: help@anon.penet.fi --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE List of Free Computer-Related Publications http://www.soci.niu.edu/~huguelet/TLOFCRP/ THE List of Free Computer-Related Publications is a list of print magazines, newspapers, and journals related to computing which can be subscribed to free of charge. The database of publications is continually growing and more are being added almost on a daily basis. Please be advised that all the publications that are in this list are always free of charge to users. This is a great resource list! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HomePage Cards(tm) http://www.futuris.net/touch/homecard.htm Don't keep your new Web Site a secret. Here is another way to let people know about your new Web site, home page or new URL. This is a free service. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Multimedia File Formats on the Internet - a Beginner's Guide http://ac.dal.ca/~dong/contents.html An extensive multimedia guide for novice Internet users. It explains the file formats for texts, compressed files, games, software, pictures, sound and music, movies, foreign languages, etc. It also explains the ways to identify the different files and how to download and use the files. There are many pointers within the guide that you can use to download the files. This info is mostly for PC users but some of the information is essential even for Mac users and is general enough to be of importance for all users. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) http://www.rpi.edu/~decemj/cmc/mag/current/toc.html This might be a little too technical for the average user but it contains a wealth of information that is always accurate - always on target. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------