Watch your words ———————— Written communications are deprived of the body language and tone of voice that convey so much in face-to-face meetings and even in telephone conversations. Therefore, it makes sense to work much harder to build in humor, sarcasm, or disagreement and avoid your words come across as stupidity, rudeness, or aggressiveness. One way of defusing misunderstanding is to include cues as to your emotional state. One popular technique is to use keyboard symbols like :-). We call these symbols emoticons. What :-) means? Tilt your head to the left and look again. Yes, it's a smiling face. Here are some other examples to challenge your imagination: ;-) (Winking Smiley), :-( (Sad), 8-) (User wears glasses), :-o (Shocked or surprised), and :-> (Hey hey). A bracketed <g> is shorthand for grin, and <g,d&r> means grinning, ducking, and running. Some people prefer to write their emotional state in full text, like in these two examples: *grin* and *smile*. Do not misunderstand. You still should not allow yourself to write the most appallingly insulting things to other people, and then try to shrug it off with a <smile>. Watch your words. They are so easy to store on a hard disk.
Religion and philosophy ———————————- CompuServe's Religion Forum (GO RELIGION) has many message sections with associated file libraries. You can get into serious discussion about topics ranging from Christianity, Judaism, Eastern Religions, Islam, Interfaith Dialog, Limbo, Pagan/Occult, to Religion and Science, Liturgical Churches, Mormonism, Ethics and Values, and more. You may also want to check out the New Age Forum. Usenet's offerings include these:
soc.culture.jewish Jewish culture & religion.
soc.religion.christian Christianity and related topics.
soc.religion.eastern Discussions of Eastern religions.
soc.religion.islam Discussions of the Islamic faith.
talk.religion.misc Religious, ethical, & moral implications.
talk.religion.newage Esoteric and minority religions &
philosophies.
alt.pagan Discussions about paganism & religion.
alt.religion.computers People who believe computing is
"real life."
clari.news.religion Religion, religious leaders,
televangelists.
The BITNET/Internet arena has The Islamic Information & News Net on MUSLIMS (available through LISTSERV@ASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU). ISLAM-L (on LISTSERV@ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU) is a non-sectarian forum for discussion, debate, and the exchange of information by students and scholars of the history of Islam. BUDDHA-L (on LISTSERV@ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU) provides a means for those interested in Buddhist Studies to exchange information and views. BUDDHIST (on LISTSERV@JPNTUVM0.BITNET) is for non- academic discussions. BAPTIST (LISTSERV@UKCC.UKY.EDU) is the Open Baptist Discussion List. THEOLOGY (contact U16481%UICVM.BITNET@VM1.NODAK.EDU) is a mailing list dedicated to the intellectual discussion of religion. In its self-presentation, it says:
Intellectual is stressed as opposed to the "personal," the inspirational, or evangelistic. This does not mean one cannot evangelize, but rather that participants should persuade rather than brow-beat or attack those they disagree with. Arguments are inevitable, but they ultimately should resolve into mutual understanding or at least a truce.
Pagan (Contact: pagan-request@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu) is set up to discuss the religions and philosophies of paganism. BELIEF-L (on LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BITNET) is designed to be a forum where personal ideologies can be discussed, examined, and analyzed. The discussion list PHILCOMM@RPIECS.BITNET is where you debate the philosophy of communication. PHILOSOP@YORKVM1.BITNET is the Philosophy Discussion Forum. Several sacred texts and primary texts of religious interest are available by anonymous FTP or LISTSERV. The Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Koran (also spelled Quran) are available at many sites and in a variety of file formats. The Bible (King James Version) is available as bible10.zip and bible10.txt via FTP to mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (128.174.201.12) in the /extext/etext92/ directory. M.H. Shakir's translation of the Koran is available as 114 individual ASCII text chapters via FTP to quake.think.com (192.31.181.1) in the /pub/etext/koran/ directory. A short file containing quotes from the Koran is available via LISTSERV from LISTSERV@asuacad as PAKISTAN AL_QURAN. A collection of Sanskrit texts is available via FTP to ftp.bcc.ac.uk in the /pub/users/ucgadkw/indology/ directory. You may use the Archie service (see Appendix 4) to find other religious texts that are also available through the Internet. On FidoNet, check out JVArcServ.
Job-hunting by modem —————————— Unemployment is a global problem, and losing a job is often a bad experience. If this ever should happen to you, consider checking out the BITNET discussion list LAIDOFF@ARIZVM1 - "So, you've been laidoff?" Maybe you already have a job, but are constantly searching for something better. There are many forums and conferences devoted to help you get a new job. FidoNet has the JOBS conference, for those not in a hurry, and JOBS-NOW (Job & Employment offerings/listings) for those who have no more time to wait. On Bergen By Byte, it is called 'Job_market', and on ILINK CAREER. In many countries there are local bulletin boards operated by public employment agencies. On Televerket's Datatorg (Norway), you can browse jobs from the following menu (translated):
VACANT JOBS
Select desired profession Number 01 Technical, natural sciences ( 182) 02 Education, etc. ( 601) 03 Media,art ( 58) 04 Medicine, health care, etc. ( 951) 05 Social care ( 307) 06 Adm.,management, organization ( 348) 07 Finance,computers ( 100) 08 Secretarial, office work ( 138) 09 Sale,purchasing, advertising ( 576) 10 Agriculture,forestry,fishing ( 56) 11 Oil and gas, mining ( 38) 12 Transport,communication ( 68) 13 Workshop,fine mechanics,electro( 126) 14 craft,building and construction( 93) 15 Industry,ware-house,mechan. ( 68) 16 Hotel,restaurant,domestic work ( 133) 17 Service,surveillance,safety ( 170)
If your potential employers have an email address, you can send dozens of job resumes - while going for a cup of coffee! WORK-AT-HOME on FidoNet is for those planning to start their own business ("Take this job and shove it! I'll work at home!") CompuServe has the Working-From-Home Forum under the sysopship of online gurus Paul and Sarah Edwards. Its file library contains back issues of the electronic magazine "Making It on Your Own." GEnie has the Home Office Small Business forum (HOSB). Home based business opportunities may exist within areas such as desktop publishing, desktop video, high-tech equipment repair, import and export management, and professional practice management. Learn from others in forums or conferences on related topics. The good news is that many organizations are having problems finding qualified candidates for their vacant positions, and that some of them are turning to The Online World for help. One of them did it like this (from an online announcement):
Because it is difficult to locate qualified candidates for positions in special libraries and information centers, and to assist special librarians and information specialists to locate positions, the student chapter of the Special Libraries Association at Indiana University has formed a LISTSERV, SLAJOB, in connection with the Indiana Center for Database Systems. The LISTSERV, which is available on both the Internet and Bitnet, will help special libraries and information centers in the sciences, industry, the arts and within public and academic libraries to have a central location for announcing special library and information science positions. The LISTSERV is available to individuals or organizations that have an Internet or Bitnet network connection. For those on the network, subscribe by sending an email message to:
"LISTSERV@iubvm.bitnet" or "LISTSERV@iubvm.ucs.indiana.edu". Leave the subject line blank and then type the following in the message of the text:
subscribe SLAJOB [firstname] [lastname]
The Israelis have the mailing list CJI, Computer Jobs in Israel. Send mail to LISTSERV@JERUSALEM1.DATASRV.CO.IL with the usual "SUB CJI Your-Full-Name" in the text of your message. This will give you monthly updated lists of open computer jobs. When you get tired of hunting for a job, why not relax with HUMOR at LISTSERV@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU. This mailing list distributes humor of all types, topics and tastes. To subscribe, send the following command to the LISTSERV:
SUB HUMOR [firstname] [lastname]
Chapter 6: Your personal HealthNet ==================================
Health is a concern in most families. Where a family member or a friend is suffering from cancer, AIDS, a serious disability, or a rare disease, finding help is imperative. Fortunately, there are many sources of information for those who want to know more. There are clubs and forums, where you can meet others with the same disease or problem. They are open 24 hours a day. Those who cannot sleep at night, can log in any time to "talk" with others. The social aspect of joining a club is important. However, it may be equally important to learn from other people's experiences with alternative treatment methods, doctors, medicines, and to get practical medical advice. Here are some examples to illustrate the width of the offering:
AIDS —— You may start with "The Fog City Online Information Service" in San Francisco, the world's largest bulletin board of AIDS information. The cost of using this BBS from afar may be reduced considerably by using i-Com or similar data transport services (see chapter 13). CompuServe has a Human Sexuality Forum and a MEDSig with associated file libraries. It also has a surcharged ZiffNet database with full-text articles about health topics (Health Database Plus). On the Well, enter "g aids". NewsNet has the newsletters "AIDS Weekly" and "AIDS Therapies." The latter is a directory, updated monthly, with descriptions of standard and experimental treatments for AIDS, along with a guide to treatments for the opportunistic infections (OI) of AIDS. It incorporates all existing and potential new AIDS treatments in one place. On BITNET, check out "AIDS/HIV News" (AIDSNEWS@EB0UB011) and the mailing list on AIDS@EB0UB011. Usenet has sci.med.aids (AIDS: treatment, pathology/biology of HIV, prevention), bionet.molbio.hiv, clari.tw.health.aids (AIDS stories, research, political issues), and bit.listserv.aidsnews. If you do not have access to Usenet, send a message to aids- request@cs.ucla.edu for articles from AIDSNEWS, statistics and news summaries. Aids-stat-request@wubios.wustl.edu is another source of current AIDS statistics. Send a request to info-aids@rainbow.UUCP. It is a clearinghouse of information, and discussion about alternative treatment methods, political implications, and more.
Example: Kidney disease ———————————- In chapter 1, I told you that my wife has a rare disease called Polycystic Kidneys. Here are more details about what happened during the "online health trip" to CompuServe with her doctor:
The command "GO HEALTH" gave the following menu:
1 HealthNet
2 Human Sexuality
3 Consumer Health
4 NORD Services/Rare Disease
Database
5 PaperChase (MEDLINE)
6 Information USA/Health
7 Handicapped User's Database
8 Disabilities Forum
9 Aids Information
10 Cancer Forum
Another menu, which listed available "PROFESSIONAL FORUMS," had choices like AAMSI Medical Forum and Health Forum. Besides visiting these, we searched several medical databases. Menu selection five gave us The National Library of Medicine's database (MEDLINE), which is full of references to biomedical literature. This database had more than five million references to articles from 4.000 magazines from 1966 and up to date, when we searched it in 1991. It increases by some 25.000 new references per month. Easy navigation by menus. Easy to search. The AAMSI Medical Forum (MedSIG) is sponsored by The American Association for Medical Systems and Informatics (AAMSI). It is a forum for professionals within health care, people within associated technical fields, and ordinary CompuServe users. The members meet to find, develop and swap information. MedSIG has a library full of programs and information files. This is an example of what you can find there:
ATLAS.ARC 21-Sep-88 30161
Keywords: STEREOTAXIC STEREOTACTIC STEREOTAXIS ATLAS THALAMOTOMY
MAP FUNCTIONAL GIF
This contains several of the most useful stereotaxic maps from the Schaltenbrand and Wahren Atlas in GIF format. If you can get GIF into your CAD or drawing program, you can scale the maps to fit your individualized patient's AC-PC distance, thereby generating a customized map for your patient.
CompuServe has many programs for reading GIF files, and converting GIF files to other graphical formats. Through IQuest, we searched medical databases. Simple menus helped define relevant search terms. When done, IQuest searched selected databases for us, and presented the finds on our local computer screen. The basic rate for completing the search was US$9.00. In addition, we paid the normal fees for using CompuServe. From Norway, this amounted to around US$ 40/hour at 2400 bps when logging on through the local Infonet node at that time. Today, it costs less. This gave us up to 10 article headlines, when searching in bibliographic databases. Abstracts of selected articles were displayed on our screen for an additional US$2.00. We used the search mode "SmartScan" in the area "Medical research." IQuest searched several databases with a minimum of manual intervention. First, it told us that the following databases would be included in the search:
BRS databases:
Ageline - Contains references to and abstracts of materials on
aging and the elderly. Covers psychological, medical, economic,
and political concerns.
AIDS Database - Includes critically selected articles covering
all aspects of AIDS, (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), and
AIDS-related research.
AIDS Knowledge Base - Provides an online textbook of the most
current information on AIDS available from San Francisco General
Hospital.
Combined Health Information Database - For professionals,
patients, and the general public, CHID contains references to a
variety of materials on arthritis, diabetes, health education,
digestive diseases, and high blood pressure. Provides abstracts.
Embase - Includes extensive abstracts of articles related to
biomedicine from medical journals worldwide. About 40% of the
references are online only.
Rehabdata - Covers articles, books, reports, and audiovisual
materials dealing with the rehabilitation of the physically and
mentally handicapped. References only.
Sport Database - Indexes publications dealing with sports,
including training, medicine, education, and history. Drawn
mostly from English and French with technical articles from
other languages.
Dialog databases: BioBusiness - Deals with the business aspects of biotechnology and biomedical research. Draws from BIOSIS and MANAGEMENT CONTENTS. BIOSIS Previews - Provides international coverage of all aspects of biological science. Cancerlit - Monitors articles from journals and other technical publications dealing with all aspects of cancer research throughout the world. Includes abstracts. Clinical Abstracts - Covers human clinical study articles of major importance selected from leading medical journals. Includes all aspects of clinical medicine. Corresponds to Abstracts in Internal Medicine. Abstracts available. Life Sciences Collection - Abstracts technical literature in the life sciences from journals and other scientific publications worldwide. Medline (1966 - to date) - Indexes articles from medical journals published worldwide. Corresponds to Index Medicus, International Nursing Index and Index to Dental Literature. Includes abstracts in roughly 40% of the records. SciSearch - Monitors worldwide literature across a wide range of scientific and technological disciplines. Produced by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).
Then we entered our search term: "LIVER AND CYST/". The search word
"CYST/" signified that "cyst" should match any words starting with
these four characters.
While searching, IQuest gave the following progress report:
Scanning BRS databases.
Accessing Network………..Completed.
Accessing Database Host…..Completed.
Logging on………………Completed.
Logging on (second step)….Completed.
Selecting Databases………Completed.
Each period equals one line of scanned data. This may take several minutes…………………………..
It continued in the same way with a "Scanning Dialog databases." When the search results were presented, we glanced quickly at the article abstracts, ordered two articles to be sent us by mail and typed BYE. CompuServe reported "Off at 09:12 EST 17-Nov-88 Connect time = 0:35." The two articles arrived Norway by mail a few weeks later. The whole trip, including visits in medical forums, took 35 minutes. The cost, including local telephone and network charges, was US$95. Of this total cost, the extra cost of searching through IQuest amounted to US$54.00. We all felt that the costs were well justified.
| A note about the costs: The online tour was done manually, | | using full menus. We discussed our search strategy while | | connected, which is more expensive than logging off to plan | | the next moves. Also, note that the extra cost of searching | | IQuest ($54) was not time dependent. |
Right now? I have promised to donate one kidney to my wife when the time comes. This has prompted me (1993) to join a mailing list for "Organ transplant recipients and anyone else interested in the issues" (TRNSPLNT@WUVMD.BITNET).
Cancer
———
FidoNet has the forum CARCINOMA (Cancer Survivors). BITNET has the
discussion lists CANCER-L@WVNVM and CLAN (Cancer Liaison and Action
Network on CLAN@FRMOP11). CompuServe has a Cancer Forum. NewsNet
offers the newsletter CANCER RESEARCHER WEEKLY.
In September 1992, the following message was posted on CANCER-
L by a member from Brazil:
"A close friend was just diagnosed with acute leukemia of a type called calapositive pre-B linphoplastic. It is supposedly an early diagnosis since he is not anemic. We are very shocked but he is reacting quite bravely and all he wants is to have access to literature on his condition. Are there any new genetic engineering developments effectively clinically available? What is the present state of knowledge regarding this specific form of leukemia?
He was diagnosed three hours ago, is 48 yrs old, and will start chemotherapy tomorrow. He was informed that chemotherapy is quite effective in this type of leukemia. But we wonder if there isn't a possibility to use gene therapy.
Any help will be greatly appreciated. - Dora."
There were several helpful replies. This came from a member in the
United States:
"In response to the request for information on treatment for leukemia, I recommend that you access CancerNet, the National Cancer Institute's mail server on the Internet which provides current information on treatment for leukemia. To request the Contents List and Instructions, send a mail message to
cancernet@icicb.nci.nih.gov (Internet address) cancernet%icicb.nci.nih.gov@nihcu ( BITNET)
Leave the subject line blank, and in the body of the mail message, enter "HELP". When you receive the Contents list, request the statement for Adult Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (cn-101024).
There are also News and General Information items, under the Heading PDQ Database Information in the Contents List which provide information on centers which have access to Physician Data Query, NCI's database of cancer treatment information which includes clinical trials information for leukemia. - Cheryl."
CancerNet is the U.S. National Cancer Institute's international information center. It is a quick and easy way to obtain, through electronic mail, recommended treatment guidelines from the National Cancer Institute's Physician Data Query system. To access CancerNet, send email to:
cancernet@icicb.nci.nih.gov
Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the mail message, enter HELP to receive instructions and the current contents list. The National Cancer Center in Tokyo Japan has a gopher service at gopher.ncc.go.jp. The World Health Organization (WHO) has one at gopher.who.ch.
Disabilities —————— Bulletin boards and online conferences give equal access to all persons. Everybody is treated the same way, regardless if they sit in a wheel chair, have a hearing impairment, stutter, cannot speak clearly, have difficulties in thinking or acting quickly, or just have a different looks. You need not worry about typing errors. Those who read them will never know whether it's because you never learned how to write on a computer, or if it is because you have difficulties in controlling your movements. You alone decide if others are to know about your personal disability. If you want it to be a secret, then it will remain a secret. Nobody can possibly know that you are mute and lame from the neck and down, that computer communication is your main gate into the outer world, and that you are writing messages with a stick attached to your forehead. Therefore, the online world has changed the lives of many people with disabilities. Computer communications have opened a new world for those who are forced to stay at home, or thinks that it is too difficult to travel. Those who can easily drive their car to the library, often have difficulties in understanding the significance of this. Usenet has alt.education.disabled and misc.handicap. It covers all areas of disabilities, technical, medical, educational, legal, etc. UUCP has handicap. It is presented in the following words:
Contact: wtm@bunker.shel.isc-br.com Purpose: The Handicap Digest provides an information/discussion exchange for issues dealing with the physically/mentally handicapped. Topics include, but are not limited to: medical, education, legal, technological aids and the handicapped in society.
CompuServe's Disabilities Forum has the following sections: General
Interest, Develop. Disabilities, Emotional Disturbances, Hearing
Impairments, Learning Disabilities, Vision Impairments, Mobility
Impaired, Rights/Legislation, Education/Employment and Family
Life/Leisure.
AUTISM@SJUVM.BITNET is devoted to the developmentally disabled,
their teachers, and those interested in this area. The list BLIND-
L@UAFSYSB.BITNET focuses on "Computer Use by and for the Blind."
COMMDIS@RPIECS.BITNET is a mailing list discussing "Speech
disorders."
DEAF-L@SIUCVMB.BITNET is the "Deaf Discussion List," and
DEAFBLND@UKCC.UKY.EDU the "Deaf-Blind Discussion List." STUT-HLP
(LISTSERV@BGU.EDU) is a support forum for people who stutter and
their families.
On L-HCAP@NDSUVM1.BITNET, the focus is on Technology for the
handicapped. BACKS-L@UVMVM.BITNET discusses research on low back
pain disability.
The Handicap Digest is an electronic mail only digest of
articles relating to all types of issues affecting the handicapped.
The articles are taken from the Usenet newsgroup, the Handicap
News. (misc.handicap) and various FidoNet conferences such as
ABLED, BlinkTalk SilentTalk, Chronic Pain, Spinal Injury, Rare
Conditions, and several others. Subscribe by email to
wtm@bunker.shel.isc-br.com
Handicap.shel.isc-br.com (129.189.4.184) is the email address to an anonymous ftp site that has disability-related files and programs. The disk has some 40 directories with 500 or so files covering all types of disabilities. (This service can be used through FTPMail. See chapter 12 about how to do this.)
Getting old —————- BITNET has the "BIOSCI Ageing Bulletin Board" on AGEING@IRLEARN . Usenet has bionet.molbio.ageing, while CompuServe's Issues Forum has a message section called "Seniors." Ageline on Dialog is a database produced by the American Association of Retired Persons. It does an excellent job covering research about older persons, particularly on consumer issues and health care, by summarizing journal articles and the contents of other published reports. While our "face-to-face" world sometimes makes it difficult for older people to participate in discussions between young people, this is not so in the Online World. All people are treated the same way. It is impossible for others to know your age, unless someone tells them.
Holistic Healing and Health —————————————- HOLISTIC on LISTSERV@SIUCVMB.SIU.EDU is dedicated to "providing information and discussion on holistic concepts and methods of living which provide a natural way of dealing with the challenges of life." Here are some topics dealt with in this forum:
Various Dimensions of Holistic Healing and Health
States of Consciousness
Meditation and the role it plays in spiritual/physical health
The impact of a healthy diet - including Herbs and Vitamins
Bodywork - such as Rolfing, Trager bodywork, Reichian, etc.
Acupuncture/pressure
Hypnosis and Biofeedback
Visualizations and Affirmations
Spiritual Healing - Psychic healing methods
Bioenergetics
The holistic connection between mind and body
Honest discussion of topics relevant to personal/spiritual
growth - And anything else within context for the betterment
of the world.
The following message is typical:
From: Helen
Subject: Re: Asthma and Sinus Problems
To: Multiple recipients of list HOLISTIC
My condolences to fellow people allergic to cats. Cats and
strawberries are two of the most allergenic substances.
Behavorial changes have proven to be EVERYTHING to me. The
techniques I've employed have helped many others. First, try
sleeping at a 45 degree angle. This usually requires piling up
pillows. The elevation of the head facilitates drainage from the
sinuses. When the situation gets really bad, I've slept sitting
up on a couch or arm chair propped up by numerous pillows and
cushions. This technique can take some getting used to, but, it
works like a charm and is kinder to your system than drug
therapy.
Second, try "ephedra" tea. This is an herb found in Chinese
herb shops. Ask the herbalist how to prepare it.
I highly recommend the book "Natural Health, Natural Medicine"
by Andrew Weil, M.D. of U of A Med School in Tucson. See pages
253-256 for more information on asthma.
Fourth, stay hydrated. This means not only drinking PLENTY of
fluids, but humidifying the house (that is if you're not also
allergic to molds).
Basic behavorial techniques are important….diet, exercise,
etc. etc, …but this is the holistic network…I'm preaching to
the choir…
Finally, take heart! Being allergic to cats is not well received by cat lovers…often we're cat lovers ourselves. Depending on the breed of cat, there is a good chance you will eventually habituate to those you are around over the long term. Good luck, the advice about sleeping with your head significantly elevated is the best I have ever given out to fellow sinus problem sufferers. It really works!!
Helen.
HomeoNet, a service of the Institute of Global Communications
(IGC), is for those interested in homeopathic medicine.
List of health science resources ———————————————— The Bitnet/Internet online list of health science resources is available by email from: LISTSERV@TEMPLEVM.BITNET . Send the following command:
GET MEDICAL RSCRS
This will give a long list of BITNET, Internet, and Usenet forums, data archives, electronic newsletters and journals devoted to health science. Here are some examples from the list that may be of interest to people not working in the health profession:
* ALCOHOL@LMUACAD.BITNET - a discussion list for Alcohol and
Drug Studies,
* BEHAVIOR@ASUACAD.BITNET - Behavioral and Emotional Disorders
in Children,
* DIABETIC@PCCVM.BITNET is the "Open Discussion forum for
DIABETIC patient counseling,"
* DIARRHOE@SEARN.BITNET (or DIARRHOE@SEARN.SUNET.SE through the
Internet) is a forum for information exchange and discussions
on all aspects related to diseases, disorders, and chemicals
that cause diarrhoea in humans and animals,
* DIET@INDYCMS.BITNET - Support and Discussion of Weight Loss
* DRUGABUS@UMAB.BITNET - Drug Abuse Education Information and
Research,
* FAMCOMM@RPIECS.BITNET - Marital/family & relational
communication.
* FIT-L@ETSUADMN.BITNET - Wellness, Exercise, Diet, for
exchanging ideas, tips and any type of information about
wellness, exercise, and diet.
* GRANOLA@BROWNVM.BITNET - Vegetarian Discussion.
* HERB@TREARN.BITNET - Medicinal and Aromatic Plants discussion.
* MSLIST-L@NCSUVM.BITNET - Multiple Sclerosis Discussion and
Support.
* RZAMAL-L@DKAUNI11.BITNET - Dental Amalgam Fillings and
chronic mercury poisoning.
* SPORTPSY@TEMPLEVM.BITNET - Exercise and Sports Psychology.
* talk.abortion on Usenet.
These mailing lists usually let you search old messages for topics of interest. They are both living discussion forums and interesting searchable databases! Mednews is a weekly electronic newsletter. Its columns bring regular medical news summaries from USA Today, Center for Disease Control MMWR, weekly AIDS Statistics from CDC, and more. Send the following command to LISTSERV@ASUACAD.BITNET to subscribe:
SUB MEDNEWS Your-first-name Your-last-name
Chapter 7: Electronic mail, telex, and fax ==========================================
Electronic mail is one of the most popular online services. People living thousands of miles apart can exchange messages and documents very quickly. International Resource Development, Inc., an American research organization, claimed (1992) that we can send electronic mail to more than 10 million personal mailboxes. We believe the figure to be much higher. The Matrix News (Texas, U.S.A.) claims the number is over 18 million (March 1993). The Boardwatch Magazine (U.S.A.) believes that new callers are coming online for their first time at a rate of close to 10,000 per day (January 1993). Electronic Mail & Micro Systems (New Canaan, Conn., U.S.A.) estimated an average of 27.8 million messages sent per month in 1990. Mail through the Internet and grassroots services on free bulletin boards (like FidoNet) is not included in their figure. The annual rate of increase in the number of messages is over 30% and increasing. If a given email service charges you US$30 per hour, it will cost you a meager US$0.075 to send one typewritten letter (size A- 4, or around 2,200 characters). See chapter 15 for a breakdown of this cost. If you live in Norway, and send the letter by ordinary mail to a recipient in Norway, postage alone is US$0.53 (1992). The cost is seven times higher than using email. To send the same letter from Norway to the United States by ordinary mail will cost 11 times more. This letter takes several days to reach the destination, while email messages arrive almost instantly. Often, you can send email messages to several recipients in one operation - without paying extra for the pleasure. Compare this to sending to several parties by fax! You do not have to buy envelopes and stamps, fold the sheet, put it into the envelope, and bring it to a mailbox. Just let the computer call your favorite email service to send the letter. The recipient does not have to sit by the computer waiting for your mail. Upon receipt, it will be automatically stored in his mailbox. He can read it when he has time. The recipient can print it locally, and it will be a perfect document, no different to one typed in locally. He can also make corrections or comments, and email onwards to a third party. In this way several people can work jointly on a report, and no time is it re-typed from scratch. When you receive several messages in the morning, you can very quickly create replies to them one at the time at your keyboard, and then send them in one go. No need to feed five different pieces of paper into a fax machine or envelopes for five different people. Where you can find a telephone, you can also read mail. In most countries, communicating through email is easy and economical. By the way, the simple but miraculous thing about email is that you can quote easily and exactly the point to which you are replying. This is a revolution in communication, no?
How to send email? —————————- This is what it normally takes for a CompuServe user to send me a message:
Type GO MAIL to get to the "post office," and then type
COMPOSE.
"Start writing," says CompuServe. Type your message
manually, or send a file (text or binary). Type /EXIT when
done.
"To whom?" asks CompuServe. You enter: "Odd de Presno
75755,1327," or just my mailbox number (75755,1327).
CompuServe asks you to enter Subject. You type: "Hello,
my friend!" Your message has been sent.
A few seconds later, the message will arrive in my
mailbox. If I am online to CompuServe at the moment, I will
probably read it right away. If not, it will stay there until I
get around to fetch it.
Above, we used the term "normally takes to send." Please note that many users never ever TYPE these commands! They use various types of automatic software to handle the mechanics of sending and receiving mail (see Chapter 16). Other systems require different commands to send email. Ulrik at the University of Oslo (Norway) is a Unix system. So is The Well in San Francisco. On such systems, mail is normally sent using these commands:
Type "mail opresno@extern.uio.no". When the computer asks for "Subject:," enter "Hello, my friend!" Type your message or send it. When done, enter a period (.) in the beginning of a line. Ulrik will reply with "Cc:" to allow you to 'carbon copy' the message to other people. If you don't want that, press ENTER and the message is on its way. While I wrote this book, I had to go to Japan. A simple command allowed me to redirect all incoming mail to CompuServe. As a result I could read and send mail by calling a local CompuServe number in several Japanese cities.
Though the commands for sending email differ between systems, the principle is the same. All systems will ask you for an address and the text of your message. On some, the address is a code, on others a name (like ODD DE PRESNO). Most systems will ask for a Subject title. Many will allow you to send copies of the message to other recipients (Cc:). Some services allow you to send binary files as email. Binary files contain codes based on the binary numeration system. Such codes are used in computer programs, graphics pictures, compressed spreadsheets and text files, and sound files. Many online services let you send messages as fax (to over 15 million fax machines), telex (to over 1.8 million telex machines), and as ordinary paper mail. We have tested this successfully on CompuServe, MCI Mail and other services. On CompuServe, replace "Odd de Presno 75755,1327" with ">FAX: 4737027111". My fax number is +47 370 27111. On MCI Mail type "CREATE:". MCI asks for "To:," and you type "Odd de Presno (Fax)". MCI asks for "Country:". You enter "Norway". By "RECIPIENT FAX NO" enter "37027111" (the code for international calls). The country code for Norway, 01147, is added automatically. By "Options?," press ENTER. When MCI Mail asks for more recipients, press ENTER. Type your message and have it sent. To send a telex, you'll need the recipient's telex number, an answerback code, and the code of the recipient's country. If the message is meant for telex number 871161147, answerback ZETO, and country Russia (country code SU), enter ">TLX:871161147 ZETO SU" when sending from CompuServe. By entering ">POSTAL", CompuServe will send your mail to a business associate in California or Brazil as a professional laser- printed letter. It will take you through the process of filling out the various address lines. The letter may well arrive faster than through ordinary mail.
When the recipient is using another mailbox system ————————————————————————— When the recipient is using your mailbox service, writing addresses is simple. Not so when your email has to be forwarded to mailboxes on other online services. The inter-system email address consists of a user name, a mailbox system code, and sometimes also routing information. The problem is that there is no universal addressing format. Finding out how to write a given address may be surprisingly difficult. Some services are not set up for exchange of email with other services. This is the case with my bulletin board, the Saltrod Horror Show. To send mail to a user of this system, you'll have to call it directly and enter it there. This bulletin board is not connected to the outside world for exchange of mail. If your favorite system lets you send mail to other services, make a note about the following:
* You need to know the exact address of your recipient, and whether he's using this mailbox regularly. Many users have mailboxes that they use rarely or never. For example, don't try to send mail to my mailbox on Dow Jones/News Retrieval. I only use this service sporadically. Think of the easiest way for a recipient to respond before sending a message to him or her.
* You need to know how to rewrite the recipient's address to fit your system. For example, you may have to use a domain address to send through Internet, and a different form when sending through an X.400 network. (More about this later.)
* The recipient's mailbox system may be connected to a network that does not have a mail exchange agreement with your system's network(s). Sometimes, you can use a commercial mail relay service to get your message across (see chapter 9). Users of the Internet can send messages to recipients on the Dialcom network through the DASnet relay service.
* Sometimes, you need to know how to route a message through other systems to arrive at its destination. For example, a message sent from the Ulrik computer in Oslo must be routed through a center in London to get to Dominique Christian on the Difer system in Paris (France),
Internet ———— is the name of a computer network (here called "INTERNET"), and a term used of a global web of systems and networks that can exchange mail with each other (here called "Internet"). INTERNET is a very large network that has grown out of ARPANET, MILNET, and other American networks for research and education. This core network has many gateways to other systems, and it's when we include these systems and their connections that we call it the Internet. Others call it WorldNet or the Matrix. Internet users can exchange mail with users on networks like EUnet, JANET, Uninett, BITNET, UUCP, CompuServe, MCI Mail, EcoNet, PeaceNet, ConflicNet, GreenNet, Web, Pegasus, AppleLink, Alternex, Nicarao, FredsNaetet, UUNET, PSI, Usenet, FidoNet and many others. We therefore say that these networks are also "on the Internet." If you have access to the Internet, you can send email to users of online services all over the world. You can send to people using Bergen By Byte and Telemax in Norway, TWICS in Tokyo, and Colnet in Buenos Aires. Now is the time to take a closer look at the art of addressing mail through the Internet.
Domain name addressing ——————————— On the Internet, the general form of a person's email address is:
user-name@somewhere.domain
My main, international Internet mailbox address is:
opresno@extern.uio.no
You read the address from left to right. First, the local name of the mailbox (my name abbreviated). Next, the name of the mailbox system or another identification code (in this case EXTERN, to show that I have no affiliation with the University), the name of the institution or company (here UIO or "Universitetet i Oslo"), and finally the country (NO for Norway). People have sent mail to my mailbox from New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Guatemala, Peru, India, China, Greece, Iceland, and Armenia using this address. Some users must send their messages through a gateway to the Internet. In these cases, the address may have to be changed to reflect this: Users of AppleLink use opresno@extern.uio.no@INTERNET# . Those on JANET use opresno%extern.uio.no@eanrelay.ac.uk. On SprintMail, use ("RFC-822": <opresno(a)extern.uio.no>, SITE:INTERNET) . CompuServe subscribers use >INTERNET:opresno@extern.uio.no . The core of these address formats is "opresno@extern.uio.no", in one way or the other. We call this basic addressing format a Domain Naming System. "EXTERN.UIO.NO" is a domain. The domain may also contain reference to the name of a company or an organization, like in twics.co.jp, compuserve.com, or IGC.ORG. The CO, COM, and ORG codes identify TWICS, CompuServe and IGC as companies/organizations. To send mail from the Internet to my CompuServe mailbox, use:
75755.1327@compuserve.com
Normally (except on AppleLink), a domain address can only contain one @-character. When an address has to be extended with gateway routing information, replace all @-characters to the LEFT in the address by %-characters. Here is an example: BITNET uses a different addressing method (USER@SYSTEM). Let's assume that you are subscribed to the club for lovers of Japanese food (J-FOOD-L@JPNKNU10.BITNET, see chapter 6). You have a mailbox on INTERNET, and want to send a recipe to the other members using the address J-FOOD-L. On some Internet systems, you can simply use the address: J-FOOD-L@JPNKNU10.BITNET , and your mailbox system will take care of the routing for you. If this addressing method doesn't work, you can use different gateways into BITNET depending on where you live. The preferred method is to route through a gateway near to you. If living in North America, you may route CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU using the following address:
J-FOOD-L%JPNKNU10.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
The rightmost @ in this address is maintained. The one to the LEFT has been replaced with a %. The term ".BITNET" tells the gateway machine where to forward the message. The following will happen: First, the message will be sent to system CUNYVM at the EDUcation site CUNY. CUNYVM investigates the address, and discovers that the message is for BITNET. It cuts off all text to the right of "JPNKNU10," and replaces the % with an @. The message is forwarded to the mailbox J-FOOD-L on the BITNET system JPNKNU10 at the Kinki University in Japan.
Bang addressing ———————- "Bang" is American for "exclamation point" (!). The UUCP network uses this variation of the domain addressing scheme. Example: User Jill Small on Econet in San Francisco used to have the address pyramid!cdp!jsmall . Read this address from right to left. The name of her mailbox is to the right. The name of the organization is in the middle. "Pyramid" is the name of the network. Some email systems can use bang addresses directly. (Note that the ! character has a special function on Unix computers. Here, you may have to type the address as pyramid\!cdp\!jsmall to avoid unwanted error messages. The \ character tells Unix to regard the next character as a character, and not as a system command. This character may also have to precede other special characters.) Other systems do not accept bang addresses directly. Here, the users must send such messages through a gateway. The American host UUNET is a frequently used gateway. If routing through UUNET, you may write the address like this:
pyramid!cdp!jsmall@uunet.uu.net
If your system absolutely refuses to accept exclamation points in addresses, try to turn the address into a typical Internet address. Write the address elements in the Internet sequence (left to right). Replace the exclamation points with %-s, like this:
jsmall%cdp%pyramid@uunet.uu.net
This method works most of the time. When it works, use this addressing form. Bang paths may fail if an intermediate site in the path happens to be down. (There is a trend for UUCP sites to register Internet domain names. This helps alleviate the problem of path failures.) Some messages must be routed through many gateways to reach their destination. This is the longest address that I have used, and it did work:
hpda!hplabs!hpscdc!hp-lsd.cos.hp.com!oldcolo!dave@uunet.uu.net
It used to be the Internet address of a user in Colorado, U.S.A..
Today, he can be reached using a much shorter address.
If you are on UUCP/EUnet, you may use the following address to send email to Odd de Presno:
extern.uio.no!opresno.
Addressing international electronic mail sometimes looks like black magic. To learn more, read some of the books listed in appendix 5. We have found "The Matrix" by John S. Quarterman to be particularly useful. The conference INFONETS (General network forum) is another source. Here, the INTERNET postmasters discuss their addressing problems. Activity is high, and you will learn a lot about the noble art of addressing. (This is not the place to ask for Olav Janssen's Norwegian email address, though. This question should be sent to a Norwegian postmaster.) You can subscribe to Infonets by sending the following mail:
To: LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET
Subject: (You can write anything here. It will be ignored.)
TEXT: SUB INFONETS Your-first-name Your-last-name
If your mailbox is on another network, alter the address to route your subscription correctly to this LISTSERV.
| Hint: You can search the database of old INFONETS messages by | | email to LISTSERV@DEARN.BITNET. See "Directories of services | | and subscribers" below for information about how to search | | LISTSERV databases. |
While the global matrix of networks grows rapidly, it is still behind in some lesser-developed nations and poorer parts of developed nations. If interested in these parts of the world, check out GNET, a library and a journal for documents about the efforts to bring the net to lesser-developed nations. Archived documents are available by anonymous ftp from the directory global_net at dhvx20.csudh.edu (155.135.1.1). Chapter 12 has information on how to use FTP if you only have mail access to the Internet. To subscribe to a conference discussing these documents, send a request to gnet_request@dhvx20.csudh.edu.
cc:Mail gateways ———————— Many Local Area Networks have been connected to the global Matrix of networks. CompuServe offers a cc:Mail gateway. Lotus cc:Mail is a PC Lan based email system used in corporate, government and other organizations. When sending from CompuServe Mail to a cc:Mail user through this gateway, a typical address may look like this:
>mhs:pt-support@performa
To send to this user from the Internet through CompuServe's MHS gateway, write the address like this:
pt-support@performa.mhs.compuserve.com
Other vendors of LAN gateways use other addressing methods.
X.400 addressing ———————— X.400 is a standard for electronic mail developed by CCITT. It is used on large networks like AT&T Mail, MCI Mail, Sprintnet, GE Information System, Dialcom, and Western Union, and on other public and private networks throughout the world. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) uses X.400 as a transport mechanism for coordination of electronic part ordering, stock control and payment. X.400 is used to connect EDI systems between companies and suppliers. The X.400 addressing syntax is very different from domain addressing. To send a message from an X.400 mailbox to my address (opresno@extern.uio.no), you may have to write it like this:
(C:NO,ADMD:uninett,PRMD:uninett,O:uio,OU:extern,S:opresno)
Alas, it's not so standard as the domain addressing schemes. On other X.400 networks, the address must be written in one of the following formats - or in yet other ways:
(C:US,A:Telemail,P:Internet,"RFC-822":<opresno(a)extern.uio.no>)
("RFC-822": <opresno(a)extern.uio.no>, SITE:INTERNET)
'(C:USA,A:TELEMAIL,P:INTERNET,"RFC-822":<opresno<a>extern.uio.no>) DEL'
(site: INTERNET,ID: <opresno<a>extern.uio.no>)
"RFC-822=opresno(a)extern.uio.no @ GATEWAY]INTERNET/TELEMAIL/US"
To send an Internet message to a mailbox I once had on the X.400 host Telemax in Norway, I had to use the following address:
/I=D/G=ODD/S=PRESNO/O=KUD.DATASEKR/@PCMAX.telemax.no
To send from Internet to Telemail in the US, I have used this address:
/PN=TELEMAIL.T.SUPPORT/O=TELENET.MAIL/ADMD=TELEMAIL/C=US/@sprint.com
If you need to route your message through gateways, then complexity increases. One Norwegian UUCP user had to use the following address to get through:
nuug!extern.uio.no!"pcmax.telemax.no!/I=D/G=ODD/S=PRESNO/O=KUD.DATASEKR/"
To send a message from an X.400 system to my CompuServe mailbox,
I have used the following address elements:
Country = US
ADMD = CompuServe
PRMD = CSMail
DDA = 75755.1327
The addressing methods used on X.400 systems vary. Another example:
Some use the code C:USA rather than the ISO country code C:US. MCI
Mail uses C:NORWAY, C:USA, and C:SWEDEN.
Here are some important X.400 codes:
C the ISO country code (on most services)
ADMD domain code for public system (abbreviation A)
PRMD domain code for connected private system
(abbreviation P)
O organization name
OU organization unit
S surname (last name)
G given name (first name)
I initials (in the name)
DDA domain-defined attributes, keywords defined and
used by the individual systems to specify mailboxes
(user name, list, station, user code, etc.), direct
delivery devices (attention name, telex addresses,
facsimile, etc.)
PN personal name
(a) the character @ cannot be used when routing messages
from X.400 to Internet. Try (a) instead.
(p) the character % cannot be used when routing messages
from X.400 to Internet. Try (p) instead.
(b) the character ! (used in "bang" addresses).
(q) the character " used in email addresses.
RFC-822 this code tells X.400 that an Internet domain address
follows. Does not work on all X.400 systems.
Returned mail ——————- When an email address is incorrect in some way (the system's name is wrong, the domain doesn't exist, whatever), the mail system will bounce the message back to the sender. The returned message will include the reason for the bounce. A common error is addressing mail to an account name that doesn't exist. Let's make an error when sending to LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu. Enter "pistserv@vm1.nodak.edu" instead of "LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu". This address is wrong. Below, we've printed the complete bounced message. It contains a lot of technical information. Most lines have no interest. Also, the message is much larger than the original message, which contained three lines only. When browsing the bounced message, note that it has three distinct parts: (1) The mail header of the bounced message itself (here, the 13 first lines), (2) The text of the error report (from line 14 until the line "Original message follows:"), and (3) the mailer header and text of your original message (as received by computer reporting the error):
From MAILER@VM1.NoDak.EDU Fri Dec 18 12:54:03 1992
Return-Path: <MAILER@VM1.NoDak.EDU>
Received: from vm1.NoDak.edu by pat.uio.no with SMTP (PP)
id <07610-0@pat.uio.no>; Fri, 18 Dec 1992 12:53:54 +0100
Received: from NDSUVM1.BITNET by VM1.NoDak.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2)
with BSMTP id 9295; Fri, 18 Dec 92 05:53:27 CST
Received: from NDSUVM1.BITNET by NDSUVM1.BITNET (Mailer R2.07)
with BSMTP id 3309; Fri, 18 Dec 92 05:53:26 CST
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 05:53:26 CST
From: Network Mailer <MAILER@VM1.NoDak.EDU>
To: opresno@extern.uio.no
Subject: mail delivery error
Status: R
Batch SMTP transaction log follows:
220 NDSUVM1.BITNET Columbia MAILER R2.07 BSMTP service ready.
050 HELO NDSUVM1
250 NDSUVM1.BITNET Hello NDSUVM1
050 MAIL FROM:<opresno@extern.uio.no>
250 <opresno@extern.uio.no>… sender OK.
050 RCPT TO:<pistserv@NDSUVM1>
250 <pistserv@NDSUVM1>… recipient OK.
050 DATA
354 Start mail input. End with <crlf>.<crlf>
554-Mail not delivered to some or all recipients:
554 No such local user: PISTSERV
050 QUIT
221 NDSUVM1.BITNET Columbia MAILER BSMTP service done.
Original message follows:
Received: from NDSUVM1 by NDSUVM1.BITNET (Mailer R2.07) with BSMTP id 3308;
Fri, 18 Dec 92 05:53:25 CST
Received: from pat.uio.no by VM1.NoDak.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP;
Fri, 18 Dec 92 05:53:23 CST
Received: from ulrik.uio.no by pat.uio.no with local-SMTP (PP)
id <07590-0@pat.uio.no>; Fri, 18 Dec 1992 12:53:24 +0100
Received: by ulrik.uio.no ; Fri, 18 Dec 1992 12:53:18 +0100
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 12:53:18 +0100
From: opresno@extern.uio.no
Message-Id: <9212181153.AAulrik20516@ulrik.uio.no>
To: pistserv@vm1.nodak.edu
Subject: test
index kidlink
The first part of the bounced message is usually of no interest. Hidden in the second part you'll find the following interesting line:
554 No such local user: PISTSERV
Ah, a typo! If your original message was long, you're likely to be pleased by having the complete text returned in the third part of the bounced message. Now, you may get away with a quick cut and paste, before resending it to the corrected address. The text and codes used in bounced messages vary depending on what type of mailbox system you're using, and the type of system that is bouncing your mail. Above, MAILER@VM1.NoDak.EDU returned the full text of my bounced mail. Some systems just send the beginning of your original text, while others (in particular some X.400 systems) send nothing but a note telling you the reason for the bounce.
| Note: When you fail to understand why a message is being | | bounced, contact your local postmaster for help. Send him | | a copy of the complete text of the bounced message up to | | and including the line "Subject:" at the bottom. | | You do not have to send him the text of your original | | message! |
Replying to an Internet message ———————————————- On the Internet, electronic messages have a common structure that is common across the network. On some systems, you can reply by using a reply command. If this feature is not available, use the sender's address as given in the mail header. The bounced message contained two mail headers: the header of my original message (in part three), and the header of the bounced message (in part one). The 'good' reply address is laid out in the 'From:' header. Thus, this message contains the following two 'good' addresses:
From: Network Mailer <MAILER@VM1.NoDak.EDU>
From: opresno@extern.uio.no
The Network Mailer located the second address line above in my original message, and used this address when sending the bounced message. (Note: there is no point in sending a message back to MAILER@VM1.NoDak.EDU since this is the address of an automatic mail handling program. Write to Postmaster@VM1.NoDak.EDU to talk to a "real person" at this computer center.) The exact order of a message's header may vary from system to system, but it will always contain the vital 'From:' line.
| Note: Exercise caution when replying to a message sent by | | a mailing list. If you wish to respond to the author only, | | make sure that the only address you're replying to is that | | person's. Don't send it to the entire list! |
Directories of services and subscribers ———————————————————- There is no complete global directory of available electronic addresses. On many systems, however, you can search lists of local users.
| Normally, you'd be better off by calling the recipient for | | his or her email address. |
Sometimes, the information given you by the recipient is not enough. Maybe the address needs an extension for the message to be routed through gateways to the destination. Another typical problem is that the syntax of the address is wrong. Perhaps you made a mistake, when you wrote it down (KIDCAFE became KIDSCAFE). The return address in the received messages' mailer headers may be wrong. It may use a syntax that is illegal on you email system, or it may suggest a routing that is unknown to your system. When trying to send mail to this address, the Mailer-Daemon complains: "This is a non-existent address." Again, the first person to contact for help is your local postmaster. On most Internet hosts this is simple. If you have a mailbox on the ULRIK computer at the University of Oslo, send a request for help to postmaster@ulrik.uio.no . If you are on COLNET in Buenos Aires, send to postmaster@colnetr.edu.ar . POSTMASTER is also the address to turn to on BITNET. Users of FidoNet or RelayNet, should write to SYSOP. It may not be that simple to locate the postmaster on UUCP. The postmaster ID may exist on some systems, but often he's just a name or a user code. You can get the email address of known Internet systems by sending a message to SERVICE@NIC.DDN.MIL . In the subject of the message, write the command WHOIS host-machine-name. Do not write anything in the text (will be ignored). You will get a report of the desired mailbox computer, and the address of the local postmaster. Example:
To: SERVICE@NIC.DDN.MIL
Subject: WHOIS AERO.ORG
Text:
Sometimes, you just don't know the name of a recipient's mailbox computer. When this is the case, start at the "top of the pyramid." Say your desired recipient lives in Germany. The ISO country code for Germany is DE (see appendix 6). Send the message
To: SERVICE@NIC.DDN.MIL
Subject: WHOIS DOMAIN DE
Text:
This will give you the email addresses of the main postmasters for this country. Most postmasters are willing to help, but please note that most of them are very busy people. It may take days before they get around to respond to your inquiry. There are over 100 other "whois-servers" in more than 15 countries. The systems whois.nic.ad.jp and whois.ripe.net cover Japan and Europe. The rest of them provide information about local users. (A list is available via anonymous FTP from sipb.mit.edu in the file /pub/whois/whois-servers.list . Chapter 12 has information about how to get this list by email). If your recipient is on UUCP, try netdir@mcsun.eu.net . To locate the postmaster of the mailbox system "amanpt1", use the following format (write nothing in the text):
To: netdir@mcsun.eu.net
Subject: amanpt1
Text:
BITNET provides information about connected systems through many sources. Scandinavian users use LISTSERV@FINHUTC.BITNET in Finland. Try a LISTSERV on a host closer to where you live. For example, North American users may use LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET, which is a host in North Dakota. Japanese users should write to the host LISTSERV@JPNKNU10.BITNET. When retrieving for BITNET host information mail, your search will have to be done in two steps. Here, your commands are NOT to be entered on the Subject line. Enter all commands in the TEXT field (text on the Subject line will be ignored). Example:
You want information about the BITNET computer FINHUTC (called a "node in the network"). Your first message should have the following text:
// job echo=no database search dd=rules //rules dd * search * in bitearn where node = FINHUTC index
LISTSERV sends you the following report:
> search * in bitearn where node = FINHUTC —> Database BITEARN, 1 hit.
> index Ref# Conn Nodeid Site name —— —— ——— ————- 0910 85/11 FINHUTC Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
Send a new search message to the LISTSERV containing the same
commands as above. Add one line in which you ask for database
record number 0910 (given in the column Ref#).
Like this:
// job echo=no
database search dd=rules
//rules dd *
search * in bitearn where node = FINHUTC
index
print 0910
LISTSERV will return a report with a lot of information.
Here is part of it:
Node: FINHUTC
Country: FI
Internet: FINHUTC.hut.fi
Net: EARN
Nodedesc: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
P_hsalmine: Harri Salminen;LK-HS@FINHUTC;+358 0 4514318
P_pautio: Petri Autio;POSTMAST@FINHUTC;+358 0 4514318
P_vvoutila: Vuokko Voutilainen;OPR@FINHUTC;+358 0 4514342
Routtab: RSCS (NETSERV,POSTMAST@FINHUTC)
For more information about searching BITNET databases, send this message to your favorite LISTSERV, or use the address below:
To: LISTSERV@FINHUTC.BITNET
Subject: nothing
TEXT: GET LISTDB MEMO
X.400 systems are developing an address directory according to CCITT standard X.500. The plan is to connect several directories. The developers hope that routing of X.400 messages may eventually be done automatically without the user needing to know the identity of the recipient's mailbox computer. X.500 will certainly help X.400 users. The problem is that most email is still carried by other types of systems, and that X.500 has no concern for mail transported through "foreign systems."
Dialcom ———- is a commercial, global online service, which have many nodes in Africa and Latin America. To send mail from Dialcom to the Internet you must use commercial gateway-services like DASnet (see appendix 1). To send mail from one Dialcom system to another, use the syntax 6007:EWP002. This address points to mailbox EWP002 on system number 6007. To send mail from Internet to Dialcom user YNP079 on system 10001, use the following address when sending through DASnet:
10001_ynp079@dcdial.das.net
Note: Only registered users with DASnet can use this method.
FidoNet
———-
Users of this global network can send and receive mail to/from the
Internet. For example, a FidoNet user may use the following method
to send to my Internet address:
Send the message to user UUCP at 1:105/42. The first line of
the TEXT of the message should contain:
To: opresno@extern.uio.no
Add a blank line after the address before entering the text of your message.
FidoNet addresses are composed by three or four numbers;
zone:net/node or zone:net/node.point
The FidoNet address 1:105/42 has three elements. "1:" tells that the recipient lives in Zone number 1 (North America). "105/42" refers to Node number 42, which receives mail through Net number 105. This node has an automatic gateway to the Internet. Another example: Jan Stozek is sysop of "Home of PCQ" in Warsaw, Poland. The Node number of his BBS is 10. He receives mail through Net number 480. Poland is a country in Europe, Zone number 2. The address to his system is: 2:480/10. His user name is Jan Stozek. You can send an Internet message to anyone in FidoNet by using the following template:
<firstname>.<lastname>@p<point>.f<node>.n<net>.z<zone>.fidonet.org
Where <firstname> is the person's first name <lastname> is the person's last name
To send a message from the Internet to Jan, use this address:
Jan.Stozek@f10.n480.z2.fidonet.org
One final example: Ola Garstad in Oslo has the FidoNet address 2:502/15. Use the address Ola.Garstad@f15.n502.z2.fidonet.org , when sending mail to him through the Internet. An updated list of global FidoNet nodes can be retrieved from most connected BBS systems.
For more information
——————————
If you have access to BITNET or Internet mail, get "The Inter-
Network Mail Guide." It describes how to send mail between
electronic mail systems like AppleLink, BITNET, BIX, CompuServe,
Connect-USA, EasyNet, Envoy, FidoNet, GeoNet, Internet, MCI,
MFENET, NasaMail, PeaceNet, Sinet, Span, SprintMail, and more.
Send a message to the BITNET address LISTSERV@UNMVM.BITNET. In
the TEXT of the message enter:
GET NETWORK GUIDE
This list is also posted monthly to the Usenet newsgroups comp.mail.misc and news.newusers.questions. The document "FAQ: How to find people's E-mail addresses" is regularly posted to the Usenet group news.answers. It is also available by email from mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu . To get a copy, put the command "send usenet/news.answers/finding-addresses" in the body of your message.
Chapter 8: Free expert assistance =================================
This may sound too good to be true. Many computer experts are ready to help YOU without asking a dollar in return. The same is the case with experts in other areas. You have an impossible decision to make. A lawyer has a dotted line that requires your signature, or a surgeon has a dotted line in mind for your upper abdomen. You're not comfortable with the fine print or the diagnosis and wonder if a second opinion is in order. Just ask, and get help. If you have problems with your communications program, post a message on a bulletin board. Do the same thing if you want to sell equipment. Learn from other people's experiences with computers or software that you plan to buy. You will get a reply - if the subject or you attract interest. In the process, you'll get new friends, and be able to follow the development in a dynamic marketplace. The following message from CompuServe is typical: