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From: Brian Kessler
T1: Brian.Kessler@juno.com
Date: 12/8/98
Time: 12:12:46 PM
Remote Name: 130.68.108.51
In order to contextualize my feedback, it may be useful to note that I have been using computers for almost as long as I’ve been literate -- If you remember the Oddessy III or the Vic 20, then you have an idea how long I have been using computers for.
I’ve been using modems for telecommunications on and off since I was about 14 or 15 -- I called Diversi-Dial (D-Dial) chat systems (a primative forerunner to the IRC) and Bulletin Board Systems (which were good for both exchanging messages and files). I was as Major CoSysOp on Conversi-Dial (D-Dial #53 in Union) and ran my own SpacePort BBS, first off a Commodore 64/128 and then after a lapse of about ten years off of a 386 compatible.
I have been vaguely aware of the Inet since it began, though I never subscribed to the large commercial BBSs that offered it (CompuServe, now owned by AOL and Q-Link, now AOL). Through my experience with D-Dial and BBSs, I was experienced with Electronic Mail (E-Mail), but it is only recently that E-Mail and Inet E-Mail have become synonymous to me.
The first InterNet services I accessed were Inet E-Mail and UseNet NewsGroups. These services were received indirectly. As SysOp of SpacePort BBS, I was also a member of FidoNet, a network in many ways as old and sophisticated as the Inet and developed on a low budget to maximize the potential of low budget systems. The only drawback to FidoNet is that the communications do not occur in “real time”. On the other hand, FidoNet offers much more security and privacy and better virus protection than the Inet does, and almost no spam whatsoever -- and FidoNet isn’t all that slow either: routed Netmail (the FidoNet equivalent to E-Mail) could reach almost anywhere in the world in less than twenty-four hours). But FidoNet is becoming obsolete for a variety of reasons, mostly due to the mass commercialization of the Inet and not helped by FidoNet politics.
First, I found a local BBS system in Westfield (now defunct) that had a UUCP gateway through FidoNet which offered me E-mail services. When I began running SpacePort and joined FidoNet, our local hub no longer offered an E-mail gateway, but offered a UseNet gateway, so I subscribed to a number of UseNet Groups using the same technology that brought me FidoNet Echos
*** A word about FidoNet Echomail. FidoNet EchoMail is the FidoNet equivalent for UseNet NewsGroups. Although few BBS systems carry the entire FidoNet backbone, there are message areas for almost any topic you could imagine and many SysOps will request access to a group if you are interested in participating in it. Also, there are many message areas not on the backbone and the FidoNet technology can be used to carry areas that are not actually part of FidoNet (actually, there are some who will debate whether the Backbone is a separate entity from FidoNet, but that’s unimportant). FidoNet Echomail is generally superior to UseNet NewsGroups since all FidoNet message areas are moderated and all SysOps and their hubs are required to enforce the moderation of any areas they carry. This means that there is no spam and few off topic messages. Nor do people waste bandwidth with annoying HTML encoding which doesn’t always translate or binary files which nobody wants.
*** It may be useful to find a telnetable BBS with FidoNet access (FidoNet is not available through the Web and I don’t think that will change anytime soon) and explore the possibility of using FidoNet for research. I have not done this for this course. However, while running SpacePort BBS on TeleGard software, I subscribed to the TeleGard Support group (TeleGard is FreeWare and FidoNet is totally non-commercial). For a product I paid nothing for, and for free, I found the most friendly and helpful support group I could ever want. Adveraging 300 messages a day, no question relating to TeleGard ever went unanswered and usually a satisfactory solution to any problem would be delivered within two or three days at most.
Eventually I found a Inet Gateway for my system, but I never had much use for it. Well, the mass commercialization of the Inet and local FidoNet politics (which were attrocious) killed the local BBS scene. I took SpacePort BBS down at the beginning of last summer.
My next step into telecommunication s was setting up Juno software. I don’t remember why I did it initally, but I have stuck with Juno ever since because I like the software and I like the service. Thus I have stuck with Juno even once I gained access to AOL and even after I set up Hotmail and Alpha accounts. I would recommend Juno to anyone who wanted a free E-mail account, but I don’t think Juno needs to be explored within this course since basically it’s just a proprietary e-mail service with a proprietary e-mail client.
Not long before this course, my parents decided to subscribe to AOL. I never really used it much... it is basically an oversize and slow BBS system with lots of fancy graphics. Nor did I take much opportunity to explore the Inet at this time. I’d occassionally log on, hack around for a little while, sometimes look for new software to play with, and log off, but that was it.
*******Finally getting up to the present:
My real experience with the Inet began with this course. I quickly read that little pamphlet we purchased from the bookstore. I then began experimenting with different client software (I love new toys). For those interested in my current system:
Operating System: Windows v4.0.98 Web Browser: InterNet Explorer v5.0beta TelNet Client/Terminal Program: NetTerm v4.2.9 FTP Client: FTP Voyager v6.0 Download Helper App: GetRight 3.3preview7 Gopher Client: WS Gopher 32bit v2.0 Mail Client: Juno v2.0 IRC Client: mIRC v5.41 Buddylist Client: ICQ .99alpha Connectivity Tools: InterNet Loafer v8.0beta (for ISPs) and: KillTimer (not sure what version-- for AOL) Office Suite: WordPerfect Suite 8 HTML Editor: Allaire HomeSite v4.0 Image Editor: Paint Shop Pro v5.1 Compression Tool: WinZip v7.0SR-1 AntiVirus Protection: Quick Heal v5.? (Note, I may change this soon) Search Clients: WebFerret v2.7 and all their other Ferrets too.
I would recommend all of the above except for Win98 (although it beats Win95 and Win3.1). All except Win98 and WordPerfect are either FreeWare are ShareWare(and Corel has a time limited trial version of WP available -- I’m not sure if you can download it though).
*** For those doing reseach, I strongly suggest getting WebFerret since it quickly and easily searchs all the major search engines for you. While commercial versions are available for all their clients, they also have FREEWARE versions (which is what I run). If possible, I would suggest convincing MSU to install WebFerret (and possibly some of the others) in the computer labs. WEBFERRET IS THAT USEFUL.
This course gave me incentive to hack around use and find various Inet tools and services. I’ve found search engines are very useful, but I can’t recommend any specific ones since I just use WebFerret now and ignore the column which identifies the source of the entry.
***When I search for software, however, before going to WebFerret, I usually prefer to visit Download.COM, or if it is InterNet related, Strouds or Tucows. I would suggest keeping those three bookmarked.
So much for what I use. Now, how do I use it?
Obviously, as far as the Inet goes, the browser is generally the most useful and is intuitive enough that I don’t think I need to give much comment.
The use of E-mail seems equally obvious and I won’t comment on it too much. It’s just a great way to contact and keep in touch with people whether for business or pleasure. The use of mailing lists is a bit less obvious, but I didn’t have much results with them.
Although I sparked a small dialog in UseNet, I hold no more esteem for UseNet now than I did when I received it through FidoNet
Well, I found Gopher was good for searching Yales list of libraries, but perhaps due to the demise of Veronica, it didn’t seem especially useful... I can understand why WS Gopher is the last client still be supported. It seems a fair decision that we didn’t make too much of it.
***TelNet was in a way old hat to me since I’m used to working with Terminal programs -- the only “new” part was that I’d dial an IP name or number instead of a phone number. I used TelNet to check my E-mail account on Alpha and to make Alpha FTP accessable so I could have a WWW Site. However, I didn’t care for Alpha much. The interface was not user friendly and I didn’t want to learn the operating system.
***I’m not sure how many users TeleGard can handle, but TeleGard is very user friendly, very customizable, very stable and very powerful -- plus it has excellent support. As Freeware, it will also fit into anyone’s budget. It is a DOS program, but can run in a DOS emu and there are several instances of TeleGard being run under Linux. An OS/2 and perhaps now also a Windows flavour is available. I would suggest that whoever runs Alpha looks into the possibility of using TeleGard as a replacement.
***I found FTP is useful for sending files to my websites and also I used it to retrieve logs from the Tolkien mailing list. If you do your downloading from within Netscape or IE, I suggest using GetRight which runs in the background and monitors your browsers for “clicks”. If you go to download an executable or an archive, GetRight will step in an perform the download. Here’s the advantage. Your browser will only download from the exact address specified by the hyperlink. GetRight, on the other hand, has a list of mirror sites (that you can update at any time) and will check to discover where that file can be downloading. It will then ping the different mirrors to discover which ones offer the fastest communications. Depending on the server you are receiving the file from, it can resume dropped download and also it can possibly switch to a faster server if the communications become too slow. You can also configure it to scan files for viruses, download files at a later time, and reconnect your computer if your connection drops. If you use Download.Com’s download manager (which schedules downloads from Download.Com and checks for updates to files you have downloaded, but I don’t use it), GetRight can handle take advantage of that too.
*** I found IRC was useful since it allows me not to commute to school (and in fact I couldn’t get here one day because of bad traffic) , it allows us to all talk at once, maximize productivity, and use a computer we are familiar with.
Running out of time, but I’d like to make a couple suggestions real quick (may get back to this later if I have a chance):
First, I would include a lesson on buddy lists which is an increasingly popular medium for communicating with other users since it allows more immediate communications than E-mail and is more personal than IRC.
Second, One of the main advantages to the Inet is the ability for users to collaborate through it. Although it might be difficult to fairly access group work, I think by working mostly on an individual level, we were overlooking one of the greatest advantages to the INet.