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Bits And Bytes Online Edition Volume 2 Number 06
From: BITS AND BYTES ONLINE EDITION <JAYMACHADO@delphi.com>
Subject: Bits and Bytes Online v2 #6
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 19:37:12 -0400 (EDT)
"There are two kinds of cryptography in this world: cryptography that
will stop your kid sister from reading your files, and cryptography
that will stop major governments from reading your files."
-- Bruce Schneier
======================================================================
BBB III TTT SSS BBB Y Y TTT EEE SSS ONLINE EDITION:
B B I T S B B Y Y T E S =THE ELECTRONIC
BBB I T SSS AND BBB YYY T EEE SSS =NEWSLETTER FOR
B B I T S B B Y T E S =INFORMATION
BBB III T SSS BBB Y T EEE SSS =HUNTER-GATHERERS
======================================================================
Volume 2, Number 6 (August 29, 1994)
======================================================================
: CONTENTS BY WEIGHT =
PARITY BITS : The Electronic Campfire; Concrete; =
: The Economy of Ideas; =
================: =
ACCESS : Woodstock Online; The Scout Report; CPU; =
: The Senate Health Bill; Interactive TV List; =
: Apple Computer Tech Support; E-Zine List =
================: =
ONLINE NEWS : Microsoft Online; International Accounting Network =
: First Commercial Mosaic Browser =
================: =
ON THE NEWSSTAND: PC Computing - Special Internet Issue; =
: Internet World ; WIRED =
================: =
KULTCHER KORNER : Punk Monks; Tupperware Online; Pizzanet =
======================================================================
Our opening quote is from the Preface to Applied Cryptography, =
which will be reviewed in an upcoming B&B =
======================================================================
THE ECONOMY OF IDEAS (Thomas Jefferson)
"If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of
exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an
idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps
it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into
the possession of everyone, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself
of it. Its peculiar character, too, is that no one possesses the less,
because every other possesses the whole of it. He who receives an idea
from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he
who lights his tapir at mine, receives light without darkening mine.
That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe,
for the moral and mutual instruction of man, and improvement of his
condition, seems to have been peculiarly and benevolently designed
by nature, when she made them, like fire, expansible over all space,
without lessening their density at any point, and like the air in
which we breathe, move, and have our physical being, incapable of
confinement or exclusive appropriation. Inventions then cannot, in
nature, be a subject of property."
=====
[This heads up quote heads up a piece entitled "The Economy of Ideas:
A framework for rethinking patents and copyrights in the digital age."
The author is John Perry Barlow, co-founder and executive chair of
the Electronic Freedom Foundation. The article appeared in WIRED
magazine (2.03 March 94, p. 85). True to the concepts the article
espouses, the full text of the article (and lots of other good stuff)
is available from WIRED's info-rama mail server. For instructions,
send a help message to: info-rama@wired.com]
======================================================================
<<<ACCESS>>> DIGITAL WOODSTOCK
Dig this, man! The groovy folks at the WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronic
Link), one of the premier online communities, are hosting a WWW hookup
to over 300 pages made by concertgoers at Woodstock '94 using a
special program called the Woodstock Immortalizer. Heavy. Grok people's
Tales from this new gathering of the tribes, groove to the mellow
sounds and dig the trippy pictures from Woodstock '94. Feel the colors.
BE the music. You get my drift. Just be careful not to blow your mind
-- what would your capitalist pig boss say? The site curator sez:
"THIS IS A BIG SITE!!! Lots to see and do!" So truck on down to:
URL: http://www.well.com/woodstock/
and flash back to those golden moments when time stood still and --
I forget what happened then...
======================================================================
CONCRETE (Lewis Shiner)
[obscenity alert- local sites edit as needed]
"... You know what I hate? The whining. The world is going to shit
according to him. Every day it's something else. He's watching this
baseball game, right? The manager shoves an umpire, the ump throws him
out, the crowd booes, maybe throws a few bottles. To my dad it's the
end of the fucking world. It's anarchy, man, the crowd is like pissing
on the American flag because they don't respect the umpire's
authority. I mean, who cares? It's just a stupid fucking game. Sure
things are shitty. They could drop the Big One any second and we could
all fry. You ever been to Pasadena? You can't even breathe the air
there, with all those refineries, I mean it's *brown*, you know? But
you got to go right on living. You can't sit around and cry because
they cut down some trees and pave everything. You don't cry about it,
man, you skate on it."
=====
(SOURCE: A fictional 13 year old skateboarding runaway in Lewis
Shiner's novel "Slam" Bantam, 1991. 234 pp. $8.50. A good "quick-
read" novel. Every time I pick up Slam, I end up re-reading it. I
really have to stop picking it up.)
======================================================================
<<<ACCESS>>> SENATE HEALTH BILL ONLINE
The full text of the Senate Health Bill, S. 2357, now being debated in
the Senate, is now available on the UM-St. Louis "The Library" gopher.
This extremely large document (app. 2.4 megabytes of ASCII text) has
been divided up into TITLE and SUBTITLE parts for easier access. To
access this item, point your gopher client at Internet address
UMSLVMA.UMSL.EDU (UM-St. Louis CMS users need only type "gopher" at
the CMS "Ready; " prompt) and choose the following menu options in the
order indicated:
The Library
Government Information
or
Health Sciences Library
Health Security Act (S. 2357 version 2, Mitchell, Aug. 8, 1994)
For those of you using World Wide Web clients (e.g., Unix's LYNX or
NCSA's MOSAIC) the URL for this item is:
gopher://UMSLVMA.UMSL.EDU:70/11//LIBRARY/GOVDOCS/S2357V2
(SOURCE: Fabio Metitieri's NEWNIRL-L mailing list)
======================================================================
"The recognition that no knowledge can be complete, no metaphor
entire, is itself humanizing. It counteracts fanaticism. It grants
even to adversaries the possibility of partial truth, and to oneself
the possibility of error.
-- Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave
======================================================================
CORPORATE NEWS BRIEF
==> HOW I.S. ORGANIZATIONS CAN TRIM COSTS. A study reported in PC Week
(June 20) identifies ways that six organizations trimmed their
total information systems costs by 20% to 80%. Key factors
included: reducing end-user support staff by using and/or
customizing shrink-wrapped software; outsourcing maintenance of
old applications, freeing in-house staff to concentrate on new
technologies; and securing commitment from top-down line-
management.
======================================================================
<<<ACCESS>> CPU: WORKING IN THE COMPUTER INDUSTRY
If you work in the computer industry, you may be interested in
subscribing to CPU, an electronic publication dedicated to sharing
information among workers in the computer industry. CPU is a project
of the "Working in the Computer Industry" working group of Computer
Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR). Every issue contains
useful information about the computer industry: first hand accounts of
life in the trenches, industry trends, a calendar of conventions, word
of the latest layoffs, and pointers to useful resources for computer
professionals.
Online subscriptions to CPU are available at no cost by emailing:
listserv@cpsr.org
with a blank subject and a single line in the body of the message:
SUBSCRIBE CPSR-CPU <your first name> <your last name>
CPU back issues can be found via anonymous FTP at either cpsr.org in
/cpsr/work or etext.archive.umich.edu in /pub/CPSR/work.
======================================================================
THE ONLINE WORLD
==> MICROSOFT'S MARVEL. Look for Microsoft to announce their online
service, codenamed Marvel, sometime in October. When Chicago
(the codename for Windows 4) ships sometime in 1995, it will
have out-of-the-box PPP (Point to Point Protocol) for accesing
the Internet, as well as an improved TCP/IP stack for easier
configuration of IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. The Marvel
software will no doubt also come bundled with the system. At
first, Marvel will allow access to a WWW server with information
about MS products and tech support, and upgrades and bug fixes
(this last could come in handy with Microsoft's habit of shipping
buggy version 1.0's). An automatic subscribe feature in Chicago
will provide push-button acccess to commercial online services.
Ultimately, MS wants to offer their own online service, and is
said to be negotiating with content providers. You can be sure
the other major services are a little nervous about the 800 pound
gorilla of the PC world honing in on their territory. Say what you
will about MS, eventually they get it right and have turned out
some fine products. (SOURCE: INFOWORLD 8/22/94, p. 5)
==> AIRMOSAIC. Spry Inc. will begin shipping AirMosaic, the first of
several announced commercial implementations of the popular
Mosaic WWW browser. Their version, for Window's users, will offer
an improved user interface and indexing tools. Additionally, the
program can be put into a Kiosk mode for the public viewing of
information. Future versions will offer tools for the construction
of multimedia documents. (SOURCE: INFOWORLD 8/22/94, p. 6)
==> ANET - THE INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING NETWORK. The "ANet" seeks to
to provide a networked, electronic forum for the exchange of
information and the discussion of issues in the broad accounting
and auditing discipline and a repository for a range of
information in the discipline. It includes a variety of electronic
mail discussion groups and an online database of information. A
gopher (URL: gopher://anet.scu.edu.au/11/anet) provides a variety
of services. For more information email: ANetAdm@scu.edu.au
or: rdebrece@scu.edu.au
======================================================================
THE ELECTRONIC CAMPFIRE (Pamela McCorduck)
[Laurie] Anderson has said that technology today is the campfire
around which we tell our stories. She reconsiders this idea. "Of
course, there's the attraction to light and to this kind of power,
which is both warm and destructive. We're especially drawn to the
power. Many of the images of technology are about making us more
powerful, extending what we can do. Unfortunately, 95 percent of this
is hype, because I think we're powerful without it." She thinks the
information superhighway is being oversold, and brings out a book
she's reading: Digital Woes (Why We Should Not Depend on Software) by
Lauren Ruth Weiner. She ticks off the examples that worry her:
unmanned supertankers to carry oil to Japan, software bugs that
overdose radiation therapy and kill cancer patients, even the car that
will parallel park itself, thanks to sensors, and wedge you into the
available space with an inch or two to spare. "But suppose you go to
the movies," Anderson continues, "come back, find yourself between
these two supercars, and you don't have the software -- you're in big
trouble. The information highway is being used mostly for tracking
people down in terms of debt and credit, not for tapping into the
Library of Congress, not really." (SOURCE: "America's Multi-
Mediatrix", WIRED 2.03, March 1994, p. 136)
======================================================================
KULTCHER KORNER
==> EX-MONKS CLAIM ROYALTIES FOR CD CHANT. Two ex-Benedictine monks in
Spain claim they are entitled to $5 million in royalties because
10 years ago they scored Chant, "The Best of Gregorian Chants"
that is top of the music charts (these crazy kids!). An attorney
for the distributor says, "This is part of a larger worldwide
frontal attack on the public domain. My personal opinion also is
that claiming to arrange this 1,000-year old chanted music is not
realistic."
(SOURCE: Atlanta Journal-Constitution 7/3/94, p. D6, E/P)
==> TUPP-NET. The barbarians are at the Internet gate. Oh, never mind.
They're here. Somebody bring them some tea sandwiches. Please tell
me this one is a cruel joke. This came via the Fringeware mailing
list. IRC by the way, stands for Internet Relay Chat -- it kind of
CBs in cyberspace, except (for now) you type instead of talk. I
have edited the following down so as not to blow anyone's mind.
=====================================
From: tuppnet@netcom.com (Virginia R Bedow)
Welcome to TuppNet!
TuppNet is an innovative new way to purchase Tupperware through
the Internet. There are three easy ways to purchase Tupperware
through TuppNet:
1. Email.
2. Public IRC parties. Every Wednesday at 6PM PDT TuppNet will
hold a public Tupperware party on UnderNet IRC. We will answer any
questions you may have. We will also be showing the latest
Tupperware products. You can follow along in the catalog (GIF and
text versions).
3. Private IRC parties. These are just like public IRC parties,
except you can host them and earn hostess gifts just like you
would at a regular Tupperware party. You set up a time and invite
your internet friends to join you. For more info email:
tuppnet@netcom.com or ftp: ftp.netcom.com:pub/tuppnet
==> PIZZANET. In a totally related story, the Santa Cruz Operation,
Inc. (SCO) and Pizza Hut, Inc. recently launched "PizzaNet," a
pilot program that enables computer users, for the first time in
history (fanfare please) to electronically order pizza delivery
from their local Pizza Hut restaurant via the worldwide Internet.
PizzaNet is a pilot program and will only be up and running in the
Santa Cruz area, but the company will be watching the results
carefully to determine the feasibility of expanding the program to
other cities in the U.S. and around the world. The custom PizzaNet
application software was developed by SCO's Professional Services
organization, and incorporates advanced NCSA Mosaic software. All
money changes hand at the point of delivery, so you will still
have to tip the delivery person. Santa Cruz Internet users can
access PizzaNet by entering pointing their Web brwsers to
http://www.pizzahut.com.
======================================================================
<<<ACCESS>>> THE INTERNIC SCOUT REPORT
The Scout Report is a weekly publication offered by InterNIC Information
Services to the US. research and education community and others via email,
gopher, and World Wide Web. Included are selected new and newly-discovered
online resources, network news, and bits of net culture.
A wide range of topics are included in the Report with an emphasis on
resources thought to be of interest to the InterNIC's primary
audience, the research and education community. Each resource has been
verified for substantial content and accessibility within a day of the
release of the Report. The Report is released every weekend.
SCOUT REPORT ACCESS METHODS:
(EMAIL)
Send mail to: majordomo@is.internic.net
in the body of the message, type: subscribe scout-report
To unsubscribe to the list, repeat this procedure substituting the
word "unsubscribe" for subscribe.
(WWW)
To access the hypertext version of the Report, point your WWW
client to: http://www.internic.net/infoguide.html
(GOPHER)
Gopher users can tunnel to: is.internic.net
select: Information Services/Scout Report.
===========
+ INTERACTIVE TELEVISION DISCUSSION LIST. I-TV is an Internet
distribution list for the discussion of Two-way Interactive TV and
its use in education and community development. The list is also
used to disseminate information and text files related to these
topics. I-TV is not moderated. Uploading of press releases is
encouraged. To subscribe to I-TV, please send the following
command in the body of your e-mail latter to:
LISTSERV@KNOWLEDGEWORK.COM on the Internet:
SUB I-TV yourfirstname yourlastname (SOURCE: Net-Happenings)
/\ + APPLE COMPUTER WORLDWIDE TECH SUPPORT
/ \ gopher: ftp.support.apple.com
/ /\ \
/ / \ \ +CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY c/o NTS Marketting, 1616 Main
/ / /\ \ \ Street, Lynchburg, VA 24504-24504. 800/854-9043.
/ / / \ \ \ Must reading for all you political types.
/ / / \ \ \
< < <ACCESS> > > +CHOICE IN DYING BBS. The nations first right-to-
\ \ \ __ / / / die BBS is now online at 212/727-8219. 24 hour a
\ \ __ / / day access to information on right-to-die issues and
\ \__/ / end-of-life planning
\ __ /
\__/ +ACCESS TO E-ZINES. John Labovitz maintains an annotated
\/ list of e-zines, or electronic counterculture magazines.
FTP: from /pub/Zines on etext.archive.umich.edu
GOPHER: etext.archive.umich.edu
WWW: http://www.ora.com:8080/johnl/e-zine-list/
+GO FLY A KITE. Everything you wanted to know about kites can
be found at the Oxford Brookes University, (UK) Gopher. Kite
reviews, kite festivals, kite tails, technical notes, access to
USENET kite groups and MORE! Point your gopher to:
URL: gopher://131.227.111.02:70/11\GOPHER\KITES
(SOURCE: gopher-jewels mailing list)
======================================================================
AS SEEN ON THE NET:
"We are Microsoft. Resistance is futile. We will assimilate you."
(You have to be a Star Trek fan to get this one folks.)
======================================================================
ON THE NEWSSTAND
==> PC COMPUTING. (September 1994) Special Issue: Complete Guide to
the I-Way. Subtitled "A Practical User's Guide", there is a lot of
useful info here, presented in an easy-to-read format. Aside from
the obligatory overview of the Internet, favorite Internet books
and online destinations, there are reviews of all the major one
size fits all Internet connectivity packages (Internet Chameleon,
Spry's Air Series, Pipeline -- as well as free and shareware
equivalents) and a comparison of ease of use in performing various
tasks (emailing, downloading files, accessing the Internet and
finding information) on the big three online services (America
Online, Compuserve and Prodigy). Also some business BBS info. Lots
of screen shots and various sidebars explaining basic terms and
detailing how various technologies work. Nicely done.
*NEWS FLASH!* The Net-Happenings list reports that newsstand
copies of PC Computing will have a 24.75" x 37.25" fold-out
ROAD MAP TO THE INTERNET! (Who said the information highway cliche
was dead? Not me.) Mike Pagel reports that the map is perfect for
those who are in the "toddler stages" of internet exploration. I
haven't seen it (yet) but the map highlights business resources,
as well a few recreational and just plain useful sites. Bill Drew,
reference Librarian at SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology
reports that subscribers to PC Computing, who do not receive the
map in their copies, may obtain one by calling 800/365-2770 and
verifying their subscription info.
==> INTERNET WORLD. (September 1994) I have to admit -- when Internet
World first came out I was not all that impressed with it. Geared
a little too much for beginners, not enough meat in the thing. But
little by little, it began to improve. This latest issue is quite
good -- and I'm not just saying this because IW is published by
MecklerMedia, parent corporation of MecklerWeb, where the WWW-
flavored version of Bits and Bytes Online Edition will debut (see
next issue for details). There are regular columns covering legal
issues, tips for beginner's, technical stuff and more. This issue
features articles on Encyclopedia Brittanica's foray onto the
Internet; NASA online; an interview with longtime certified net-
guru Vinton Cerf; sports on the Internet; and of course business
oportunities on the net. They've spiffed up the graphics too, and
kids, it looks mahvelous. Meckler rules! Now send me some review
copies! $4.95
==> WIRED. (September 1994). Will I ever shut up about WIRED magazine?
Probably not, not as long as they keep coming out with such
interesting material. This issues cover boy is Penn Gillette (the
talking half of Penn and Teller), but don't let that scare you.
In addition to the Teller interview (he's quite the computer
nerd), there are articles on Universal Sevice, insect-sized
robots, high-tech war games, why newspapers (online or otherwise)
suck, as well a plethora of news and reviews. At newsstands and
libraries everywhere! $4.95
======================================================================
She: My friends and I are teaching dolphins to communicate through
email.
He: I like to blow stuff up.
(SOURCE: Nicole Hollander, Newsweek, 5/16/94, p. 50)
======================================================================
### ADMINISTRIVIA ###
HEY SYSOPS! If you are archiving B&B on your BBS, please drop me a
note. I'd like to mention your BBS in B&B.
LETTERS. We welcome submissions and commentary. All mail sent to the
editor or to B&B will be treated as a "letter to the editor" and
considered printable, unless you tell me otherwise. Thanks to everyone
who's taken the time to write in. Sorry if I don't always write back.
(E/P) This symbol on some of the news items indicates that the source
for this article was the EDUPAGE newsletter. EDUPAGE is a bi-weekly
summary of recent news items on information technology, and is a
highly recommended "one-stop" source of news. To subscribe,
send e-mail to: listproc@educom.edu
containing the message: SUB EDUPAGE firstname lastname.
<<<ACCESS>>> BITS AND BYTES ONLINE EDITION
BY LISTSERVER:
Subscribe to B&B by sending email to listserv@acad1.dana.edu
text: SUBSCRIBE bits-n-bytes
To unsubscribe send a message to listserv@acad1.dana.edu
text: UNSUBSCRIBE bits-n-bytes
Retrieve back issues by sending email to listserv@acad1.dana.edu
text: send <filename>
in the body of your mail message, no subject.
Example: send bitsv1n1.txt
Issues 1-9: The file name is in the form: bitsv1n1.txt
Issues 10- : The file name is in the form: bits1n10.txt
(Remember to disable or delete your signature, as this will generate
an error message) (I'm not sure if all the back issues are available
yet. Watch this space)
ONLINE ACCESS.
B&B is available for downloading on America Online in their telecom
files area, and in Compuserve's telecom forum library, and on various
fine BBS systems all across this wunnerful wunnerful world of ours.
BBSs like the MICRO BBS in Denver, CO (303) 752-2943, and
UpTown Station (a node of BDPANet) at 402/551-4216.
INTERNET ANONYMOUS FTP SITES:
ftp.dana.edu in /periodic directory (DOS Users go here)
ftp.eff.org in pub/Publications/CuD/BNB/bnb????.gz
(where ???? is volume & number, e.g. bnb0116.gz) (UNIX users go here)
INTERNET GOPHER ACCESS.
gopher.law.cornell.edu
in the Discussions and Listserv archives/Teknoids directory
gopher.dana.edu in the Electronic Journals directory
======================================================================
= BITS AND BYTES ONLINE, an electronic newsletter for information- =
= based lifeforms, is printed using 100% recycled electrons, and is =
= intended for distribution IN THAT MEDIUM. Please contact the =
= editor for reprint permission. =
======================================================================
= Jay Machado = (Copyright 1994 Jay Machado) *unaltered* =
= 1529 Dogwood Drive = ELECTRONIC distribution of this file for =
= Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 = non-profit purposes is encouraged. =
========================== The editor is solely responsible for =
= jaymachado@delphi.com = the editorial content or lack thereof. =
========================== Contents are sold by weight, and may =
= ph (eve) 609/795-0998 = settle during shipment. =
======================================================================
=============== End of Bits and Bytes Online V2, #6 =================
======================================================================
