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Networks and Community Compiled 026
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NETWORKS AND COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER : May 31, 1994
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Networks and Community is devoted to encouraging LOCAL resource creation &
GLOBAL resource sharing.
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The 20th report of 1994 is the 26th weekly survey.
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Coverage in this issue includes:
Global Community
News From The World
New Freenet - Seattle Community Network
Internet Services - D.I.I.G. - Giftednet - I.C.I
Internet Tools - HTMLASST for Windows (tm)
Meeting - World Conference of Jewish Communal Service - Global Networking
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Global Community
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THE ONLINE "TIES THAT BIND" COMMUNITY NETWORKING CONFERENCE on COMMUNET
On May 23,1994, Patrick Finn <patfinn@UNM.EDU> asked,
The question of "who WE are" is still an important one. I would
like to suggest that WE find out who WE are before we go too far down the
path. A starting point might be people who are building communtiy
networks or thinking about building networks, that would include
independent projects and freenets and whatever else is out there We all
need the same info and will be dealing with the same issues as we move
toward meeting our goals.
The question is "What is the common ground?"
I don't think WE need to be afraid of an experiment, let's try something
and see what emerges. Nothing ventured..
Partick J Finn
La Plaza TeleCommiunity Foundation
Taos, NM
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In the days since the conference, these & other folks have tried to answer
that question:
(all responses excerpted from Communet posts to "re: Ties etc")
********
Joan C. Durrance, Assoc. Prof, University of Michigan, School of Info. &
Library Studies.
"The flavor of the conference began to unfold at the airport. I shared a
limo to the hotel with a freenet organizer from Texas (who I found out
later was one of the CPB award winners), a Colorado sysop of a
marketing bulletin board, the manager of a BBS for science teachers in
the state of New Mexico who seeks to develop a multicultural approach,
and an advocate of citizen democracy from a non-profit in Washington,
DC. We bonded on the 15 minute trip to Cupertino. Five people with
diverse backgrounds and experience who looked forward to sharing and
learning about community network ties over the next several days. "
********
From: Ken Loss-Cutler <kenlc@TENET.EDU>
" INTENSE!
The other highpoint, for me, was the ad hoc breakout session that evolved
in the cafe Friday afternoon. Nancy Willard, from Eugene Oregon,
facilitated a discussion that lasted over two hours. Steve C. had to
virtually beg us to adjourn for the final session in another room <grin>
(he finally resorted to wheeling in an iced-down keg/carrot-on-a-stick).
It worked. But not before the group of 32 people (by my count) had
discussed essential elements of a plan for action for the community
networking movement. We'll have to wait for Nancy's posting of the notes
she took on our discussions, but I felt like we made strong progress in
defining and, in some cases, taking on essential goals. More important,
I believe we bonded in a way that we would not have without that session.
(Thanks, Nancy) "
********
"The work of creating equality lies in our hands, we already "have", let's
give it to those who don't. Even down the road there will always be those
who don't have this tool. So the job is to create the interface that will
reach those people. We must use our imagination and creativity to build
the ties that bind, the link, to those who will never use a mouse, a
keyboard or a touch screen. "
Patrick J. Finn
La Plaza TeleCommunity Foundation
********
From: "Kari Peterson (kapeterson@ucdavis.edu)
"awesomely complicated (this is a global phenomenon, it involves a
coalition of interests, sectors and needs that is larger than life and
too hard to bring under a single umbrella.)"
********
"Community is what we are building in each
of our own ways, but isn't community really a collection of individual
relationships? Community encompasses more than that. It encompasses an
overall atmosphere as well, but what is the basis of community? I think
the basis for community is strong personal relationships between members of
the community. I can't think of anything else that could be the key
component of what we call "community."
-- -- Grant Bowman Planning Director,
SV-PAL -- grantbow@svpal.org Silicon Valley Public Access Link
********
"A community is a group of people united by the common
objects of their love." That incorporates three critical elements:
shared values, unity, and intimacy...
Ed Schwartz, Institute for the Study of Civic Values, Edcivic@delphic.com
********
********
Who are "we"?
What is the common ground?
"WE" are librarians, teachers, doctors, programmers, students,
scientists, consultants, lawyers, firefighters, police officers, nurses;
actually, we represent just about every profession known. "WE" are
idealistic, pragmatic, energetic folks with a strong sense of "global
community". "WE" are probably the last remnants of a society that
"really" believes "all are created equal". At the risk of sounding
melodramatic, maybe we are! "WE" worry about connectivity for the
"have nots". "WE" are the folks that are accused of being "Socialists"
when we post to the Comm-Priv list!
The "Ties That Bind" conference was possibly the "Woodstock"
of the Community Computing movement. We must re-harness the momentum
that was so prevalent at Cupertino. We need to link our systems together
both by wire and organizationally. There are many established groups
already in existence. Could they be informally linked together (with
other interested parties) to form an International Community Computing
Alliance? Or do we want to form a separate coalition of systems to
co-ordinate legislative action while the "window" is open as Mario Marino
so aptly stated?
My feeling is that a *NEW* organization should be set up to take
advantage of the loose unification that was shared by the participants of
the Conference. As we have seen "post" conference, many of those that
could not attend share our enthusiasm but feel a loss at having missed
such a "watershed" event.
To become a viable, cohesive organization, we would have to
*focus* on as Patrick Finn put it, a "Common Ground". We need to distill
this discussion down to three or four issues to accomplish a our goals.
After having audited this discussion since the conference, I have noticed
that the topics of cost, universal access to both the tools and the
Internet, political-social-economic effect on society, and on-going
lobbying are most often discussed. Of course there are others, but
these offer a platform from which to start.
In any case, something should be started soon. This is an
election year. We should be approaching Congress with a unified,
energetic, logical, attainable vision. If we do not do it, a void will
be created allowing commercial interests to determine community for us.
Think about this, discuss the heck out of it, but let's get
moving on something! It's too important to let pass by.
-steve covington
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NEWS of the WIRED & WEIRD **** Received from various sources
##########################################################################
Forwarded by Gleason Sackman - InterNIC net-happenings moderator
*************************************************************************
Subject: E-d-u-p-a-g-e 05/21/94 through 05/28/94 EDITED BY MYSELF
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DOES INFO HIGHWAY SHUN THE POOR?
A study backed by groups including the Consumer Federation of
America and the NAACP charges that the advanced communications now being
planned and built are shunning poorer neighborhoods and minority
populations, in what amounts to "electronic redlining" -- designating
neighborhoods as bad for business. One industry spokesman, US West's Jerry
Brown, counters: "To say that we're going to stay out of areas permanently
is dishonest and ridiculous. But we had to start building our network
someplace. And it is being built in areas where there are customers we
believe will use and buy the service. This is a business." (New York Times
5/24/94 C5)
AMERICANS LIKE TECHNOLOGY
Almost one of every three households has a personal computer, and
65% of computer users say they would miss their machine "a lot" if they no
longer had it. The study, which was done by Times Mirror Center for the
People & the Press, also found that people with computers spend less time
watching TV entertainment. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 5/24/94 A1)
CAMPUSES WRESTLE WITH COMPUTER CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Campuses are increasingly dealing with computer-originated crime
and mischief -- everything from bomb and death threats, to racist and
sexual harassment, to forged messages such as one at Dartmouth that caused
students to believe an important exam was canceled. While some students
have called for a detailed list of computer commandments, campus officials
are wary of limiting their disciplinary discretion. "If you make a long
list of dos and don'ts, you are cajoling students into thinking, `How can I
squeeze through that?' You should be making them think, `Should I be doing
that?'" says a computer science professor at Kansas State. (Chronicle of
Higher Education 5/25/94 A19)
CYBERNOUGHTS ARE IN MINORITY
Reporting on intense criticism on the net about a May 16th Newsweek
article that had "sweeping generalizations" about the differences between
the way men and women think and feel about computers, New York Magazine
columnist Jon Katz decides that "the larger truth is harassers, pedophiles,
and macho men constitute a fraction of the millions of ordinary people who
use the more than 33,000 computer bulletin boards for work, news, research,
shopping, business, marketing, and personal communications..." (New York
Magazine 5/30/94 p.16)
MFS OFFERS TRANSATLANTIC SERVICE
MFS Communications will offer trans-Atlantic advanced
telecommunications services via its private fiber optic network and
asynchronous transfer mode switching equipment. The company is targeting
multinational banks and investment firms in the U.S. and the U.K. that need
high-speed voice, video and data communications capability. (Wall Street
Journal 5/25/94 B3)
INFO SUPERHIGHWAY WILL SPARK COMPETITION
American Banker's Management Strategies (May 23) predicts a surge
in competition among banks, mutual funds companies, insurance companies and
other financial services firms, once the information superhighway becomes a
reality and customers can track investment activities on their TV (or PC)
screens. (Investor's Business Daily 5/25/94 A4)
BOOKS ARE FOREVER, SAYS AUTHOR
Fiction Pulitzer Prize winner E. Annie Prouix says that the
information highway is "for bulletin boards on esoteric subjects, reference
works, lists and news -- timely, utilitarian information, efficiently
pulled through the wires. Nobody is going to sit down and read a novel on a
twitchy little screen. Ever." (New York Times 5/26/94 A13)
* E D U C O M * U P D A T E * 05/23/94
EVENTS
*Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory, 11th Annual Symposium and Open
House. University of Maryland at College Park, MD, June 13-14. This
conference will highlight such topics as laying the foundation for the
information superhighway, and concepts, design and evaluation of
superteaching in the electronic classroom. Contact: Teresa Casey, e-mail
tcasey@cs.umd.edu.
*National Education Supercomputer Program (NESP). Roseville, MN, June
15-18. An institute intended for those teachers currently participating
in the NESP and would like to expand knowledge of the resource. To
receive an application form, call 612-638-8780 or send an e-mail request
to: halvor@TIES.K12.MN.US.
*Gateways and Productivity: How to Do Business on the Internet and Other
Interactive Media. University of Massachusetts, Amherst campus,
Montague, MA, June 23. Six Practitioners address the political issues of
using the "information superhighway" as it exists today. Topics covered
include interactive advertising, workgroup computing, use of information
networks to achieve competitive advantage, and strategies for promoting
Internet usage within an organization. Contact: Jean Graef at Montague
Institute, 413-367-0245 or e-mail OGUJGRA@dpc01.dpc.umassp.edu.
*National Information Infrastructure: Corporate Planning and Government
Policy. Cambridge, MA, June 27-29. Business leaders, technology managers
and public sector, non-profit, and academic leaders are invited to
attend this M.I.T.-sponsored conference, which will survey the
realignment of industry, business, and government, due to the
convergence of communications and computer technologies. Contact: Trish
Ezekiel at 617-253-1703 or e-mail trishs@.mit.edu.
*1994 International Symposium on Mathematics/Science Education and
Technology. Theme: "Emerging Issues and Trends." San Diego, CA, July 21-
23. Contact: 1994 Symposium, AACE at 804-973-3987 or e-mail
AACE@Virginia.Edu.
*The World Future Society presents, "Toward a New Millennium: Living,
Learning, and Working." Boston, MA, July 24-26. The conference is
expected to address the implications of current and future trends in
society, technology, and values. Contact: The World Future Society at
800-989-8274.
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Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
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New Freenet
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This message was posted to Communet recently. Welcome (almost) online!
*************************
Community Focus on "Information Superhighway"
Community Introduction to SCN, a New FREE Public-Access Computer System
After 2 1/2 years of effort we are happy to announce the unveiling of the
Seattle Community Network, a public-access computer network system that
is FREE to use. SCN is the local affiliate of the National Public
Telecomputing Network or NPTN, the network of community computer systems
across the US and the world.
We will be giving a "Community Introduction" at the Seattle Public
Library on June 7th and will be giving a live demo. Of course you're
all invited - but some of you probably won't be able to attend. If you'd
like help us christen the system from long-distance we'd love to hear
from you. To contribute a welcome message just send us a note at
welcome@scn.org.
Good luck to us all!
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Internet Services: D. I. I. G. *** Giftednet List *** I C I
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From: SAMSAM@VM1.YorkU.CA
=========================================================================
Folks - register your free-nets and civic nets. Lets make sure that the
"heart" of the Global Information Infrastructure is documented too!
=========================================================================
Digital Information Infrastructure Guide (DIIG)
DIIG@farnsworth.mit.edu
------------------------
Included Message:
The MIT Research Program on Communications Policy at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology is proud to announce the release of the
Digital Information Infrastructure Guide (DIIG).
What is DIIG?
---------------
The Digital Information Infrastructure Guide (DIIG) is an online resource to
facilitate the development of the National Information Infrastructure (NII).
DIIG is intended to provide government, business and academic leaders
with easy access to information about current research project(s) and
critical public and private initiatives being developed for tomorrow's
information infrastructure. Specifically, DIIG documents research conducted
by NII stakeholders and models the interaction between NII stakeholders and
their interests. DIIG will provide an invaluable impartial data resource for
coordinating and guiding the development of the National Information
Infrastructure.
How do I access DIIG?
-----------------------
DIIG is available in "gopherspace" and in World Wide Web "hypertextspace".
If you have a WWW client (e.g. Mosaic), open URL
http://farnsworth.mit.edu/
If you are using a gopher client (e.g. Turbogopher), point it at
farnsworth.mit.edu (Port 70)
Highlights of DIIG:
---------------------
o A collection of profiles of 37 NII-related projects and
institutions.
o A collection of information from over 30 other NII-related projects.
o Links to NII information at 25 other gopher servers, including
ACE, CPSR, CCN, EFF, HPCC, IITF, ISOC, NSF, NIST, NASA and InterNIC.
o A collection of Bills, Public Laws and Regulations dealing with
communications.
My project is helping to build the NII, but it is not in DIIG.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Send an email to diig@farnsworth.mit.edu
You will be sent a survey that will be included in DIIG. You are also
welcome to submit any other relevant material to be included in DIIG.
Whom do I contact for more information about DIIG?
---------------------------------------------------
Russell Rothstein
MIT Research Program on Communications Policy
One Amherst Street
MIT, E40 - 218
Cambridge, MA 02139
+1-617-253-6828
+1-617-253-7326 (Fax)
diig@farnsworth.mit.edu
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**************************************************************************
Sender: owner-net-happenings@is.internic.net
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Fabio Metitieri <METITIER@ITOCSIVM.CSI.IT>
Subject: Internet Computer Index announcement
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Attached is the highlights of the press release we just issued. I think
that people on the NEWNIR mailing list will be particularly interested in
this service, given its bredth. Please feel free to tell others about it!
Internet Computer Index Centralizes Information about Computers
-- Free service gives easy access to widely-dispersed Internet resources --
Santa Cruz, California -- May 16, 1994 -- For the first time, Internet
users can find anything available on the Internet about computers in one
central location. The Internet Computer Index (ICI), created by Proper
Publishing, tells users them everything that is known on the Internet about
PCs, Macintoshes, and Unix systems. Additional information is also
available on ICI that isn't available anywhere else on the Internet.
Further, ICI is supported by commercial sponsors who add up-to-date
information about their products to the ICI service.
ICI uses the popular World Wide Web and Gopher systems to distribute its
information. Using attractive, informative menus and hypertext, ICI gives
up-to-date connections and pointers to the other freely-available
information on the Internet. Anyone on the Internet, anywhere in the
world, can access ICI 24 hours a day at no charge.
Description of ICI
The Internet Computer Index (ICI) is an easy-to-use, free service that
leads Internet users to all of the information available on the Internet
relating to PCs, Macintoshes, and Unix computers. ICI is the Internet's
only one-stop, resource-locating service, helping users locate any
information related to computers that is available on the Internet more
easily and efficiently that ever before possible. ICI users can find out
answers to their hardware and software questions, solve networking
problems, research buying decisions, and keep up-to-date with their
systems. Using Gopher or World Wide Web client software, any user on the
Internet, anywhere in the world, can get the most up-to-date information
including pointers to all Usenet news groups, mailing lists, Gopher and
World Wide Web servers, anonymous FTP sites, and other Internet-specific
resources.
In order to make searching easy, ICI is organized as hierarchical menus of
information. For each type of computer system (PC, Macintosh, or Unix),
there is a menu that lists the type of Internet resources that describe
that system. Most people will be only interested in one of the three main
areas, but other can easily traverse between the three through cross-links.
Users can search through Internet resources including:
* Usenet news groups
* mailing lists
* Gopher servers
* World Wide Web servers
* anonymous FTP sites
* frequently asked question files (FAQs)
* online publications
* commonly-downloaded files
In addition, ICI freely provides information that is not available anywhere
else on the Internet. For example, the Macintosh and PC sections allow
users to search through indexes of reviews from popular magazines since
January 1993. Further, ICI also lets users search through the messages from
relevant Usenet news groups for topics of interest. In the future, Proper
Publishing will add more original content to ICI as a service to the
Internet community.
Accessing ICI
To reach ICI using a Gopher program, enter "ici.proper.com" as the host name.
To reach ICI using a World Wide Web program such as Mosaic, enter
"http://ici.proper.com" as the Universal Resource Locator (URL).
Public contact: Send email to info@proper.com
##########################################################################
Internet Tools - HTMLASST for Windows - WWW Hypertext Editor
##########################################################################
This was forwarded by : owner-net-happenings@is.internic.net, I downloaded
it, and set it up to use with Mosaic. I've had only about an hour with it
so far, no problems yet, seems pretty stable. As that guy on the cable
channel says, check it out! (sc)
From: harawitz@fox.nstn.ns.ca (Howard Harawitz)
Subject: HTML Assistant FAQ is available
A preliminary FAQ for the MS Windows based hypertext editor
"HTML Assistant" has been posted and is available on the Web.
The URL is: "file://ftp.cs.dal.ca/htmlasst/htmlafaq.htm".
It also contains links for downloading the editor software.
The FAQ can also be obtained as plain text via FTP at:
ftp.cs.dal.ca /htmlasst/htmlafaq.txt
Howard Harawitz
harawitz@fox.nstn.ns.ca
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MEETING of INTEREST
##########################################################################
From: Dov Winer <viener@bgumail.bgu.ac.il>
Subject: World Conference of Jewish Communal Service - Global Networking
World Conference of Jewish Communal Service
Conseil Mondial des Services Communautaires Juifs
Conferencia Mondial del Servicio Comunitario Judio
==================================================
Jerusalem, Israel, July 4-7 1994
Shalom,
The World Conference of Jewish Communal Service will take
place from Monday to Thursday, 4-7 July 1994, in the Ramada
Renaissance Hotel in Jerusalem following the tradition of
convening it in Israel every four years (W.C.J.C.S.).
This conference gathers from all parts of the world
professionals in the areas of education and community:
educators from the Diaspora and non-formal education
specialists, family counsellors, community workers, social
workers, consultants in the area of public health, geriatric
workers and more.
The participation of representatives from the Jewish
communities from East Europe and South America will be
emphasized this year in addition to the usual presence
of involved representatives and leadership of Communities
from North America, Europe and Israel.
During the Conference four days several activities like
conferences, workshops and visits witll take place.
The present period of changes in the Jewish community in
particular and in the world gives a particular importance to
the meeting of professionals from Israel and the world, for
mutual listening and fertilization not only concerning the
professional areas but as a mean of strenghtening relations
within the Jewish Diaspora.
Your participation at the Conference will contribute to the
advancement of the Jewish professional community.
For further information you can either use reply to this email
message or contact:
Secretariat: P.O.B. 50006 Tel Aviv 61500 Israel
Tel: (972-3) 5174571 TLX: 341171 KENS IL
Fax: (972-3) 5175674 660326
===============================================================================
Global Jewish Networking in the
World Conference of the Jewish Communal Service
==============================================
A session dedicated to the Global Jewish Information Network
has been included in the program of the Congress.
Current projects being carried in the framework of the
network and relevant to community work will be presented.
We expect to be able to furnish all interested participants
with direct experiences of the potential of networking for
community integration and professional development. Pointers
will be given to all Jewish information available and to
professional forums relevant to the participants needs.
Information and materials necessary for getting a connection
back when returning home will be distributed.
Prof. Armand Lauffer, head of the Projec STAR at the
University of Michigan School of Social Work has already
volunteered his help and his students assistance for
participants willing to get connected to the network after the
conference.
The program for Global Jewish Networking at the Conference is
being established by a committee leaded by Prof. Daniel
Elazar, chairman of the Steering Committee of the Global
Jewish Information Network Project.
You are invited to participate and to call the attention of
participants coming from your community to this session.
We expect the Conference and the networking session to become
a landmark in the evolution of Global Jewish Networking.
Best regards,
Dov Winer
Ben Gurion University
viener@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
==========================================================================
Global Jewish Information Network
telnet www.huji.ac.il login: JEWISHNET
To subscribe to - JEWISHNT
send to LISTSERV@BGUVM.BGU.AC.IL the message:
SUBscribe JEWISHNT <full name of subscriber>
##########################################################################
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"Subscriptions" are available through the generosity of the Listowner for
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Additional distribution is assisted by the managers and owners of
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This newsletter is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN, with the exception of
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To contribute items or enquire about this newsletter, contact
Stephen Covington <cvington@netcom.com>
.
