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Networks and Community Compiled 023
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NETWORKS AND COMMUNITY : May 9, 1994
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Networks and Community is devoted to encouraging
LOCAL resource creation & GLOBAL resource sharing.
The 17th report of 1994 is the 23rd weekly survey.
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Coverage in this issue includes:
Global Community
Joke of the Week
News From The World
Timely Thoughts
Profile: The Learning Link
Help!!!
Classes & Meetings
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Global Community
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I've changed the name of this column "From the Top" because a
wonderfully magic thing took place this week! Steve Cisler from
Apple Computer Library and Mario Morino of the Morino Foundation,
put together the "Ties That Bind" Conference on "Building
Community Networks". We have all been to seminars, conferences,
meetings, etc., but this gathering was much different from any
that I have ever attended. The energy that emanated from Cupertino
this past week can only be described as being like cellular data
transfer at 100 trillion bps.
The energy started building Wednesday afternoon as the registration
began. Old friends greeted each other warmly and newcomers were
accepted as peers. Faces of folks that up to this point I have
only known in the digital sense, took on a human persona. I had
to laugh when someone came up to me and said that they had
envisioned me as a short, older man! Hey, 44 isn't *THAT* old!
We listened to speakers from around the world sharing their
experiences. We got together in "Birds of a Feather" breakout
sessions to "solve" the world's problems. (And believe or not, might
actually have made a start at it!) We listened to Mario Morino
"Call" us "To Action", a VERY stirring speech BTW.
We decided at a BOF to continue and to grow the energy built up at
the conference by meeting online in the Communet listserv. If you
are not a subscriber to this list, think about subscribing. The
future of Global Community Networking has begun in earnest.
For those of you that recieve this newsletter through "can-freenet"
or "net-happenings" that do not want to subscribe to Communet, I
am archiving all "Ties that Bind" postings and will upload to those
lists, an edited synopsis of these postings as "Global Communities"
every once in a while.
-steve covington
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REQUEST FOR COMMENT
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From: Clark Rogers <SNARF@VMS.CIS.PITT.EDU>
Subject: Possibility of Community Information Network Conference in
Pittsburgh-94
To All:
A firm that I've done some consulting for here in Pittsburgh -- The infoWorks
Partnership -- is very seriously considering sponsoring and holding a national
conference on Community Information Networks here in Pittsburgh or in Baltimore
sometime during the last quarter of 1994.
I am considering retiring from my position at the University of Pittsburgh's
Graduate School of Public and International Affairs in the near future and
joining the infoWorks folks full-time. What they (i.e., we) need to know
is what interest is out there for this type of conference.
Based on the incredible response to Apple Library of Tomorrow's conference
in Cupertino, we feel there is a need for this type of conference.
Who would we want to see there?......
- Reps from C.I.N.s across the country and world
- Librarians
- Planners
- Government officials
- Private industry interested in community networks
- Information scientists
- Software reps who can contribute to the increased efficiency of these nets
- Reps from communities large and small interested in establishing a CIN
- Foundations
- Economic development officials
- Students
The list can go on and on and at the risk of offending audiences we didn't list
,
we know there are hundreds more that are interested.
The basic theme of the conference would be somewhat similar to what Apple is
in the process of successfully presenting now in Cupertino. (We were not able
to secure a space in time.) It would also have another important facet --
we would present speakers and officials from community information networks
who would provide a "How-to" for all present and interested in establishing
a community information network.
The infoWorks Partnership has found that most of the clients they've worked
with don't have the deep pockets or ample financial resources to bring in
a bevy of consultants to set up a network. This conference will provide
the networking (used as a verb here) opportunity for those folks, as well
as the information they need to start down that road independent of the
consultant for a time until they've arived at the point financially
and developmentally they are comfortable with the consultant putting on
the finishing touches.
It's awfully sketchy right now, but a very real possibility. infoWorks
needs to know, however, what interest would be out there for this. It
would likely be a 3 (maybe 4) day conference in Pittsburgh or Baltimore,
and registration fees would run appx. $85 - $100 (max) and would include
breakfast and lunch each day of the conference.
They have a good idea on the speakers they'll be bringing in, and they
will be both important and relevant to the community information network
field.
Let them know what you think (YES / NO). Thanks for the assistance, folks.
CD Rogers
Univ. of Pittsburgh
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Joke of the Week
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From: Barney Wolff
To: com-priv@psi.com
Subject: Re: 'Tis Futile to Petition the King
> Date: Sat, 07 May 1994 08:23:49 PDT
> From: Bill Frezza
> Has anyone thought about the means by which civil disobedience
might be > used to defeat Clipper?
Well, if you really, really want to, how about sending lots of messages
which truly are random gibberish? It will drive the decoders out of their
gourds, trying to break the code you're using underneath Clipper. Com-priv
archives should do nicely ...
Barney Wolff
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NEWS of the WIRED & WEIRD **** Received from various sources
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Forwarded by Gleason Sackman - InterNIC net-happenings moderator
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Subject: E-d-u-p-a-g-e 05/01/94 & 05/03/94 EDITED BY MYSELF
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COMMODORE CALLS IT QUITS
Commodore, a PC industry pioneer, is going out of business and
liquidating its assets for the benefit of its creditors. (Atlanta
Journal-Constitution 4/30/94 B3)
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR COMMERCIAL TECHNOLOGY
The Clinton Administration says it wants eventually to divert to
commercial technologies as much as 20% of the $25 billion now spent by
federal labs on military ventures; that would be up from about 5% under the
Bush Administration, which believed that if a technology has real
commercial promise it should be able to attract private investment.
Evidence of this shift was this week's announcement by the Defense
Department of a $1 billion 10-year program to underwrite the commercial
development of flat panel displays. (New York Times 5/1/94 Sec.3, p.3)
INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING'S NOT FOR EVERYONE
While companies are gearing up for a future of advertising via
digital glitz, one industry observer suggests that the most successful
efforts to sell interactively won't be all "full-motion video and
razzle-dazzle." Instead, the emphasis will be on providing information to
make an intelligent choice about big-ticket items, rather than everyday
consumer products. "There's a relatively small number of products and
services that people really want to have a relationship with," says a
professor of integrated marketing at Northwestern U. "I don't particularly
want to have a relationship with a plastic-garbage-bag manufacturer."
(Business Week 5/2/94 p.103)
WHO WILL CONTROL THE INFO HIGHWAY IN CANADA?
Telecom giant Bell Canada Enterprises urged the federal government
to end discussions and consultations and decide who gets to own and control
what -- particularly in the area of convergence. (Ottawa Citizen 4/28/94
C12)
WIRELESS E-MAIL
Bell Atlantic unveiled a system that can send digital information
such as electronic mail and computer files over cellular phone systems, for
as low as 16 cents a message. The services is available in Washington,
Baltimore and Pittsburgh; other cellular companies plan to roll out similar
services soon. (USA Today 4/29/94 1B)
CANADIAN PROVINCES HAVE NO TELECOM JURISDICTION
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled unanimously that the federal
government has exclusive jurisdiction over telecommunications -- a decision
that effectively strips the provinces of any regulatory say over the info
highway. Separatist forces in Quebec are expected to use the ruling as an
example of centralizing power by the federal government. (Toronto Globe &
Mail 4/27/94 B3) The leader of Quebec's separatist party proclaimed the
ruling a threat to Quebec's cultural sovereignty (Le Droit 4/28/94 p.16),
but Quebec's Premier says the decision will have no adverse effects on
Quebec's participation in global telecommunications (La Presse 4/28/94
B1).
ON-LINE MEDIA LIST
To get a list of the on-line addresses of newspapers, TV/radio
stations, and magazines that accept electronic submissions, send e-mail to:
majordomo@world.std.com with the message "subscribe medialist". (Tampa
Tribune 5/1/94 B&F1)
EMF ALERT
Consumer Reports warns that the electromagnetic field emanating
from a VDT is significantly stronger at the back and sides than at the
front. It suggests designing offices so that workers' exposure to the back
and sides of their neighbors' monitors is minimized. (Consumer Reports 5/94
p.359)
NO MORE FUTZING AROUND ... SOFTWARE TO BLOCK GAME-PLAYING
After learning that the average office worker spends five hours a
week "futzing" with computers, including trying to make them work properly
and playing games, bosses may be interested in a product by SBT Accounting
Systems that blocks such activity. (Telecommunications Policy Review
4/24/94 p.13)
UNIVERSITIES SHARE LIBRARY RESOURCES
Twelve universities have joined to form the Center for Library
Initiatives, whose objective is to create "a seamless whole" of on-line
information resources, to be "equally accessible to all students and
faculty." The libraries will continue to collect many of the same
materials, but also will have the option of sharing some. (Chronicle of
Higher Education 5/4/94 A25)
INTEL PREDICTS PRICE CUTS
Intel is leaking word to its customers regarding further price cuts
in the second half of this year. It's anticipated that the cost of an
entry-level Pentium chip will drop from $675 currently to $370 next fall.
(Wall Street Journal 5/3/94 B5)
TAKING A BYTE OUT OF RSI
Repetitive stress injuries are on the rise, and are estimated to
cost U.S. businesses as much as $20 billion a year. More than 60% of all
workplace illnesses are attributable to RSI, and some of the most serious
injuries come from using a mouse, says an expert on the subject. (Miami
Herald 5/2/94 C1) Meanwhile, the computer industry is beginning to respond
with a variety of "ergonomic" keyboards, designed to reduce RSI. The
keyboards go for anywhere from $179 to $1,200. (Investor's Business Daily
5/3/94 A4)
INTEL WANTS TO BE THE PC-EVERYTHING
Intel is betting its future on consumer electronics. "What I'm
after," says CEO Andy Grove, "is televisions and telephones and every
single-purpose appliance. The best way for us to go for the
250-million-unit market is to move video telephony and conferencing and
entertainment and information on to the PC and render those other things
less and less relevant." (Fortune 5/16/94 p.62)
CLIPPER CHIP DEBATE CONTINUES
A Palo Alto-based organization of Internet users, cryptographers
and leading companies delivered to the White House a petition with 47,000
signatures of individuals opposed to the Clipper Chip, which would give the
government keys to decode private electronic messages and make it easier
for law enforcement agencies to conduct legal wiretaps on digital devices,
including wireless phones, computers and facsimile machines. (San Francisco
Chronicle 4/30/94)
TECHNOLOGY AND JOURNALISM ARE LIKE A SANDWICH
"Baloney," said newspaper publisher Charles T. Brumback, CEO of the
Tribune Company of Chicago, when asked whether "technology-obsessed"
newspaper executives have forgotten about old-fashioned good journalism.
(New York Times 5/2/94 C7)
TO GET A BBS RUNNING, GET RUNNING KIDS
Four print services that have their own online BBSs are Oil & Gas
Journal's Electronic Transfer; Teleconnect's Teleconnect BBS; New York
Magazine Online; and Lexis Counsel Connect. An executive of one of these
proprietary services says the only problem is that "you need to have young
kids running around with the machinery all the time, answering it, checking
it." (Folio 5/1/94 p.50)
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Timely Thoughts
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Sender: can-freenet@cunews.carleton.ca
From: SAMSAM@VM1.YorkU.CA
Subject: PGP. legal too.
Sender: ccc-owner@ufl.edu
Forwarded from the Cypherpunks:
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announces that it will
shortly distribute PGP version 2.5, incorporating the RSAREF 2.0
cryptographic toolkit under license from RSA Data Security, Inc.,
dated March 16, 1994. In accordance with the terms and limitations of
the RSAREF 2.0 license of March 16, 1994, this version of PGP may be
used for non-commercial purposes only.
PGP 2.5 strictly conforms to the conditions of the RSAREF 2.0 license
of March 16, 1994. As permitted under its RSAREF license, MIT's
distribution of PGP 2.5 includes an accompanying distribution of the
March 16, 1994 release of RSAREF 2.0. Users of PGP 2.5 are directed
to consult the RSAREF 2.0 license included with the distribution to
understand their obligations under that license.
This distribution of PGP 2.5, available in source code form, will be
available only to users within the United States of America. Use of
PGP 2.5 (and the included RSAREF 2.0) may be subject to export
control. Questions concerning possible export restrictions on PGP 2.5
(and RSAREF 2.0) should be directed to the U.S. State Department's
Office of Defense Trade Controls.
===============================================================================
=
John Paul O'Brien, Network Analyst
Cisco Systems, Inc., 1525 O'Brien Drive
Menlo Park, California 94026
Vox: 415.688.8219;Fax: 415.688.4575;Page: 415.428.6398 mail: jpobrien@cisco.com
(end of forwarded message)
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PROFILES by Kathy Berglund
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Subject: Learning Link in Idaho
The dedication of one man, Mr. Robert Pyle, and the sponsorship of Idaho
Public Television (IPTV), have allowed the children and the teachers in
this very rural state to reach out to each other as a community and into the
wider world via the internet. IPTV provides high quality educational
television broadcasts and services to the people of the state of Idaho. Bob
Pyle, with support from the staff of IPTV, is responsible for the entire
operation of Learning Link in Idaho.
Learning Link is an online service provided free of charge to every public
school teacher in the state. Without even the expense of a long distance
call, teachers have access to teaching materials and lesson plans which are
coordinated with public television broadcasts. Also included in the Learning
Link services are internet e-mail, statewide discussion areas for
teachers, students and the general public, education-related national
newsgroups and forums, and many other features designed to move the people
of Idaho off the dead-end of the "Information Superhighway."
All of this is provided largely through the foresight of Jerold Garber, the
General Manager of Idaho Public Television who brought Learning Link to
Idaho and the endless work of Bob Pyle. Bob is the system operator and he
also provides most of the training needed for the full use of Learning Link
to teachers and whole school systems in this state. He maintains and
repairs the system, installs and modifies the system software and hardware,
and answers technical questions (even FAQs!) with great patience and
respect.
Bob has described some of the history of Learning Link in the United States,
and its adoption by IPTV and also other states, institutions and countries.
The public broadcasting station WNET in New York City was attempting to
create a system by which educators could interact directly and easily with
those who were running the television station. A man named Bob Spielvogel
developed the original Learning Link system. In 1987 IPTV became the sixth
site in the country to adopt the Learning Link concept. All the sites were
joined by a system called Linknet, Inc. which eventually included
twenty-five sites. In 1993 Linknet, Inc. sold Learning Link the Public
Broadcasting System (PBS) which has plans to expand it to one hundred
ninety-six sites.
Each Learning Link site is an independent organization. This independence
is the source of many of the advantages as well as many of the persistent
challenges. Learning Link can be very responsive to the needs and to the
customs of those who use it. Information and services provided can be
introduced and/or discontinued as the abilities and the demands of those
users change. It is still possible to make a direct call to "the top" to
ask questions or offer suggestions. Idaho is still a very conservative
state and this responsiveness and independence has made it possible to
introduce new ideas and methods at a rate at which they can be accepted
easily.
The challenges facing Learning Link in Idaho are often formidable. This is
a shoestring operation and finding funding to keep the system operating is
often a daunting task. One month this year the long distance bills for the
toll-free telephone numbers (which allow rural public school teachers to
have access to the system) ran to over four thousand five hundred dollars
alone. The system requires constant attention and maintenance and the
hardware is often outdated. Much of the content of the system has to be
created locally and this, plus all of the training of new users and the
creation of support materials for this training is done by basically one
person.
Like anyone who is responsible for more than one full-time job, Bob often
has to deal with the discouraging feeling that more work could have been
done or that it could have been done better. He says that if he could, he
would just concentrate on his real area of expertise: the technological
aspect of the system. In the future he would like to see Learning Link in
Idaho expanded into a freenet which would connect schools, libraries, public
and government agencies, and the general public to each other and to the
whole Internet. This ideal state of affairs does not seem to be coming any
time soon. While he is very grateful to accept volunteer labor (and
donations!) it appears that if the Learning Link system is to continue in
Idaho, Bob Pyle will have to continue working his four full-time jobs alone.
-- Kathy Berglund
<z0110709@idptv.idbsu.edu>
Garfield School
Boise,ID
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HELP!!!
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From: Lori Atwater <latwater@CALLAMER.COM>
Subject: Request for Information
SLONET, the public information access system for San Luis Obispo County,
is seeking the following information:
1. Draft job description for an execitive director position. Could be
modeled after the NPTN executive director position.
2. Conferencing software to substitute for "moo".
3. A database which works well with gopher menus. Oracle may be too
cumbersome to implement.
Thank you for your suggestion.
Lori Atwater
Information Systems Coordinator
City of San Luis Obispo
Member, SLONET Steering Committee
latwater@callamer.com
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Subject: DOS WWW Software
From: Peter Webster - Library <PWEBSTER@admin.stmarys.ca>
Our University is in the annoying position of not having the network
capacity to run Windows on our DOS based LAN system. This problem
will be fixed in a year or so, but in the mean time one of our
problems is that we have no internet access to World Wide Web
resources.
Does anyone know of an shareware or otherwise DOS World Wide Web
software? If so where can I get it?
Or, alternately has anyone hear of any work on producing a DOS
version of Lynx
Thanks for any assistance
Respond to me directly at PWEBSTER@ADMIN.starys.ca
Peter Webster, Coordinator, Special Services, Patrick Power Library,
Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3C3
Phone 902 420 5507 Fax 902 420 5561
e-mail: Pwebster@Admin.stmarys.ca
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From: "LANNING, ROBERT" <LANNING@AFSVA5.AFSV.AF.MIL>
Subject:Information delivery via kiosks
Has anyone successfully implemented (or at least studied)
information delivery to customers via kiosks? Specifically, I'm
looking for kiosks placed AWAY from the library in various locations
such as town square, shopping center/mall, or campus hangouts. An
FAQ would be extremely helpful.
Many thanks,
Robert Lanning
Air Force Library and Information System
10100 Reunion Place, Suite 401
San Antonio TX 78216-4138
(210)652-3037
Internet: lanning@afsva5.afsv.af.mil
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CLASSES & MEETINGS OF INTEREST
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Forwarded by Gleason Sackman - InterNIC net-happenings moderator
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: karen@baku.eece.unm.edu
(Karen Haines)
National Information Infrastructure (NII) Summer Institute:
Technology, Applications, and Policy
University of New Mexico,
Albuquerque, New Mexico
August 6-10, 1994
General Chair: Gregory E. Shannon, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Program Chair: Thomas P. Caudell, ICS Group, University of New Mexico
Institute Director: Karen Haines, ICS Group, University of New Mexico
This summer institute will provide:
* Interaction with national experts in NII research, technologies,
applications, policy, and culture.
* Broad knowledge in NII issues as preparation for for NII-related work.
* A common experience with other students and a network of aquaintances.
* Exposure to NII-related research opportunities
at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of New Mexico.
There are no tuition fees associated with the workshop or the workshop
facilities. As a part of completing the application below, each
applicant is requested to include a short statement of her/his research
interests. Approximately 50 student slots are available for attendance.
Students fellowships are also available for travel and local expenses.
For more information, send e-mail to nii@eece.unm.edu.
***** REGISTRATION DEADLINE: JUNE 1, 1994 *****
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NETWORKS and COMMUNITY is a result of the work of people located
throughout the global Internet community. Net facilities for the
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Communications Service, Inc. Editing is done by myself.
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This newsletter is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN and may be used as you
see fit. To contribute items or enquire about this newsletter
Contact Stephen Covington <cvington@netcom.com>
.
