M, or feel like playing a new game on your Amiga, you'll be able to get it from the Net. But there are also libraries of documents as well. If you want a copy of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, you can find it on the Net. Copies of historical documents, from the Magna Carta to the Declaration of Independence are also yours for the asking, along with a translation of a telegram from Lenin ordering the execution of rebellious peasants. You can also find song lyrics, poems, even summaries of every "Lost in Space" episode ever made. You can also find extensive files detailing everything you could ever possibly want to know about the Net itself. First you'll see how to get these files; then we'll show you where they're kept. The commonest way to get these files is through the file transfer protocol, or ftp. As with telnet, not all systems that connect to the Net have access to ftp. However, if your system is one of these, you'll be able to get many of these files through e-mail (*note Advanced E-mail::.). Starting ftp is as easy as using telnet. At your host system's command line, type ftp site.name and hit enter, where "site.name" is the address of the ftp site you want to reach. One major difference between telnet and ftp is that it is considered bad form to connect to most ftp sites during their business hours (generally 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time). This is because transferring files across the network takes up considerable computing power, which during the day is likely to be needed for whatever the computer's main function is. There are some ftp sites that are accessible to the public 24 hours a day, though. You'll find these noted in the list of ftp sites. How do you find a file you want, though? Until a few years ago, this could be quite the pain - there was no master directory to tell you where a given file might be stored on the Net. Who'd want to slog through hundreds of file libraries looking for something? ALAN EMTAGE, BILL HEELAN and PETER DEUTSCH, students at McGill University in Montreal, asked the same question. Unlike the weather, though, they did something about it. They created a database system, called archie, that would periodically call up file libraries and basically find out what they had available. In turn, anybody could dial into archie, type in a file name, and see where on the Net it was available. Archie currently catalogs close to 1,000 file libraries around the world. Today, there are three ways to ask archie to find a file for you: through telnet, "client" Archie program on your own host system or e-mail. All three methods let you type in a full or partial file name and will tell you where on the Net it's stored. If you have access to telnet, you can telnet to one of the following addresses: `archie.mcgill.ca'; `archie.sura.net'; `archie.unl.edu'; `archie.ans.net'; or `archie.rutgers.edu'. If asked for a log-in name, type archie and hit enter. When you connect, the key command is prog, which you use in this form: prog filename followed by enter, where "filename" is the program or file you're looking for. If you're unsure of a file's complete name, try typing in part of the name. For example, `PKZIP' will work as well as `PKZIP201.EXE'. The system does not support DOS or Unix wildcards. If you ask archie to look for `PKZIP*', it will tell you it couldn't find anything by that name. One thing to keep in mind is that a file is not necessarily the same as a program - it could also be a document. This means you can use archie to search for, say, everything online related to the Beetles, as well as computer programs and graphics files. A number of Net sites now have their own archie programs that take your request for information and pass it onto the nearest archie database - ask your system administrator if s/he has it online. These "client" programs seem to provide information a lot more quickly than the actual archie itself! If it is available, at your host system's command line, type archie -s filename where filename is the program or document you're looking for, and hit enter. The `-s' tells the program to ignore case in a file name and lets you search for partial matches. You might actually want to type it this way: archie -s filename |more which will stop the output every screen (handy if there are many sites that carry the file you want). Or you could open a file on your computer with your text-logging function. The third way, for people without access to either of the above, is e-mail. Send a message to . You can leave the subject line blank. Inside the message, type prog filename where filename is the file you're looking for. You can ask archie to look up several programs by putting their names on the same "prog" line, like this: prog file1 file2 file3 Within a few hours, archie will write back with a list of the appropriate sites. In all three cases, if there is a system that has your file, you'll get a response that looks something like this: Host sumex-aim.stanford.edu Location: /info-mac/comm FILE -rw-r--r-- 258256 Feb 15 17:07 zterm-09.hqx Location: /info-mac/misc FILE -rw-r--r-- 7490 Sep 12 1991 zterm-sys7-color-icons.hqx Chances are, you will get a number of similar looking responses for each program. The "host" is the system that has the file. The "Location" tells you which directory to look in when you connect to that system. Ignore the funny-looking collections of r's and hyphens for now. After them, come the size of the file or directory listing in bytes, the date it was uploaded, and the name of the file. Now you want to get that file. Assuming your host site does have ftp, you connect in a similar fashion to telnet, by typing: ftp sumex-aim.stanford.edu (or the name of whichever site you want to reach). Hit enter. If the connection works, you'll see this: Connected to sumex-aim.stanford.edu. 220 SUMEX-AIM FTP server (Version 4.196 Mon Jan 13 13:52:23 PST 1992) ready. Name (sumex-aim.stanford.edu:adamg): If nothing happens after a minute or so, hit control-C to return to your host system's command line. But if it has worked, type anonymous and hit enter. You'll see a lot of references on the Net to "anonymous ftp." This is how it gets its name - you don't really have to tell the library site what your name is. The reason is that these sites are set up so that anybody can gain access to certain public files, while letting people with accounts on the sites to log on and access their own personal files. Next, you'll be asked for your tpassword. As a password, use your e-mail address. This will then come up: 230 Guest connection accepted. Restrictions apply. Remote system type is UNIX. Using binary mode to transfer files. ftp> Now type ls and hit enter. You'll see something awful like this: 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls. total 2636 -rw-rw-r-- 1 0 31 4444 Mar 3 11:34 README.POSTING dr-xr-xr-x 2 0 1 512 Nov 8 11:06 bin -rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 11030960 Apr 2 14:06 core dr--r--r-- 2 0 1 512 Nov 8 11:06 etc drwxrwsr-x 5 13 22 512 Mar 19 12:27 imap drwxr-xr-x 25 1016 31 512 Apr 4 02:15 info-mac drwxr-x--- 2 0 31 1024 Apr 5 15:38 pid drwxrwsr-x 13 0 20 1024 Mar 27 14:03 pub drwxr-xr-x 2 1077 20 512 Feb 6 1989 tmycin 226 Transfer complete. ftp> Ack! Let's decipher this Rosetta Stone. First, ls is the ftp command for displaying a directory (you can actually use dir as well, but if you're used to MS-DOS, this could lead to confusion when you try to use dir on your host system, where it won't work, so it's probably better to just remember to always use ls for a directory while online). The very first letter on each line tells you whether the listing is for a directory or a file. If the first letter is a `d', or an `l', it's a directory. Otherwise, it's a file. The rest of that weird set of letters and dashes consist of "flags" that tell the ftp site who can look at, change or delete the file. You can safely ignore it. You can also ignore the rest of the line until you get to the second number, the one just before the date. This tells you how large the file is, in bytes. If the line is for a directory, the number gives you a rough indication of how many items are in that directory - a directory listing of 512 bytes is relatively small. Next comes the date the file or directory was uploaded, followed (finally!) by its name. Notice the `README.POSTING' file up at the top of the directory. Most archive sites have a "read me" document, which usually contains some basic information about the site, its resources and how to use them. Let's get this file, both for the information in it and to see how to transfer files from there to here. At the ftp> prompt, type get README and hit enter. Note that ftp sites are no different from Unix sites in general: they are case-sensitive. You'll see something like this: 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for README (4444 bytes). 226 Transfer complete. 4444 bytes received in 1.177seconds (3.8 Kbytes/s) And that's it! The file is now located in your home directory on your host system, from which you can now download it to your own computer. The simple `get' command is the key to transferring a file from an archive site to your host system. If the first letter on the line starts with a `d', then that is a directory you can enter to look for more files. If it starts with an `r', then it's a file you can get. The next item of interest is the fifth column, which tells you how large the item is in bytes. That's followed by the date and time it was loaded to the archive, followed, finally, by its name. Many sites provide a `README' file that lists simple instructions and available files. Some sites use files named `Index' or `INDEX' or something similar. If you want to download more than one file at a time (say a series of documents, use mget instead of get; for example: mget *.txt This will transfer copies of every file ending with .txt in the given directory. Before each file is copied, you'll be asked if you're sure you want it. Despite this, mget could still save you considerable time - you won't have to type in every single file name. There is one other command to keep in mind. If you want to get a copy of a computer program, type bin and hit enter. This tells the ftp site and your host site that you are sending a binary file, i.e., a program. Most ftp sites now use binary format as a default, but it's a good idea to do this in case you've connected to one of the few that doesn't. To switch to a directory, type cd directory-name (substituting the name of the directory you want to access) and hit enter. Type ls and hit enter to get the file listing for that particular directory. To move back up the directory tree, type cd .. (note the space between the d and the first period) and hit enter. Or you could type cdup and hit enter. Keep doing this until you get to the directory of interest. Alternately, if you already know the directory path of the file you want (from our friend archie), after you connect, you could simply type get directory/subdirectory/filename On many sites, files meant for public consumption are in the pub or public directory; sometimes you'll see an info directory. Almost every site has a bin directory, which at first glance sounds like a bin in which interesting stuff might be dumped. But it actually stands for "binary" and is simply a place for the system administrator to store the programs that run the ftp system. Lost+found is another directory that looks interesting but actually never has anything of public interest in them. Before, you saw how to use archie. From our example, you can see that some system administrators go a little berserk when naming files. Fortunately, there's a way for you to rename the file as it's being transferred. Using our archie example, you'd type get zterm-sys7-color-icons.hqx zterm.hqx and hit enter. Instead of having to deal constantly with a file called `zterm-sys7-color-icons. hqx', you'll now have one called, simply, `zterm.hqx'. Those last three letters bring up something else: Many program files are compressed to save on space and transmission time. In order to actually use them, you'll have to use an un-compress program on them first. There are a wide variety of compression methods in use. You can tell which method was used by the last one to three letters at the end of a file. Here are some of the more common ones and what you'll need to un-compress the files they create (and these decompression programs can all be located through archie). `.txt' `.TXT' By itself, this means the file is a document, rather than a program. `.ps' `.PS' A PostScript document (in Adobe's page description language). You can print this file on any PostScript capable printer, or use a previewer, like GNU project's GhostScript. `.doc' `.DOC' Is another common suffix for documents. No de-compression is needed, unless it is followed by `.Z' This is a Unix compression method. To uncompress the file, type `uncompress filename.Z' and hit enter at your host system's command prompt. If it's a text file, you can read it online by typing `zcat file.txt.Z |more' at your host system's command line. There is a Macintosh program called "MacCompress" that you can use on your machine if you want to download the file (use archie to find where you can get it!). There's an MS-DOS equivalent, often found as `u16.ZIP', which means it is itself compressed in the ZIP format. `.zip' `.ZIP' An MS-DOS format. Use the PKZIP package (usually found as `PKZ201.exe' or something similar). `.gz' The GNU project's compression format. A variant of the PKZIP format. Use `gunzip filename.gz' to uncompress. `.zoo' `.ZOO' A Unix and MS-DOS format. Requires the use of a program called zoo. `.Hqx' `.hqx' A Macintosh format that needs BinHex for de-compression. `.shar' `.Shar' A Unix format. Use unshar. `.tar' Another Unix format, often used to compress several related files into one big file. Use tar. Often, a "tarred" file will also be compressed with the `.Z' method, so you first have to use uncompress and then tar. `.TAZ' Sometimes used for compressed tar archives `.tar.Z', that are stored on "3 letter suffix only systems" (aka MS-DOS). `.sit' `.Sit' A Macintosh format, requires StuffIt. `.ARC' A DOS format that requires the use of ARC or ARCE. `.LHZ' Another DOS compression format; requires the use of LHARC. A few last words of caution: Check the size of a file before you get it. The Net moves data at phenomenal rates of speed. But that 500,000-byte file that gets transferred to your host system in a few seconds could take more than an hour or two to download to your computer if you're using a 2400-baud modem. Your host system may also have limits on the amount of bytes you can store online at any one time. Also, although it is really extremely unlikely you will ever get a file infected with a virus, if you plan to do much downloading over the Net, you'd be wise to invest in a good anti-viral program, just in case. ๔he Keyboard Cabal ================== System administrators are like everybody else - they try to make things easier for themselves. And when you sit in front of a keyboard all day, that can mean trying everything possible to reduce the number of keys you actually have to hit each day. Unfortunately, that can make it difficult for the rest of us. Connect to many ftp sites, and one of the entries you'll often see is a directory named `bin'. You might think this is a bin where interesting things get thrown. It's not. "Bin" is short for "binary," i.e., the programs that make the ftp site work, to which you won't have access anyway. Etc is another seemingly interesting directory that turns out to be another place to store files used by the ftp site itself. `lost+found' directories are used by Unix systems for some routine housekeeping - again, nothing of any real interest. Then, once you get into the actual file libraries, you'll find that in many cases, files will have such non-descriptive names as `V1.1-AK.TXT'. The best known example is probably a set of several hundred files known as RFCs, which provide the basic technical and organizational information on which much of the Internet is built. These files can be found on many ftp sites, but always in a form such as `RFC101.TXT', `RFC102.TXT' and so on, with no clue whatsoever as to what information they contain. Fortunately, almost all ftp sites have a "Rosetta Stone" to help you decipher these names. Most will have a file named `README' (or some variant) that gives basic information about the system. Then, most directories will either have a similar `README' file or will have an index that does give brief descriptions of each file. These are usually the first file in a directory and often are in the form `00INDEX.TXT'. Use the ftp command to get this file. You can then scan it online or download it to see which files you might be interested in. Another file you will frequently see is called `ls-lgR.Z'. This contains a listing of every file on the system, but without any descriptions (the name comes from the Unix command `ls -lgR', which gives you a listing of all the files in all your directories). The `.Z' at the end means the file has been compressed, which means you will have to use a Unix un-compress command before you can read the file. And finally, we have those system administrators who almost seem to delight in making things difficult - the ones who take full advantage of Unix's ability to create absurdly long file names. On some FTP sites, you will see file names as long as 80 characters or so, full of capital letters, underscores and every other orthographic device that will make it almost impossible for you to type the file name correctly when you try to get it. Your secret weapon here is the mget command. Just type mget, a space, and the first five or six letters of the file name, followed by an asterisk, for example: mget This_F* The FTP site will ask you if you want to get the file that begins with that name. If there are several files that start that way, you might have to answer `n' a few times, but it's still easier than trying to recreate a ludicrously long file name. FTP Sites ========= What follows is a list of some interesting ftp sites, arranged by category. With hundreds of ftp sites now on the Net, however, this list barely scratches the surface of what is available. Liberal use of archie will help you find specific files. The times listed for each site are in Eastern time and represent the periods during which it is considered acceptable to connect. Amiga ----- `ftp.uu.net' Has Amiga programs in the `systems/amiga' directory. Available 24 hours. Atari ----- `atari.archive.umich.edu' Find almost all the Atari files you'll ever need, in the `atari' directory. 7 p.m. - 7 a.m. Books ----- `pit-manager.mit.edu' (aka `rtfm.mit.edu') The `pub/usenet/rec.arts.books' directory has reading lists for various authors as well as lists of recommended bookstores in different cities. Unfortunately, this site uses incredibly long file names - so long they may scroll off the end of your screen if you are using an MS-DOS or certain other computers. Even if you want just one of the files, it probably makes more sense to use mget than get. This way, you will be asked on each file whether you want to get it; otherwise you may wind up frustrated because the system will keep telling you the file you want doesn't exist (since you may miss the end of its name due to the scrolling problem). 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. Computer Ethics --------------- `ftp.eff.org' The home of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Use cd to get to the pub directory and then look in the EFF, SJG and CPSR directories for documents on the EFF itself and various issues related to the Net, ethics and the law. Available 24 hours. Consumer -------- `pit-manager.mit.edu' The `pub/usenet/misc.consumers' directory has documents related to credit. The `pub/usenet/rec.travel.air' directory will tell you how to deal with airline reservation clerks, find the best prices on seats, etc. See under Books for a caveat in using this ftp site. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. Cooking ------- `wuarchive.wustl.edu' Look for recipes and recipe directories in the `usenet/rec.food.cooking/ recipes' directory. `gatekeeper.dec.com' Recipes are in the `pub/recipes' directory. Esperanto --------- `ftp.stack.urc.tue.nl' You'll find text files about the Esperanto artificial language in the `pub/ esperanto' directory. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. Evolutionary Computation ------------------------ `lumpi.informatik.uni-dortmund.de' If you're interested in one possible future of computation, and also are interested in global optimization problems, evolutionary biology and genetics, you might want to take a look at this server. For an overview on the field, you should get the file `pub/EA/docs/hhgtec.ps.Z', aka "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to Evolutionary Computation". Available 24 hours. FTP Addresses ------------- `iraun1.ira.uka.de' Run by the computer-science department of the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, this site offers lists of anonymous-FTP sites both internationally (in the `anon.ftp.sites' directory) and in Germany (in `anon.ftp.sites.de'). 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. `ftp.netcom.com' The `pub/profiles' directory has lists of ftp sites. Government ---------- `ncsuvm.cc.ncsu.edu' The `SENATE' directory contains bibliographic records of U.S. Senate hearings and documents for the past several Congresses. Get the file `README.DOS9111', which will explain the cryptic file names. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. `nptn.org' The General Accounting Office (GAO) is the investigative wing of Congress. The `pub/e.texts/gao.reports' directory represents an experiment by the agency to use ftp to distribute its reports. Available 24 hours. History ------- `nptn.org' This site has a large, growing collecting of text files. In the `pub/e.texts/freedom. shrine' directory, you'll find copies of important historical documents, from the Magna Carta to the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation. Available 24 hours. `ra.msstate.edu' Mississippi State maintains an eclectic database of historical documents, detailing everything from Attilla's battle strategy to songs of soldiers in Vietnam, in the `docs/history' directory. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. `seq1.loc.gov' The Library of Congress has acquired numerous documents from the former Soviet government and has translated many of them into English. In the `pub/soviet.archive/text. english' directory, you'll find everything from telegrams from Lenin ordering the death of peasants to Khrushhchev's response to Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis. The `README' file in the `pub/soviet.archive' directory provides an index to the documents. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. Hong Kong --------- `nok.lcs.mit.edu' GIF pictures of Hong Kong pop stars, buildings and vistas are available in the `pub/hongkong/HKPA' directory. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. Internet -------- `ftp.eff.org' The `pub/internet-info' directory has a number of documents explaining the Internet and Usenet. Available 24 hours. `nic.ddn.mil' The `internet-drafts' directory contains information about Internet, while the `scc' directory holds network security bulletins. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. Law --- `info.umd.edu' U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1989 to the present are stored in the `info/Government/US/SupremeCt' directory. Each term has a separate directory (for example, `term1992'). Get the `README' and `Index' files to help decipher the case numbers. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. `ftp.uu.net' Supreme Court decisions are in the court-opinions directory. You'll want to get the index file, which tells you which file numbers go with which file names. The decisions come in Word Perfect and Atex format only. Available 24 hours a day. Libraries --------- `ftp.unt.edu' The library directory contains numerous lists of libraries with computerized card catalogs accessible through the Net. Literature ---------- `nptn.org' In the `pub/e.texts/gutenberg/etext91' and `etext92' directories, you can get copies of Aesop's Fables, works by Lewis Carroll and other works of literature, as well as the Book of Mormon. Available 24 hours. `world.std.com' The `obi' directory has everything from online fables to accounts of Hiroshima survivors. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. Macintosh --------- `sumex-aim.stanford.edu' This is the premier site for Macintosh software. After you log in, switch to the info-mac directory, which will bring up a long series of sub-directories of virtually every free and shareware Mac program you could ever want. 9 p.m. - 9 a.m. `ftp.uu.net' Carries copies, or "mirrors" of Macintosh programs from the Simtel20 collection in the `systems/mac/simtel20' directory. Available 24 hours a day. Movie Reviews ------------- `lcs.mit.edu' Look in the movie-reviews directory. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. MS-DOS ------ `wuarchive.wustl.edu' This carries one of the world's largest collections of MS-DOS software. The files are actually copied, or "mirrored" from a computer at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range (which uses ftp software that is totally incomprehensible). It also carries large collections of Macintosh, Windows, Atari, Amiga, Unix, OS9, CP/M and Apple II software. Look in the mirrors and systems directories. The `gif' directory contains a large number of GIF graphics images. Accessible 24 hours. `ftp.uu.net' Carries copies, or "mirrors" of MS-DOS programs from the Simtel20 collection in the `systems/msdos/simtel20' directory. Available 24 hours a day. Music ----- `cs.uwp.edu' The `pub/music' directory has everything from lyrics of contemporary songs to recommended CDs of baroque music. It's a little different - and easier to navigate - than other ftp sites. File and directory names are on the left, while on the right, you'll find a brief description of the file or directory, like this: SITES 1528 Other music-related FTP archive sites classical/ - (dir) Classical Buying Guide database/ - (dir) Music Database program discog/ = (dir) Discographies faqs/ = (dir) Music Frequently Asked questions files folk/ - (dir) Folk Music Files and pointers guitar/ = (dir) Guitar TAB files from ftp.nevada.edu info/ = (dir) rec.music.info archives interviews/ - (dir) Interviews with musicians/groups lists/ = (dir) Mailing lists archives lyrics/ = (dir) Lyrics Archives misc/ - (dir) Misc files that don't fit anywhere else pictures/ = (dir) GIFS, JPEGs, PBMs and more. press/ - (dir) Press Releases and misc articles programs/ - (dir) Misc music-related programs for various machines releases/ = (dir) Upcoming USA release listings sounds/ = (dir) Short sound samples 226 Transfer complete. ftp> When you switch to a directory, don't include the `/'. 7 p.m. - 7 a.m. `potemkin.cs.pdx.edu' The Bob Dylan archive. Interviews, notes, year-by-year accounts of his life and more, in the `pub/dylan' directory. 9 p.m. - 9 a.m. `ftp.nevada.edu' Guitar chords for contemporary songs are in the `pub/guitar' directory, in subdirectories organized by group or artist. Pets ---- `pit-manager.mit.edu' The `pub/usenet/rec.pets.dogs' and `pub/usenet.rec.pets.cats' directories have documents on the respective animals. See under Books *Note Books:: for a caveat in using this ftp site. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. Pictures -------- `wuarchiv.wustl.edu' The `graphics/gif' directory contains hundreds of GIF photographic and drawing images, from cartoons to cars, space images to pop stars. These are arranged in a long series of subdirectories. Photography ----------- `ftp.nevada.edu' Photolog is an online digest of photography news, in the `pub/photo' directory. Religion -------- `nptn.org' In the `pub/e.texts/religion' directory, you'll find subdirectories for chapters and books of both the Bible and the Koran. Available 24 hours. Sex --- `pit-manager.mit.edu' Look in the `pub/usenet/alt.sex' and `pub/usenet/alt.sex.wizards' directories for documents related to all facets of sex. See under Books *Note Books:: for a caveat in using this ftp site. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. Science Fiction --------------- `elbereth.rutgers.edu' In the pub/sfl directory, you'll find plot summaries for various science-fiction TV shows, including Star Trek (not only the original and Next Generation shows, but the cartoon version as well), Lost in Space, Battlestar Galactica, the Twilight Zone, the Prisoner and Doctor Who. There are also lists of various things related to science fiction and an online science-fiction fanzine. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. Shakespeare ----------- `atari.archive.umich.edu' The shakespeare directory contains most of the Bard's works. A number of other sites have his works as well, but generally as one huge mega-file. This site breaks them down into various categories (comedies, poetry, histories, etc.) so that you can download individual plays or sonnets. Space ----- `ames.arc.nasa.gov' Stores text files about space and the history of the NASA space program in the `pub/SPACE' subdirectory. In the `pub/GIF' and `pub/SPACE/GIF' directories, you'll find astronomy- and NASA-related GIF files, including pictures of planets, satellites and other celestial objects. 9 p.m. - 9 a.m. Spain ----- `goya.dit.upm.es' This Spanish site carries an updated list of bulletin-board systems in Spain, as well as information about European computer networks, in the `info/doc/net' subdirectory, mostly in Spanish. The BBS list is `bbs.Z', which means you will have to uncompress it to read it. Available 24 hours. TeX --- `ftp.tex.ac.uk' in `pub/archive', `ftp.uni-stuttgart.de' in `tex-archive', and `ftp.shsu.edu' in `soft/tex' form the CTAN (comprehensive TeX archive network), that always has the latest TeX version (and everything that comes with it) available. They are continuously updated, i.e. they are "mirrors" of the primary TeX archive at Stanford University. TV -- `coe.montana.edu' The `pub/TV/Guides' directory has histories and other information about dozens of TV shows. Only two anonymous-ftp log-ins are allowed at a time, so you might have to try more than once to get in. 8 p.m. - 8 a.m. `ftp.cs.widener.edu' The `pub/simpsons' directory has more files than anybody could possibly need about Bart and family. The `pub/strek' directory has files about the original and Next Generation shows as well as the movies. See also under Science Fiction *Note Science Fiction::. Travel ------ `nic.stolaf.edu' Before you take that next overseas trip, you might want to see whether the State Department has issued any kind of advisory for the countries on your itinerary. The advisories, which cover everything from hurricane damage to civil war, are in the `pub/travel-advisories/ advisories' directory, arranged by country. 7 p.m. - 7 a.m. Usenet ------ `ftp.uu.net' In the usenet directory, you'll find "frequently asked questions" files, copied from `pit-manager.mit.edu'. The communications directory holds programs that let MS-DOS users connect directly with UUCP sites. In the info directory, you'll find information about ftp and ftp sites. The inet directory contains information about Internet. Available 24 hours. `pit-manager.mit.edu' This site contains all available FAQs "frequently asked questions" files for Usenet newsgroups in the `pub/usenet' directory. For easy access, get the `index' file. See under Books *Note Books:: for a caveat in using this ftp site. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. Viruses ------- `ftp.unt.edu' The antivirus directory has anti-virus programs for MS-DOS and Macintosh computers. 7 p.m. - 7 a.m. Weather ------- `vmd.cso.uiuc.edu' No password needed. The wx directory contains GIF weather images of North America. Files are updated hourly and take this general form: `CV100222'. The first two letters tell the type of file: CV means it is a visible-light photo taken by a weather satellite. CI images are similar, but use infrared light. Both these are in black and white. Files that begin with SA are color radar maps of the U.S. that show severe weather patterns but also fronts and temperatures in major cities. The numbers indicate the date and time (in GMT - five hours ahead of EST) of the image: the first two numbers represent the month, the next two the date, the last two the hour. The file `WXKEY.GIF' explains the various symbols in SA files. X Windows --------- `ftp.x.org' The default server for MIT's X Window System. See under `/pub'. `ftp.germany.eu.net' Germany's backbone site located at the University of Dortmund, in the European part of the Internet; the so-called EUnet. It's also Germany's default server for X window system releases, and also "mirrors" several important sites; e.g. in `pub/packages/gnu' the GNU project's default server. Furthermore you'll find "mirrors" of `386BSD', `NetBSD', and `Linux'. Available 24 hours. When things go wrong: ===================== * You get a "host unavailable" message. The ftp site is down for some reason. Try again later. * You get a "host unknown" message. Check your spelling of the site name. * You misspell "anonymous" when logging in and get a message telling you a password is required for whatever you typed in. Type something in, hit enter, type bye, hit enter, and try again. FYI: ==== Liberal use of archie will help you find specific files or documents. For information on new or interesting ftp sites, try the `comp.archives' newsgroup on Usenet. You can also look in the `comp.misc', `comp.sources.wanted' or `news.answers' newsgroups on Usenet for lists of ftp sites posted every month by TOM CZARNIK and JON GRANROSE. The `comp.archives' newsgroup carries news of new ftp sites and interesting new files on existing sites. In the `comp.virus' newsgroup on Usenet, look for postings that list ftp sites carrying anti-viral software for Amiga, MS-DOS, Macintosh, Atari and other computers. The `comp.sys.ibm.pc.digest' and `comp.sys.mac.digest' newsgroups provide information about new MS-DOS and Macintosh programs as well as answers to questions from users of those computers. *"Welch ein Ort zum Pluendern!" (What a place to plunder!)* -- General Gebhard Leberecht von Bluecher  * Gophers, WAISs and the World-Wide Web *  ************************************* Even with tools like Hytelnet and archie, telnet and ftp can still be frustrating. There are all those telnet and ftp addresses to remember. Telnet services often have their own unique commands. And, oh, those weird directory and file names! But now that the Net has become a rich repository of information, people are looking at ways to make it far easier to find all that data. Gophers and Wide-Area Information Servers (WAISs) are two programs that could ultimately make the Internet as easy to navigate as commercial networks like CompuServe or Prodigy. Both programs essentially take a request for information and then scan the Net for it, so you don't have to. Both also work through menus - instead of typing in some long sequence of characters, you just move a cursor to your choice and hit enter. Newer gophers even let you select files and programs from ftp sites this way. Let's look at gophers first. Many public-access sites now have gophers online. To use one, type gopher at the command line and hit enter. If you know your site does not have a gopher, or if nothing happens when you type that, telnet to consultant.micro.umn.edu At the log-in prompt, type gopher and hit enter. You'll be asked what type of terminal emulation you're using, after which you'll see something like this: Internet Gopher Information Client v1.03 Root gopher server: gopher.micro.umn.edu --> 1. Information About Gopher/ 2. Computer Information/ 3. Discussion Groups/ 4. Fun & Games/ 5. Internet file server (ftp) sites/ 6. Libraries/ 7. News/ 8. Other Gopher and Information Servers/ 9. Phone Books/ 10. Search lots of places at the U of M 11. University of Minnesota Campus Information/ Press ? for Help, q to Quit, u to go up a menu Page: 1/1 Gophers are great for exploring. Just keep making choices to see what pops up. Play with it; see where it takes you. Some choices will be documents. When you read one of these and either come to the end or hit a lower-case `q' to quit reading it, you'll be given the choice of saving a copy to your home directory or e-mailing it to yourself. Other choices are simple databases that let you enter a word to look for in a particular database. Notice that one of your choices is "Internet file server (ftp) sites." Choose this, and you'll be connected to a modified archie program - an archie with a difference. When you search for a file through a gopher archie, you'll get a menu of sites that have the file you're looking for, just as with the old archie. Only now, instead of having to write down or remember an ftp address and directory, all you have to do is position the cursor next to one of the numbers in the menu and hit enter. You'll be connected to the ftp site, from which you can then choose the file you want, again just by making a choice in a menu. You'll be asked for a name in your home directory to use for the file, after which the file will be copied to your home system. Unfortunately, this file-transfer process does not yet work with all public-access sites for computer programs and compressed files. If it doesn't work with yours, you'll have to get the file the old-fashioned way, via ftp. The letter u is an important one to remember while navigating a gopher - it moves you back up a gopher directory tree, much like cd .. on an ftp site. In addition to ftp sites, there are now scores of databases and libraries around the world accessible through gophers. There is not yet a common gopher interface for library catalogs, so be prepared to follow the online directions more closely when you use gopher to connect to one. Some gopher menu choices will end with a . This means that if you select it, you'll be starting up a simple database that can search through the given service by keyword. So many services are now available through gophers, that finding what you want has become difficult. Fortunately, you can use veronica, a laboriously constructed acronym that does for "gopherspace" what archie (there is no betty, yet) did for files. You'll usually find veronicas (there are now several) under "Other gopher and information services." When you call up a veronica, tell her (it?) the keyword or words you're interested in, and she/it will search all available databases for it. For example, say you want to impress company tonight and make cherries flambe. If you were to type in "flambe" after calling up veronica, you would soon get a menu listing several flambe recipes, including one called "dessert flambe." Put your cursor on that line of the menu and hit enter, and you'll find it's a menu for cherries flambe. Then hit your q key to quit, and gopher will ask you if you want to save the file in your home directory on your public-access site or whether you want to e-mail it somewhere. Ver