Send HELP for usage info w3mail@gmd.de GET Send HELP command for info wwwfmail@linux.netmor.com Use 'Subject: info' for help webmail@www.ucc.ie GO Same as webmail@curia.ucc.ie web-mail@ebay.com Limited free searches Note: The webmail servers are sometimes unavailable for days (or weeks) at a time without explanation. If you get an error or no reply, please retry in a day or so. WWW SEARCH BY E-MAIL -------------------- There's a lot of great stuff out on the Web, but how do you find it? Well, just like Archie and Veronica help you search FTP and gopher sites, there are several search engines that have been developed to search for information on the Web. But until now, you had to have direct Internet access to use them. After a bit of research, I have found that it is possible to use several WWW search mechanisms by e-mail. Here are some sample queries that you can use to search via Lycos and WebCrawler. Any of these lines can be sent to an Agora server (see above) to perform a search. If you're not interested in frogs, then by all means feel free to use your own keywords. For Lycos, append a dot to your keywords to force an exact match, or you will get a substring search by default. Separate words with a "+" sign. http://www.lycos.com/cgi-bin/pursuit?query=frog.+dissection. For WebCrawler searches you must separate words with a "+" sign. All searches are exact, no trailing dot required. http://webcrawler.com/cgi-bin/WebQuery?frog+dissection MAILING LISTS ------------- There are literally thousands of discussion groups that stay in touch using e-mail based systems known as "mailing lists". People interested in a topic "subscribe" to a "list" and then send and receive postings by e-mail. For a good introduction to this topic, send e-mail to: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU In the body of your note include only this command: GET NEW-LIST WOUTERS Finding a Mailing List ---------------------- To find out about mailing lists that are relevant to your interests, send e-mail to "liszter@bluemarble.net" with search "keyword" in the BODY if the message. (The quotes force an exact match.) (Of course you must replace "keyword" with your own search word such as "marketing", "bicycles", etc.) New in These Parts? ------------------- If you're new to the Internet, I suggest you subscribe to the HELP-NET list where you're likely to find answers to your questions. Send the command: SUBSCRIBE HELP-NET in the BODY of a note to LISTSERV@VM.TEMPLE.EDU, then e-mail your questions to the list address: HELP-NET@VM.TEMPLE.EDU FINGER BY E-MAIL ---------------- "Finger" is a utility that returns information about another user. Usually it's just boring stuff like last logon, etc., but sometimes people put fun or useful information in their finger replies. To try out finger, send this line (in the message BODY) to a webmail server: send http://www.mit.edu:8001/finger? Use one of the e-mail addresses below instead of ... nasanews@space.mit.edu coke@cs.cmu.edu quake@gldfs.cr.usgs.gov copi@oddjob.uchicago.edu "DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE" BY E-MAIL -------------------------------- "WHOIS" is a service that queries a database of Internet names and addresses. If you're looking for someone or you want to know where a particular Internet site is located, send e-mail with Subject: whois To: mailserv@internic.net Try substituting "mit.edu" or the last name of someone you know in place of "" and see what comes back! It should be noted that WHOIS is not a comprehensive listing of all Internet users. It contains mostly network administrators and some "notable" Internet figures. Another alternative name looker-upper is a database at MIT which keeps tabs on everyone who has posted a message on Usenet. Send e-mail to "mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu" and include this command ONLY in the BODY: send usenet-addresses/ Specify as much information as you can about the person (lastname, firstname, userid, site, etc.) to limit the amount of information that is returned to you. Here's a sample query to find the address of someone you think may be at Harvard University: send usenet-addresses/Jane Doe Harvard NETFIND is another more powerful search engine that uses a person's name and keywords describing a physical location to return a bunch of info about the person (or persons) who fit the bill. Let's say we want to find someone named Hardy at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Our Netfind query will be addressed to an Agora server (see list in WWW section) and will contain the only line: gopher://ds.internic.net:4320/7netfind%20dblookup?hardy+boulder+colorado Netfind works in two phases. First it displays a list of internet domains that match your keywords, then it looks for the person in the domain you select. Netfind by e-mail is very similar, in that you'll receive a listing of matching domains from which you must make one or more selections. Each selection is numbered and there are corresponding "gopher://" commands at the bottom of the listing. Let's pick the selection for cs.colorado.edu computer science dept, university of colorado, boulder which means that our next command to the Agora server will be: gopher://ds.internic.net:4320/0netfind%20netfind%20hardy%20cs.colorado.edu If all goes well, you'll receive a list something like this: full_name: HARDY, JOE (not a real person) email: CrazyJoe@Colorado.EDU phone: (303) 492-1234 address: Campus Box 777 department: COMPUTER SCIENCE Note that if you know the person's domain name already, you can jump right in with a query like the latter one above. You can also try the "Four11 Online User Directory", a free directory of users and their e-mail addresses. Send e-mail to info@four11.com for details on how to search the Four11 directory. ADDRESS/NAME SERVER INFO BY E-MAIL ---------------------------------- This is a little on the technical side, but anyway the Mail Name Server offers some useful services by e-mail, such as translating host names to IP addresses or finding nameservers for a host. Send e-mail to service@nic.ddn.mil with a Subject line of 'help' to get info on similar services. TELNET BY E-MAIL ----------------- Sorry, it can't be done. Actually it CAN be done, but apparently nobody has done it. I'd love to be proven wrong on this! A FEW NET-GOODIES ----------------- Here are some other interesting things you can do by e-mail. (Some of them are accessible only by e-mail!) * THE INTERNET TOURBUS Take a virtual tour of the Internet - hop on The Internet TourBus! You'll receive a short mailing twice a week highlighting fun and interesting sites on the Internet. It's absolutely free, and you can join 75,000 others by sending SUBSCRIBE TOURBUS Firstname Lastname in the BODY of a message to "LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM". * GERMAN <-> ENGLISH TRANSLATION SERVICE The LEO translation service is now available by email, by sending to translate@leo.org. The helpfile at http://www.leo.org/dict/mail.html can be retrieved via webmail. * REMINDERS BY E-MAIL The E-minder service sends you reminders about your events. For directions on setting e-minder appointments by e-mail, send a message to e-minder@netmind.com, with Subject line "e-minder help". * FREE HOME PAGE BY E-MAIL (For German residents only) InetWire offers free non-commercial homepages with up to 500KB of space. Make a zip file with index.htm being the home page, put a URL something like "http://inetw.com/home/myname" in the Subject line and then send your zip file as an ATTACHMENT to attach@inetw.com. (If your e-mail program doesn't support file attachments, you're out of luck.) * RECEIVE E-MAIL WHEN YOUR FAVORITE WEBSITE CHANGES Try URL-minder by e-mail. Send a message to URL-minder@netmind.com with HELP in the Subject line for instructions. * MORTGAGE/LOAN CALCULATOR To calculate your monthly loan payment, send this line to an Agora server: http://www.ibc.wustl.edu/mort/mort.cgi?prin=100000&int=8.25&term=30 (Change the values for principle, interest and term as appropriate.) * VIRTUAL PIZZA! Order an electronic pizza by e-mail. Send e-mail to "pizza@ecst.csuchico.edu" with a subject of "pizza help" for details. * WEBSTER DICTIONARY LOOKUP To retrieve the definition of a word, send this line to an Agora server: send http://c.gp.cs.cmu.edu:5103/prog/webster?whatever * MORE WORD FUN! The wordserver at wsmith@wordsmith.org will serve up A.Word.A.Day, Thesaurus-by-mail, Acronym-by-mail, Anagram-by-mail and Rhyme-n-Reason. * PLAY GAMES BY E-MAIL Yoyodyne specializes in online games. Send mail to "win@yoyo.com". You can also play games via the PBeM Server, for info, send e-mail to "pbmserv@eiss.erols.com" with Subject: help * BIBLE SEARCH Search the King James version of the Bible. Examples below can be sent to an Agora server. Use "+" to specify multiple words; prefix proper names with "%23"; add "&PHRASE=ON" to find a phrase. send http://colet.uchicago.edu/htbin/KJV.sh?title=&word=angel+%23Mary send http://colet.uchicago.edu/htbin/KJV.sh?title=&word=fig+tree&PHRASE=ON * THE USENET ORACLE A cooperative, anonymous and humorous exchange of questions and answers. Send e-mail to oracle@cs.indiana.edu for more information. * SENDING A FAX BY E-MAIL Free faxing via the Internet? You bet. For details, send the line below to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (in BODY of note) send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/fax-faq * U.S. CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE Find out if your congressperson has an electronic address! Just send mail to the address congress@hr.house.gov and you'll get a listing of congressional e-mail addresses. You can also contact the President (president@whitehouse.gov) or Vice President (vice.president@whitehouse.gov). * OTHER SOURCES OF US GOV'T INFO: Send the lines below to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (in BODY of note) send usenet/news.answers/us-govt-net-pointers/part1 (also part2) * FINDING E-MAIL ADDRESSES For a guide to finding someone's e-mail addresses, send the line below to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (in the BODY of the note) send usenet/news.answers/finding-addresses * SENDING MAIL TO VARIOUS NETWORKS For a guide to communicating with people on the various networks that make up the Internet, send the line below to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (in the BODY of the note) send usenet/news.answers/mail/inter-network-guide * MOVIE INFO To learn how to get tons of info on movies, actors, & directors, send mailto movie@ibmpcug.co.uk with HELP in the Subject of note for details. * STOCK MARKET QUOTES If you want to get a current quote for just 1 or 2 stocks, you can use the QuoteCom service. They offer this free service along with other fee based services. For details, send e-mail to "services@quote.com" with a subject of HELP. * CURRENCY CONVERSION You can get foreign exchange rates for the U.S. dollar and other currencies by sending one of these lines to an Agora server: send http://cnnfn.com/markets/currencies.html send http://www.dna.lth.se/cgi-bin/kurt/rates/rates?USD+ALL * ANONYMOUS E-MAIL An "anon server" provides a front for sending mail messages and posting to Usenet newsgroups anonymously, should the need ever arise. To get instructions send e-mail to one of these addresses: help@nym.alias.net, help@weasel.owl.de, privacy@interlink-bbs.com * ASK DR. MATH Have a math question? No problem's too big or too small for The Swat Team. Write to dr.math@forum.swarthmore.edu * VIRUS PROTECTION SOFTWARE F-Prot, one of the top PC virus scanners can be requested by e-mail. To get the current version (uuencoded) send e-mail to f-prot-update@complex.is with this message body: send-as: uue * SCOUT REPORT ...is a weekly featuring announcements of new and interesting resources on the Internet. To subscribe, send e-mail to LISTSERV@lists.internic.net with "Subscribe scout-report Your Name" in the body. * SUICIDE HELPLINE There's a suicide helpline accessible by e-mail. Send your message to jo@samaritans.org -- No syntax, they have humans! * ISPs BY AREA CODE For a list of Internet Service Providers in your area code, send this line to an Agora server: http://thelist.iworld.com/areacode/???.html (where ???=your area code) * E-MAIL TO FAX Full-featured service with free trial period. They also accept resellers who are able to promote the service on a personal home page. For details, send e-mail to fax@hasada.com * E-MAIL TO SNAIL-MAIL Need to get a message to someone in Britain who doesn't have e-mail? Send it to PaperMail! For full details on this fee-based service, send e-mail to info@papermail.win-uk.net * FOR FURTHER READING A variety of helpful files are available by sending to one of the webmail servers listed earlier in this guide. Use the "send" commands below in the body of your message to the webmail server. send ftp://ftp.crl.com/users/iv/iverham/email4u.txt - for additional information on e-mail retrieval services send ftp://ftp.crl.com/users/iv/iverham/fun4u.txt - for other fun things you can do with e-mail send ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/gb/gboyd/wsintro.faq - more details on using web search engines by e-mail SOMETHING MISSING? ------------------ This file should be somewhere between 1300 and 1400 lines of text, and about 58KB in size. If the file you have is much smaller, or says something like "part 2 of 2" near the top, you're missing something. Most likely, that's because your mail system has file size quotas that prevented part 1 from reaching you. Here's the solution: To get the file in multiple chunks, send to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu and enter only these lines in the BODY of the note: size 25000 send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email The mail server will break up the file into chunks of 25000 bytes and send them in separate messages. You can change "25000" to another number if it suits your needs. CONTACTING THE AUTHOR --------------------- I welcome your feedback on this guide and can be reached at the following addresses. Send corrections, ideas, suggestions and comments by e-mail. I'll try to include any new services in future editions of this guide. E-Mail : BobRankin@MHV.net Web : http://biz.mhv.net/drbob US Mail : Bob Rankin / P.O. Box 39 / Tillson, NY / 12486 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1994-97, "Doctor Bob" Rankin All rights reserved. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. Feel free to upload to your favorite BBS or Internet server! Persons wishing to summarize this document in other publications may do so, but please include the instructions herein for obtaining the full document. I also request that you kindly supply me with a copy of the article when published. # # #