Net Surf
Toasted to a Golden Brown You've fingered Coke machines, coffeemakers and Christmas trees. But never in your net.travels have you encountered that most venerable and ubiquitous of home applicances: the toaster. You wonder: "Why would anyone build an entire network of bread-browning devices?"
A fine question. But toasternets are not actually comprised of toasters and network cable. Rather, the term "toasternet" refers generically to small computer networks built out of cheap and readily available parts. Unlike commercial network service providers, who are motivated primarily by their bottom line, most toasternets exist to meet their members' communication needs — to get people wired. Toasternets have become increasingly popular as demand for Internet services has outpaced the capabilities of commercial service providers. This is particularly true in the area of full-time direct IP connectivity — even providers that charge a flat rate for dialup shell connections usually have hourly charges for direct IP services like SLIP or PPP (see Netsurf 2.04). In addition, since toasternets operate by cooperative agreement, they are typically free of the restrictions on content or on the resale of service often imposed by commercial providers.
Toasternets can be an ideal solution for businesses (or individuals) seeking inexpensive full-time direct IP service . However, this freedom does come at a cost: Toasternets cannot usually afford to provide the same level of technical assistance in getting connected that is typical for commercial network service providers. Therefore, you will need to do at least some of the dirty work yourself (or pay a consultant to do it for you).
Toasternets connections require both a computer capable of connecting directly to the Internet and some kind of telecom connection. The least expensive gateway to the Net is a '386 running one of the free versions of UNIX (such as Linux or NetBSD), though other UNIX boxes will also work just fine. Once you have a machine, you need to connect your physical location to your service provider's Connections to the outside world can be made by either standard telephone lines (up to 28.8k), by ISDN (up to 128k), or via leased lines (56k or T1 (1.5Mbps)). In each case, pricing will depend on whether your connection is part-time or full time (residential dial-up customers take note: unmeasured rate service means you can have a full-time dialup connection for about $15 a month in most locations!). You will also need appropriate communication hardware (standard modems for dial-up lines, TA's for ISDN, CSU/DSU's for 56k or T1). Depending on your setup, you may also need a router (to separate your local network traffic from Internet traffic) and other network hardware (such as ethernet cabling, hubs, etc.) to connect multiple machines to your Internet gateway.
The emergent phenomenon of toasternetworking is too new (and perhaps too complex) for there to be any comprehensive reference guide, either printed or electronic. However, plenty of information to get you started can be found on the Net. Two useful starting points are Bernard Aboba's Mailcom archive and information archive provided by the Little Garden (one of the original toasternets and Wired's own IP service provider) .
Happy toasting!
Additional information on toasternets and other net.connection.resources is available via WIRED Online.
Jonathan Steuer href="mailto:jonathan@wired.com">jonathan@wired.com
Webbed Feet Web and Mosaic surfers frustrated by the Dr. Jekyll side of hundreds of hyperlinks should check out ALIWEB – Archie-Like Indexing found via URL http://web.nexor.co.uk/aliweb/doc/aliweb.html. This pilot project builds and updates a searchable database of indexes to various World Wide Web servers. Searches return a digestible page of hypertext links, yours for the clicking. ALIWEB currently emphasizes academic and technical subjects, but the document base is widening. To peruse a broader range of topics, surf to the server site SUSI via http://web.nexor.co.uk/susi/susi.html and sample an impressive collection of search engines ranging from Archie to the awesome JumpStation database. Surfin' safety tip: A search-results page is composed on the fly, which precludes it from being added to your Hotlist. Save your wave by copying it to a local document (specify "HTML format" instead of "Text") and you can splash in where you left off!
Pack Your Bags Travel expert Rick Steves, host of Travels in Europe, a terrific travel show broadcast on some PBS stations, has a BBS of his own in Seattle, gardened by sysop Rich Sorenson. The purpose of this board, appropriately titled Europe Through the Back Door, is to provide an area where users can exchange information, questions, insights, and opinions. It's also possible to request a free copy of Steves's newsletter or to download selected prepublication drafts of upcoming travel guides, such as The Baltics and Russia Through the Back Door. Definitely worth a look – and just in time for making those summer vacation plans. Dial +1 (206) 771 1902 to connect at 2400 baud (8, N, 1); but keep in mind that this wave is surfable on evenings and weekends only.
It Illogically Follows Black is the color of darkness. And the flying purple turtles go east in midspring. Clint Eastwood ate a hamburger last week, and now Usenet news group alt.non.sequitur features the finest non sequitur prose you'll find on-terminal or off. Part Beatnik, part cyberdelia, alt.non.sequitur's churning, illogical nonsense reads like a 'shroom trip down the information superhighway. Starring frequent poster Matt Gooley as the digital answer to Dean Moriarty, this is a wave to be enjoyed. Now…where were we?
Forever Remembered Historically minded gopher surfers should investigate this rich, poignant wave. The Jerusalem One server houses more than 20 Mbytes of text and gif files relating to the Holocaust. There, in the Electronic Jewish Library, you will also find a large assortment of non-Holocaust items: Jewish Internet information, files on politics and religion, the Hebrew software archives, and information about the Jewish Library. Within the Holocaust Archives folder, you will find gateways to quotes from the time, first-hand narratives, original historical documents, details of the Nazi "euthanasia" project, and articles about Holocaust denial. You will also find bibliographies and book reviews. To access this powerful wave, point your gopher at jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il.
What Color Is the Matrix? If you think the Net's an exclusive province of white males, think again. Better yet, climb up to Dusty's Treehouse, Art "Rambo" McGee's ftp archive located at URL ftp://netcom.com/pub /amcgee, where the women are radical feminists and the men are black nationalists. Here you'll find a handful of key documents on hate crime, online gender issues, and the gulf between the info-rich and info-poor. There are pointers to jazz, blues, and reggae archives. But the centerpiece is McGee's own up-to-the-minute compendium of online resources for Africans, Latino/as, indigenous/aboriginal peoples, and activists around the world. Each list points to databases, electronic mailing lists, Usenet newsgroups, bulletin board systems, and conferences on the Association for Progressive Communications' networks. Updates can be gotten by mailing amcgee@netcom.com. (Don't forget to pick up a copy of the cybermuslim.guide while you're there!)
Access to Government, Left Coast Style California's Assembly Bill 1624 mandated that legislative information be made available to the public "by way of the largest nonproprietary, nonprofit cooperative public computer network." (You guessed it – the Internet.) The bill's passage was largely influenced by an e-mail and fax campaign waged by Computers, Freedom and Privacy founder Jim Warren. The site opened in January 1994, and is accessible via ftp or ftpmail from ftp://leginfo.public.ca.gov or e-mail to: ftpmail@leginfo.public.ca.gov. The five key directories are dailyfile (legislative calendars and rosters of Senators and Assembly members), bill (Assembly and Senate bills), code (California codes), constitution (Articles of the State Constitution), and statute (State Statutes). Watch for README files and glossaries along the way. Comments? Mail them to comments@leginfo.public.ca.gov.
The lightning-fast InfoSlugs of the University of California at Santa Cruz have already tunneled into the California legislative info site and created a helpful complement to the legislative site. Access URL gopher://gopher.ucsc.edu/11/The Community/Guide to Government-U.S., State and Local/California Legislative Information. What's your state done for you (online) lately?
The Information Super-Subway So there you are, hacking Madrid's physical underground, but you'd appreciate a set of directions. Why consult a map when you can use the Internet? The Subway Locator at telnet://metro.jussieu.fr:10000 can quickly diagram subway systems in France (Lille, Lyon, Marseilles, Paris, Toulouse), Germany (Frankfurt and Munich), Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Montreal, and New York City. Simply specify your starting and ending stations, and it will display estimated travel time, the route you should take, and all intermediate stations. The system also tells you the origin of the data used. If you're not sure of the station name, you can tease a list of possible stations from the server by keying in a fragment of a name. The Subway Locator is bilingual (communicating in French or English). Comments can be e-mailed to Pierre.David@prism.uvsq.fr.
.plan of the month _ ||_ ^/ . ..^ [=========] -==++""" . /. . . . """++==- -+"" __ .. . . | .. . | . . . /""+-__ /+-"" `—–=====_ _/=====—–' ""-+*/ // ""="" __ /_/ _ // /") Don't Get Caught With Your Shields Down! (" o Be Secure With Your Automation Needs. /o/ ) (/*
Lori Carrig carrigl@nic.ddn.mil
Drag.Net The Good News? For the first time in history, the Internet is being used to help track down a criminal. The Unabom Task Force, which was created in response to a vicious serial bomber, now has an address on the Net. The task force wants Net denizens to assist them in capturing the person responsible for killing one professor and injuring 23 others with insidious letter bombs. To sweeten the pot, the government is offering a reward of US$1 million.
The Bad News? The bomber's targets have almost exclusively been the very same sort of online folk the Unabom Task Force is turning to for help – university professors, researchers, computer wonks. An information file about the bombings can be downloaded via ftp from naic.nasa.gov in subdirectory /files/fbi. If you have a tip, call their hotline at (800) 701 2662 or contact Special Agent William L. Tafoya at btafoya@orion.arc.nasa.gov. Be careful out there.
Virtual Katas No surfer is complete without a spiritual activity. In this, surfers and hackers are much alike, especially in the way they turn to the martial arts to supply that jolt of adrenaline, friendly competition, learning, and challenge – the rush that pitting yourself against your fears will give. The rec.martial-arts Usenet newsgroup offers a full collection of FAQs (the group's standard FAQ, a stretching FAQ, a Bruce Lee FAQ…) and the only repertoire of martial-arts-related gifs on the Net. Ftp the files from cs.huji.ac.il, or access them through the Web at http://archie.ac.il:8001/files/CS-HUJI.html. If those waves get too rough, come to the Dojo for a refreshing fight.
Wipeout * About that UK movie database we mentioned a couple issues back (WIRED 2.02, page 122): The archive's mail server can be reached at movie@bmpcug.co.uk. Also, "HELP" should appear in uppercase letters if you'd like to receive the full help file – a lowercase "help" (minus the quotes, of course) will get you the short version. * We incorrectly printed one of our surfers' e-mail addresses in WIRED 2.02 (page 123). Scott Yoshinaga's home wave is actually syoshinaga@mail.summer.hawaii.edu.
Thanks to the WIRED 2.05 Surf Team Izar Tarandach izar@cs.huji.ac.il
Eric S. Theise verve@well.sf.ca.us
JC Herz mischief@phantom.com
Julie Petersen chinacat@netcom.com
Kathleen Creighton casey@well.sf.ca.us
M. Strata Rosestrata@fenchurch.mit.edu
Sandy Sandfort 72114.1712@compuserve.com
Mike Ellsworth mellswor@firewall.nielsen.com
