NATIONWIDE U.S. TOLL-FREE FLAT RATE ACCESS TO BBSES FOR $30/MONTH
BBS Direct, a joint venture of Concentric Research Corp. and AT&T, will enable subscribers to gain toll-free access to BBSes across the U.S. BBS Direct will reside on a dial-up frame relay network with more than 350 points of presence throughout the country. Subscribers will be charged a flat fee of about US$30 per month for unlimited BBS access in the U.S. once the service starts in late September. Initially, it will run at data rates up to 14.4 kbps, increasing to 28.8 Kbps later this year. Currently, 31 BBSes are available, but BBS Direct expects to add hundreds more. +1 800 745 2747 Concentric Research Corp. customer information +1 800 248 3632 AT&T InterSpan Information Access customer information
DEMAND FOR GNN EXCEEDS SERVER'S CAPACITY
The success of online publisher GNN clearly demonstrates that the online business has some serious legs in it. To remedy the overload on GNN's central server, which can be found at "http://nearnet.gnn.com/gnn/GNNhome.html", the publisher has ordered a more powerful machine and established mirror sites. GNN recommends that West Coast users use the new mirror site at DEC in Palo Alto, CA. "http://www.digital.com/gnn/gnn.html". Also established are a mirror site in North Carolina "http://gnn.interpath.net/gnn/gnn.html", two sites in Canada, and additional sites worldwide, including Ireland, the U.K., Japan, Russia, Australia, and Germany.
TIME MAGAZINE COVERS THE 'BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE INTERNET'
In its July 25 issue, Time looks at Internet culture, and its future. They see a series of battles to be waged - pornographers vs. antiporn activists, spammers vs. targets - before a stable standard of content evolves. The authors lamentably predict the growth of safe "walled communities" isolated from the Internet's wild-and-wooly public spaces, but hope links to the original "freewheeling, untamable" environment will not disappear. An interesting analysis also focused on journalism, and how the multiuser 'Net will shift its future from the traditional top-down, one-to-many dissemination model to user-driven, bottom-up news feeds.
A FIFTH OF ALL PUBLIC LIBRARIES HAVE NET ACCESS - BUT NOT FOR YOU
Of 1,148 public libraries in a recent survey, 20.9% currently possess an Internet connection, although only 12.7% of that total provide public access terminals for patron use. More crucial info in the study released by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science: bigger libraries located in urban areas tended to be better connected to the Internet than smaller libraries from rural areas.
COPYRIGHT PROTECTION AND BIG BROTHER MENTALITY
The Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights, part of the U.S. administration's Info. Infrastructure Task Force, has called for stronger protection for copyright holders through "...tying up of loose ends." The task force recommended the prohibition of "importation, manufacture and distribution of devices, or the offering or performance of services, if the primary purpose or effect is to circumvent technological protection of exclusive rights". One wonders if that includes printing presses, copy machines, and BBS software. Single copies of the report by calling +1 703 305 9300 or (snail mail) to: NII, USPTO, Box 4, Washington, DC 20231-0001.
U.S. HOUSE PASSES BILL, GIVES BABY BELLS MORE FREEDOM
Under the bill (H.R. 3626), if it becomes law, regional Bell operating companies could enter several lines of business previously prohibited by the courts. These include long distance, manufacture of equipment, electronic publishing, video programming, and others. This bill would overturn many of the provisions of the court order dividing AT&T and the Operating Companies and would also provide for 'expanded' universal service in the U.S.
Kibo. The very name conjures up images of....well, Kibo. Truly, a fixture in the pantheon of net gods, maybe even a bathroom fixture. And now, inevitably, there is the unauthorized but highly relevant Home of Kibological Studies WWW page. Alex Suter has put together a veritable cyber-shrine to the Esteemed Leader, Kibo. Kibo images, Kibo FTP site, alt.religion.kibology FAQ, the sacred SIG OF KIBO. But wait! There's More! Bad fiction, alt.usenet.kooks FAQ, HappyNet, and the underrated Trolling links. Now all of Kibology is at our fingertips. A reverent hush please. "http://rescomp.stanford.edu/~asuter/kibo/kibo.html"
Coolware WWW server is an ever changing collection of submissions from all parts of the globe. One day recently there were pages for Health and Fitness which included Quotes on the Art of Imaging as well as The Electric Gallery's stunning selection of paintings from Haiti. Walking from room to room, one can find the prices on each art piece and step out into the lobby to make a direct purchase. High caliber pages. And on top of that Coolware, Inc. can help you design your own. It promises to be fun. "http://none.coolware.com/"
TOR BOOKS, SCI FI, FANTASY, AND THE WEB
"Spring in the Mountains of Morravik was about as predictable as a tired two-years child in a house of wonders, or so it seemed to Gralith as he picked his way between patches of half-melted snow." So starts a sample chapter from 'The Raven Ring' by Patricia C. Wrede, available for perusal via the Tor Books WWW server. Tor is the largest English language publisher of Sci Fi and Fantasy books and its home page includes their Near Futures newsletter reviewing many recent releases, as well as lists of soon to be published books. "http://sunsite.unc.edu/ibic/Tor-homepage.html"
HAPPY MUTANTS READ bOING bOING 'ZINE
So you think you're outrageous? Try linking to the self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Neurozine," bOING bOING. The bOING bOING home page offers "memetic archives," including the history of the magazine and information about an upcoming book, "bOING bOING's Happy Mutant Handbook." Available in the spring of 1995, the Handbook will provide resources and projects that focus on "the latest ideas and developments in from the fringes of pop culture and high technology," according to its creators. "http://www.zeitgeist.net/public/Boing-boing/bbw3/boing.boing.html"
TURKISH 'IMAGINATION' E-ZINE SEEKS YOUR HELP
'Imagination' is a student-run electronic publication in the works at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey, that hopes to make it big as a rather eclectic resource. It plans sections for contemporary inventors seeking funding and for those who've discovered answers to Earth's problems, and will even publish short fiction. Most intriguing is a potential forum in which companies can post problems, allowing project teams of subscribers to work on solutions in impromptu contests. The publisher seeks advice, critiques and contributors. A chance to lend a helping hand and make friends in far away places. E-Mail Ersin Beyret beyret@vs6410.cc.boun.edu.tr
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