Human-Nets-Request@RED.RUTGERS.EDU (Charles McGrew, The Moderator) (01/13/86)
HUMAN-NETS Digest Monday, 13 Jan 1986 Volume 9 : Issue 2
Today's Topics:
Query - Satellite Hardware and Software,
Responces to Queries - Braille Printing (2 msgs),
Computers and People - Book Promotion via BBS &
Aliens among us (3 msgs) &
System interface design,
Information - MIT-MC may vanish abruptly
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Return-path: <lam@nadc>
Date: 13 Jan 1986 10:10:57-EST
From: lam@NADC
Subject: Satellite Hardware and Software
Dear Netlander:
I am very interested in finding out the type of standard
protocol that is normally used in satellite communication. Also, does
anyone know if HDLC works for satcom, please let me know who is
presenting using what? Also, what type of communication hardware
circuit board is used for supporting this satcom? Please send all
comments and answers to <lam@nadc.arpa>. Thanx in advance!
<lam@nadc.arpa>
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Return-path: <ihnp4!aicchi!mdb@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 86 20:02:47 PST
From: ihnp4!aicchi!mdb@ucbvax.berkeley.edu
To: ihnp4!ucbvax!human-nets
Subject: Re: HUMAN-NETS Digest V9 #1
Newsgroups: mod.human-nets
In article <8601081254.AA10999@ucbvax.berkeley.edu> you write:
>------------------------------
>
>Return-path: <DAUL@OFFICE-1.ARPA>
>Date: 22 Dec 85 02:13 PST
>From: William Daul / McDonnell-Douglas / APD-ASD
>From: <WBD.TYM@OFFICE-1.ARPA>
>Subject: Braille Printer? BRAILE
>To: irdis%vpi.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA
>
>Does anyone know of a printer that can take a file and print it in
>Braille?
>
>Thanks, --Bi//
>
>------------------------------
>
>Return-path: <@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU,@OFFICE-1.ARPA:WRS@Office-2.Arpa.ARPA>
>From: William R. Soley <WRS@Office-2.Arpa>
>Date: Wed, 1 Jan 86 15:10:57 PST
>Subject: need braile printer
>
>A friend and I operate a ham radio repeater system (N6IGF/R) and were
>recently approached by a blind person who would like to join the
>club. We need somebody who can print a copy of the documentation in
>braile from a text file. The manual is about 30 pages on a standard
>printer. Please send replies directly to me, I'm not on the list.
>Thanks for any suggestions or volunteers...Bill
>
>------------------------------
There are several programs available (I think some are public domain)
which take ascii text files at print them out in braile using a
daisy-wheel printer. The usual technique is to use the period ('.')
to produce the raised dots, at print right-to-left. Then you take the
paper out, flip it over, and read it. Unfortunatly, I don't know
exactly where to find them. It should take much to write one, though.
On a similar note: If one has access to a speech synth, like a votrax,
there are a few really excellent editors which have the human
interface optomized for this type of thing.
Mike Blackwell
..ihnp4!aicchi!mdb
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Return-path: <graff%donjon.DEC@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Date: Thursday, 9 Jan 1986 14:32:25-PST
From: graff%donjon.DEC@decwrl.DEC.COM
Subject: BRAILLE PRINTING
Braille is more than just a printer, it's also a system of
contractions to help speed the reading process. Contact National
Braille Press, 88 St. Stephen Street, Boston MA 02115. They do a lot
of braille output and can assist. Ask the person you are preparing it
for if he/she wants "grade 1 braille" (no contractions) or "grade 2"
(normal contracted format), since NBP will ask you that question.
--Joyce
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Return-path: <Hoffman.es@Xerox.ARPA>
Date: 8 Jan 86 12:46:19 PST (Wednesday)
From: Hoffman.es@Xerox.ARPA
Subject: Book Promotion via BBS
From the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 8, 1986, Part V, page 1:
COMPUTER MAY PUT NOVELIST IN THE CHIPS
Author Uses His Modem to Promote High-Tech
Detective Story
By Beverly Beyette
...Two weeks after its publication ['Safety Catch' by Jaron Summers]..
inspiration struck... What if he offered the first chapter, free, via
electronic bulletin board to the millions of home computer owners
coast to coast? And what if he offered $5 to any computer freak
willing to post that chapter on another of the thousands of free
boards ... And what if, in addition, he offered the chapter to the
combined 300,000 subscribers of ... CompuServe and The Source?
..."Every morning I've been getting from 2 or 3 to 15 messages,"
Summers said.... To date, Summers estimates that Chapter 1 is on more
than 400 bulletin boards and, within two weeks, "will have reached a
saturation point" of several thousand boards... [He has paid] $750 to
50 computer-users for posting Chapter 1.
Meanwhile, the jury is still out... The question is... "Will these
people stop playing with their computers long enough to buy a book and
read it? We [the publishers] are hoping computer people are amenable
to picking up something with pages."
--Rodney Hoffman
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Return-path: <MRC@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Date: Mon 6 Jan 86 23:34:58-MST
From: Mark Crispin <MRC@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: Re: A Bit of 'News'
To: crash!victoro@SDCSVAX.UCSD.EDU
Cc: risks@SRI-CSL, info-nets%mit-oz@MIT-MC, MsgGroup@BRL,
Cc: cc: security@RED.RUTGERS.EDU
I haven't heard of the California Computer News before, but it sounds
quite similar to some goofy right-wing publications that have been
floating around in this area recently. While this sort of trash makes
great propaganda, it doesn't bear much resemblance to reality.
Does anybody know who this Miles Costick character is? Does he have
any real credentials or is he just a crank? He obviously doesn't know
what the hell he's talking about. I particularly enjoyed the stuff
about breaking into the CIA in 15 minutes and Cap Weinberger's reading
his secret reports on ARPANET...
It isn't at all surprising that the Chinese students are trying to
learn as much as they can about America and American technology. They
are, after all, being sent here by their government at great expense
(even though some of them end up staying in the US permanently). They
have quite a bit to absorb, but this silliness about they having free
access to top-secret technology is hogwash! [We give our top-secret
stuff to the Taiwanese, or at least did up until a few years ago...]
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Return-path: <ESTEFFERUD@USC-ECL.ARPA>
Date: 7 Jan 1986 01:25-PST
Subject: Re: A Bit of 'News'
From: msggroup-request@brl.arpa (Msggroup Moderator)
Reply-to: msggroup-request@BRL.ARPA
To: MRC@SIMTEL20.ARPA, crash!victoro@SDCSVAX.UCSD.EDU
Cc: info-nets%mit-oz@MIT-MC.ARPA
Cc: security@RED.RUTGERS.EDU, risks@SRI-CSL.ARPA
Hello all -- I think that inclusion of this discussion in human-nets,
security, info-nets, and risks, in addition to msggroup, is more than
enough replicated coverage.
Therefore, please omit msggroup@brl from future contibutions.
Thanks -- Stef (MsgGroup Moderator)
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Return-path: <schoff%rpics.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 86 09:48:37 EST
From: Martin Lee Schoffstall <schoff%rpics.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
To: MRC%simtel20.arpa@csnet-relay.arpa,
To: To: crash!victoro%sdcsvax.ucsd.edu@csnet-relay.arpa
Subject: Re: A Bit of 'News'
the 'News' is a bit much but there is some truth in it:
both the Soviet Union and the Chinese have a national technical policy
to send their "students" to American technical institutions where they
work with the latest and greatest. Very few Soviet/Chinese "students"
are in the USA studing Romance Literature or Afro-American affairs or
American Indian history (though Soviet polemics would lead one to
believe that they are experts in the latter two areas).
On the other hand almost NO American is studying anything but soviet
history or literature in the USSR or chinese
lanuage/literature/history in the PRC. There institutions are closed
by policy. Admittedly, few people would want to go to the USSR to
study VLSI design but areas like Physics and the space sciences
(related to biological systems) would definitely be of interest to
American students.
Lastly, on a side note i find it interesting that few visiting
professors from the USSR bring their families to the USA (I am not
talking about emigres but people who hopefully will return to the
USSR) while teaching/ researching in American institutions. this is
definitely not the case for the rest of the non-COMBLOC world. this
can only be viewed as "insurance".
marty schoffstall
schoff%rpics.csnet@csnet-relay ARPA
schoff@rpics CSNET
seismo!rpics!schoff UUCP
martin_schoffstall@TROY.NY.USA.NA.EARTH.SOL UNIVERSENET
RPI
Computer Science Department
Troy, NY 12180
(518) 271-2654
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Return-path: <de%computing.lancaster.ac.uk@Cs.Ucl.AC.UK>
From: David England <de%computing.lancaster.ac.uk@cs.ucl.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 86 15:28:24 gmt
Subject: System interface design and User involvement
I think many of the problems that computer users face are due to
inappropriate design methods. People are writing interactive software
using the same techniques as they would for a batch accounts program.
Sure the user gets a say in the functionality of the program but not
the all important human aspects. We need to shift to a user-centered
design method. The designer and end-user need to be involved in a
dialogue during the design phase to establish the users' interface
needs. The term "user" implies not just a specific customer but human
interface aspects in general.
Most interface design is iterative and our method needs to take this
into account. One approach is "incremental design" where the
fundamentals of the product are initially specified and implemented.
The product is then incrementally evolved with user feedback until a
satisfactory product is reached (or the money and time run out !).
We also need some objective evidence that we have produced a better
design. Although we have user involvement users are not human factors
experts any more than software engineers. An interface can be measured
in terms of it's learnability, flexibility, usability and user
satisfaction. Some of these aspects of the user interface may overlap
or seem arbitrary but they can each tell us something about the
effectiveness of our design. Learnability can tell us how long it
takes to learn to use a system, how long users can remember about
system use after a break; usability can tell us if our product is an
improvement, do users achieve better results with less errors than
previously ? ; flexibility can tell us if users of differing abilities
and backgrounds have certain problems with our product, can the system
adapt interactively to these problems?
User centered design can help to produce better interactive systems
and provide designers with useful data and experience in the design of
future systems.
Dave England
UUCP : ..!seismo!mcvax!ukc!dcl-cs!de ARPA : de%lancs.comp@ucl-cs
JANET : de@uk.ac.lancs.comp PHONE : +44 524 65201 Ext. 4134
POST : Univ. of Lancaster, Dept of Computing, Lancaster LA1 2YR, UK.
PROJECT: Alvey ECLIPSE User Interface
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Return-path: <wmartin@ALMSA-1.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 86 10:02:20 CST
From: Will Martin -- AMXAL-RI <wmartin@ALMSA-1.ARPA>
Subject: Host MIT-MC may vanish abruptly
Some of you might have heard rumors or indications that the longtime
ARPANET mail-relay and list-archive storage computer, MIT-MC, is due
to be retired. These rumors are true; I append below a message from
one of the system managers confirming this.
Therefore, if you have been relying on having MIT-MC around as a
source for archived mailing-list files, or as a mail-forwarder, be
warned that it is likely to disappear abruptly in the near future. It
would be good if all the list archives could be moved to other hosts
which would also support the traditional ARPA "anonymous FTP", and
also that mailing-list addresses should be changed to no longer rely
on forwarding or list expansion by MIT-MC. I hope that this
information is disseminated as widely as possible, so as to reach all
list-maintainers and the whole community of users and list readers and
contributors.
Those of us who have been involved with the ARPANET for some years all
owe a debt of gratitude to MIT-MC and the support staff that ran it
over the past decade or so; that host was the seminal point for the
entire mailing list and Digest phenomenon. It's sad to see it go, but
we all know that hardware progress makes such changes inevitable.
Regards, Will Martin
----- Forwarded message # 1:
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 86 19:17:46 EST
From: "Christopher C. Stacy" <CSTACY@mit-mc.ARPA>
Subject: Future of MIT-MC?
To: wmartin@ALMSA-1.ARPA
cc: POSTMASTER@mit-mc.ARPA
Message-ID: <[MC.LCS.MIT.EDU].777682.860108.CSTACY>
Will,
I am afraid that the rumors about MIT-MC's future are true.
The maintenance contract for MIT-MC expires in a few months (at the
end of February, I think). After that, the next time the machine
breaks badly, it will be retired from service.
There are few KS-10 (DEC2020) machines in the building now, and one of
them is actually running ITS and calling itself MIT-AI. This tiny
machine not on the Internet yet, although it probably will be before
too long. However, MIT-AI will not have anywhere near the capacity of
MC, and won't be able to service the world in general. There really
isn't any machine available at MIT to take over the services MC has
provided; the structure of the community and its associated resources
has changed.
People should be moving off of MIT-MC rapidly; the machine really will
be decommissioned with little warning in the near future. Also,
people should move their data, as files may not be retrievable once
it's gone.
Cheers,
Chris
----- End of forwarded messages
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End of HUMAN-NETS Digest
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