crunch@well.UUCP (John Draper) (12/09/88)
Now that the dust has settled regarding all this discussion about the Soviet Union, and everyone has gotten all that political bru ha ha out of their system, by flaming their views on the Soviets, I can concentrate now on the beginnings of an information flow that will hopefully educate us a little more about those people in the "Evil Empire" as I've often heard it called. The first piece of information I want to turn everyone on to is about a convention being held in Moscow on the 15th and 16th of December. This convention is the "Kick off" of the creation of the International Computer Club. I posted a previous article on it, but no details yet. During the 15th and 16th, I will be passing messages back and forth to the Soviet Union. For those people who have already passed me messages to send, I will send them at that time. For those who have hesitated, now is the time to Email me, so I can include them in the first shipment. There has been a lot of discussion about adding Soviet sites to Usenet, assuming that the Soviets even know what Usenet is. Does anyone want to write up a short 1 or 2 page article on Usenet, its history, and its users? Then I can Email it to this Conference where a large number of Soviets will see and read it? It should describe the Network in **GENERAL* terms, and is intended to educate them about usenet, so they can decide if they really want to become part of this global village. At the same time, I will be requesting information from the Soviets on *their* networking systems, who has them and who uses them. I have also requested that the Soviets send us a list of the Software Cooperatives or Collectives as they are sometimes called. The kind of information we get from the Soviet computer users depends on those people who have asked me to forward their messages. I haven't had that many people specifically asking me to forward their questions, and I feel that I can ask for more input on that. Cm'on you guys, this could be your first chance to ask the Soviets anything you want to know. :-) And lets keep politics out of it, and talk about computers, and what they are doing with them. What software they are using, and what software they are writing. I have also requested more information on the procedures for setting up joint ventures, and how a joint venture with the Soviets would benefit Americans or European companies. One has to remember that the Soviets are in an IBM world. I also heard from somewhere that a UUCP Software package exists for the IBM-PC. Is that true. If so, the Soviets are probably not aware of it. So for all those that are in favor of allowing the Soviets to access Usenet, this software package might work for them. UNIX machines are as scarce as hens teeth, so don't count on having much of a choice of Soviet sites to connect with. Most Soviet computer users don't KNOW about Networking, and have no concept of what it's all about. The experiences from those already connected to the Teleport, indicate that the Soviets are very SLOW to pick up on Email and electronic networking. Getting responses from them often requires "Cattle prodding", and the SF/Moscow Teleport company provides this service for an additional fee. By the way, this is why it's taken us this long to get on the Teleport service. I also learned today that the SF/Moscow teleport access is through telenet, so that ANYONE with Telenet access can use it. Good news for those Portal users. It's also important to know that the ONLY way to get a Teleport Email address is to be INVITED or be requested to be added by the Soviets. The Teleport will NOT give you a mailbox if you don't have someone specific to talk to. For instance, if a computer club wants to communicate Via the Teleport directly to the Moscow side, the people in Moscow must give the final approval to the teleport people to add the club to the service. The club would have to WRITE to the ICC, asking them to contact the Teleport and request to communicate with the American user. Next week, I was promised the correct poop on the SF/Moscow teleport, and the corrections to some mis-statements I had made in my origional article. I expect to post complete information on the service they provide. AGAIN, I want to mention that I am a CUSTOMER of the SF/Moscow teleport service and not affiliated with them in any way, and this is in response to the hundreds of people asking me about it, and it's not a commercial "plug". I'm still in the process of tallying up a summary of the many hundreds of responses I've gotten. I filled about 2 macintosh floppies with "captured" Email responses, and am Still making up the tally. I'm about a quarter of the way through it. So next week, for those on BIX, or the WELL, I will be passing a lot of messages to and from the ICC Convention in Moscow, and this would be a wonderful time for those interested to learn a little more about the Soviets, the recent Earthquake, and all this controversy about the USSR. Aren't YOU interested in knowing what Software they use?? So long for now, and don't forget to send me your Questions. I would like to gather a list of about 20 to 30 questions initially, and try and check your mail often between the 15th and 16th of December. John Draper Programmers Network A Global network of Programmers uunet!acad!well!crunch