harper@cc.helsinki.fi (ROBERT HARPER FINLAND) (03/21/89)
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No 4
<< EDITED BY ROBERT HARPER >>
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
This issue of BIOBIT is about the CONFERENCING facility that has been
implemented by LIFESCI "A network tools for life scientists". It is
made up of two main parts.
1) A dialogue that I had with RELAY on the morning
of Friday 16th. This is a short introduction to RELAY.
2) The minutes of the BIOBIT conference that was scheduled
to take place that evening at 18:00.
But before we begin to get down to brass tacks, let's digress a little
and talk about fishing. Fishing has three components: mechanical skill
(accurate casting of lures), analytical knowledge (on how to find fish
and to tempt them), and the ability to apply analytical knowledge in a
practical situation.
Now for someone to use the conferencing facility at LIFESCI it requires
that they have some degree of mechanical skill. They should know how to
hook up to their nearest RELAY node, they need to know how to SIGNUP to
RELAY, and they need to know how to SIGNON and send "interactive
messages" to other users. Those are the basic skills.
So... I issued a command to the LIFESCI server in Israel, and it
diligently began to send out mail messages to the other members of BIOBIT
(a topic that I moderate on LIFESCI), telling them that a CONFERENCE had
been scheduled for FRIDAY 16th March at 18:00. Not surprisingly I then
received mail from people who had been summoned to participate, asking
what they should do. It was as though I had invited them to go fishing
and they did not know the first thing about fishing rods or fish.
Biologists are often blinkered when it comes to applying skills that are
outside their own particular field. We lack the basic "mechanical
skills".
I must confess that my own use of RELAY was rather rudimentary, and my
first encounter could be compared with trying to catch salmon using a
bamboo pole as a rod and a bent safety pin as a hook. If we carry the
analogy further, it would appear that using RELAY and fishing have other
things in common. For example you often need a permission if you want to
fish, and so it is with RELAY... you have to be CLASS 3 in order to use
RELAY during PRIME TIME. This is essential if you want to hold a
conference with people on both sides of the Atlantic.
Well that is enough of a preamble now lets have a look at the "fishing
rod" called RELAY. This is a "slightly edited" log of my first encounter.
I sent this file to BIOBIT so that other subscribers would get some idea
of what was expected of them.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% THOUGHTS DURING A RELAY SESSION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From the amount of mail I received it looks like fellow BIOBITers
are not sure what a CONFERENCE is or how to participate in it...
so I suppose todays effort might turn out to be a fiasco. Anyway
when a conference is called we should all get to our terminals and
hook into the nearest RELAY node.
In FINLAND it is FINHUTC. From a VAX you would give the command
SEND RELAY@FINHUTC /HELP and you will be given a list of commands
you can use on the RELAY.
/HELP
**************** Relay Commands ***************
/Bye . . . . . . . . . . . . Signoff from Relay
/Channel <num> . . . . .Change to channel <num>
/COntact <host-nick> . .Show Relay contact info
/Getop . . . . . Try to summon a Relay operator
/Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . Prints this list
/INFo. . . . . . . . . . . Send RELAY INFO file
/Invite <nick> . . .Invite user to your channel
/LINks . . . . . . . . . . .Shows active relays
/List. . . . . . . . . . . List active channels
/Msg <nick> <text> . . . .Sends private message
/Nick <newnick>. . . . . . Change your nickname
/NAmes <channel> . . . . .Show users with names
/Rates . . . . . . . . . .Display message rates
/SErvers <node>. . . . Show relays serving node
/Signon <nick> <channel> . . . .Signon to Relay
/Signon <nick>,SHIFT . . Forces uppercase shift
/Signon <nick>,UNSHIFT . Forces lowercase shift
/Signoff . . . . . . . . . . Signoff from Relay
/SIGNUP <full name>. Signup or change full name
/STats . . . . . . . . Display Relay statistics
/SUmmon <userid>@<node>. . Invite user to Relay
/Topic <subject> . . . . Topic for your channel
/Who <channel> . . . . Show users and nicknames
/WHOIs <nick>. . . . . . . .Identify a nickname
If you want to read more about RELAY then you can give the command
/INFO To which RELAY will respond by sending a file which tells
more about the workings of RELAY
|Relay| Info file has been sent
FINFUN : Received network file RELAY.INFO from RELAY@FINHUTC
To find out the name of the NEAREST RELAY node you can issue
the command /SERVERS <yournode> to any RELAY and it will tell
you the best node to contact.
/SERVERS FINABO
Node FINABO is serviced by:
RELAY at FINHUTC
/SERVERS CERNVAX
Node CERNVAX is serviced by:
RELAY at CEARN
Now due to PRIME TIME restrictions you have to be granted a
certain classification to be able to use RELAY at any time.
To be granted CLASS 3 status you should write some mail to your
local RELAY operator. You can find out his name by giving
the command /CO
/CO
Primary contact for relay Finland is
(Petri Autio) LK-PA@FINHUTC (+358 0 4512632)
Now you are ready to register with RELAY using the /SIGNUP <fullname>
command.
/SIGNUP robert harper
* Thank you for signing up, robert harper.
* Now use the /SIGNON <nickname> command to
* establish a nickname and to logon Relay.
RELAY prompts you to then SIGNON with some suitable nickname.
/SIGNON rob
Welcome to the Interchat Relay Network, Rob.
Your host is RELAY@FINHUTC (Finland).
Your last logon was at 08:39:23 on 03/17/89.
There are 67 users on 27 relays.
You are given some statistics about how many users are on the
RELAY and how many CHANNELS are ACTIVE. Now our CONFERENCE this
afternoon will be called BIOBIT. At the moment we can see that
there are 67 users online but who are they. You can find out with
the /WHO command. This will give you the names of the active
CHANNELS, the USERID@NODE, the NICKNAME of the user, and the
HOST-ID. As you can see early in the morning there is ONE crazy
European and all the rest are from somewhere else in the world.
(I only give the first 15 users instead of the 67 so this article
is not too long. )
/WHO
RELAY Version 01.24x0 Host RELAY@FINHUTC (Finland)
Ch UserID @ Node Nickname Host-ID
1 V050JXEV@ UBVMSC ( knute ) Buffalo
1 XNPU @PURCCVM ( Goober ) Purdue
1 HARPER @ FINFUN ( Rob ) Finland
2 7516050 @TWNCTU01 ( Henry ) Tokyo
2 TBCST @PITTVMS ( Nitro ) Pittsburgh
3 7611012 @TWNCTU01 ( Sunny ) Tokyo
5 TROOPER @ ALBION ( Mr.Nubbs ) Urbana_IL
5 BRINPAT @ IITVAX ( Flabitus ) Ithaca_NY
13 519876 @UOTTAWA ( Krazy ) Canada01
13 CMS0193 @ UWF ( Tengue ) Pensacola
13 X3110DHQ@ UFOAK ( Stafford ) Pensacola
13 D1140068@ BCIT ( Anim ) Edmonton
13 C14300 @AKRONVM ( Daemon! ) Urbana_IL
25 EVALS @ UFOAK ( Evals ) Pensacola
29 GPOY @CRNLVAX5 ( Tanaman ) Ithaca_NY
Msg in: 437; out rmt(local): 181(0); CPU: 3.72%
OK so you are interested, but the big question is what is the
nearest RELAY that you can log into. Well there are many RELAYS
and you should hook up to the one nearest you. Anyway the /LINKS
command gives you the ACTIVE RELAYS in EUROPE and AMERICA... so
choose one near you to talk to. (This /LINKS command was patched
into this "log" from another session so that you can look for
a RELAY node that is near you)
/LINKS
RELAY Version 01.24x0 Host RELAY@FINHUTC (Finland)
Relay RELAY @ CEARN ( Geneva ) -> Finland
Relay RELAY @ DEARN ( Germany ) -> Geneva
Relay RELAY @ AEARN ( Austria ) -> Germany
Relay RELAY @CZHRZU1A ( Zurich ) -> Geneva
Relay RELAY @ HEARN ( Holland ) -> Geneva
Relay RELAY @TAUNIVM ( TAUrelay ) -> Geneva
Relay RELAY @EB0UB011 (Barcelona ) -> Geneva
Relay RELAY @ ORION (New_Jersey) -> Geneva
Relay RELAY @ BITNIC ( NewYork ) -> New_Jersey
Relay RELAY @JPNSUT10 ( Tokyo ) -> NewYork
Relay RELAY @ VILLVM (Philadelph) -> New_Jersey
Relay RELAY @NDSUVM1 (No_Dakota ) -> New_Jersey
Relay RLY @CORNELLC (Ithaca_NY ) -> New_Jersey
Relay RELAY @ UTCVM (Tennessee ) -> Pittsburgh
Relay RELAY @UIUCVMD (Urbana_IL ) -> Pittsburgh
Relay RELAY @CANADA01 ( Canada01 ) -> Ithaca_NY
Relay RELAY @ AUVM ( Wash_DC ) -> Va_Tech
Relay RELAY @ VTVM2 ( Va_Tech ) -> Ithaca_NY
Relay RELAY @UALTAVM ( Edmonton ) -> Canada01
Relay RELAY @NYUCCVM ( Nyu ) -> New_Jersey
Relay RELAY @ UWF (Pensacola ) -> Va_Tech
Relay MASRELAY@ UBVM ( Buffalo ) -> Ithaca_NY
Relay RELAY @CMUCCVMA (Pittsburgh) -> Ithaca_NY
Relay RELAY @PURCCVM ( Purdue ) -> Pittsburgh
Relay RELAY @UREGINA1 (Regina_Sk ) -> Canada01
Relay RELAY @ GITVM1 ( Atlanta ) -> Tennessee
Now tonight you will have to find out which CHANNEL the BIOBIT
conference is being held on and you find out with the /LIST
command. You will be given the channel numbers and the number of
people hooked into that channel and hopefully the BIOBIT
conference will be PRIVATE channel so only BIOBITers can get into
it.
/LIST
* There are 5 channels active
*--Channel--* Users *---Topics (if defined)
* 1 3 Weather
* 2 1
* 5 2
* 13 7 Swapshop
* 29 1
You can then begin to chat with people on the same channel
by writing short messages
<Rob> Hello from Finland...Is there anyone on this channel
<Nitro> hello rob
<Rob> Where are you from Nitro?
<Marie> hello Rob how are you?
<Nitro> rob : this is Nitro from Windber PA U.S.A.
<Rob> That is quite some distance from Finland
So we can see that there are a couple of people responding
whose nicknames are <NITRO> and <MARIE>. To find out who they
are you can give the command /WHO 1 which means who are the
people on channel 1, and if you want, you could continue your
contact with them later through E-Mail.
/WHO 1
RELAY Version 01.24x0 Host RELAY@FINHUTC (Finland)
Ch UserID @ Node Nickname Host-ID
1 HARPER @ FINFUN ( Rob ) Finland
1 TBCST @PITTVMS ( Nitro ) Pittsburgh
1 INS_ANML@ JHUVMS ( Marie ) Va_Tech
Msg in: 516; out rmt(local): 512(0); CPU: 3.72%
I then had an interesting chat about the weather, and why this
winter was so mild. We discussed the greenhouse effect, acid rain,
and the problems of pollution... which was not bad for strangers
thrown together in the early morning. This evenings BIOBIT
session should be an interesting experiment... and for the folks
in the UK who cannot join the relay. I will keep a log of the
session so you can see just what went on.
You finnish off your RELAY session with the /BYE command. And
dont foget that all commands to RELAY are proceeded with a
slash (/).
/BYE
|Signoff| User HARPER @ FINFUN (Rob)
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% END OF FIRST ENCOUNTER %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
There is a strong tradition of oral and written lore regarding the craft
of fishing. You become a expert fisher by going fishing. You learn about
RELAY by using RELAY. As I made my way to the water's edge for the first
time on the morning of Friday 16th I noticed that I was the only European
using RELAY. My arrival did not go un-noticed and soon there was a
barrage of questions being hurled at me. There I was, sitting like a fool
with my new "fishing rod" watching the old-hands swapping "fishy stories"
with each other. You learn by watching what others do.
By 17:30 in the afternoon with some fear and trembling I was ready to
apply my new found skills in a practical situation. LIFESCI sent me mail
saying the BIOBIT conference was about to start and I logged onto
RELAY@FINHUTC. The mail informed me that the conference would be held on
a private channel 502. This would prevent any other RELAY USERS from
"fishing in our stretch of the river". Here is the "slightly" edited log
of the session between Finland and Israel. I was lucky that Dr Ami Zakai
was on hand to give me instruction, and the session proves that tele-
conferencing via LIFESCI/RELAY could be a valuable method of
communication at an international level.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%% LIFESCI/RELAY BIOBIT MINUTES %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Subj: FILE FROM LIFESCI: "BIOBIT MINUTES"
Conference about BIOBIT was started on 17 Mar 1989 at 17:55:21.
The conference was scheduled by Robert Harper and run on relay channel 502.
<Monitor1> Please welcome Ami Zakai(Zak)
<Monitor1> Please welcome Robert Harper(Rob)
<Zak> welcome rob :) thats more like it
<Rob> Hello ZAK, I had some trouble getting in to the conference
<Rob> but signoff signon seemed to help
<Zak> I beleive it was temprary flip-flopping of relay links
<Zak> if you do /LINKS you will see that lifesci does some neat things to RELAY
<Rob> Well we made it Finally... connection between Finland and ISRAEL
<Rob> I hope all of this is being LOGGED... just to prove that it happened.
<Rob> By the way what are those * stars around your name
<Zak> u dont know RELAY too well.. the *ZAK* means that was a PRIVATE msgs ..
<Zak> and of all the ppl in the channel only you can see it
<Rob> Does it mean you have some special privileges?
<Zak> To send PRIVATE msg to me do '/m zak msg...'
<Zak> The * next to my name on the /who means I am an operator of RELAY
<Rob> I thought it ment that you were some two star general :-)
<Zak> nope :)
<Zak> You should change your relay CLASS to 3. This will allow you to use
<Zak> at any time even within PRIME TIME.
<Zak> To get your class to 3 send now the relay command '/CO'
<Zak> this will tell you whom to contact about it
<Rob> Well I have a confession to make this is my SECOND time on RELAY
<Rob> The first time was this morning.
<Zak> oh .. then its pretty good
<Rob> OK I will try that /CO command.
<Zak> All academic staff are entitled to class 3 normal users are class 2,
<Zak> and ops are 4 and above
<Rob> I see I should contact Perti Autio at FINHUTC.
<Rob> So what do these different CLASSES mean?
<Zak> Being class 3 allows access to negative channels and
<Zak> bypass prime time (closed relays during the day)
<Zak> This is especially important for our american friends.
<Rob> I just got some mail from NORM ENDLER from CANADA who could not get
<Rob> onto the RELAY because it was down until 17:00 his local time
<Zak> He could not join his relay cos it was in prime time
<Zak> (closed till 17:00 local time) if he had CLASS 3 he could join..
<Rob> Well that is a bit of useful information...what is your CLASS
<Zak> I am 8 which is the masterop of Tau .. Yossie is Israels 9
<Rob> OH well I am WORKING CLASS.... hehehehehehehe
<Rob> I hope these jokes are getting recorded.
<Zak> I hope you will edit it :)
<Rob> Does RELAY have any really serious applications.
<Zak> This is the FIRST try to make something serious out of it.
<Zak> but even if it does NOTHING serious.. non academic socializing is
<Zak> very important< for normal international collaboration.
<Rob> Could it be a useful tools for researchers to talk to each other.
<Zak> That's precisely why we made this ellaborate LIFESCI/RELAY hookup
<Rob> Well I was impressed when LIFESCI began to page me and say that the
<Rob> conference was about to start. Does that message go out to everyone
<Rob> who is a member of BIOBIT?
<Zak> Yes .. to every1 .. greetings as well and also the
<Zak> info about the log being made for you
<Zak> u can even set how much u want it to nag .. and send mail memos
<Rob> The network connections seem to be working like a dream...
<Rob> is it always so good
<Zak> hopefuly :)
<Rob> It looks like RELAY users have their own special way of writing
<Zak> yes .. its refered to as 'talking in writing' I have
<Zak> an intereting article on it if you want
<Zak> I can give you the refrence and you can look it up if u want.
<Rob> Hmmmm... you have to write fast just in case the network fails :-)
<Zak> It is called 'Writing style in Computer Conference' by Michael Spitzer
<Rob> Still getting mail from NORM ENDLER in Canada
<Rob> looks like he is trying hard to get in.
<Zak> Tell him he can not do it until he is CLASS 3.
<Rob> Well I think we can call it a day.
<Rob> Perhaps you could explain something about these CLASSES in BIOBIT.
<Zak> Sure.. I would be happy to
<Rob> Do I get the LOG of the session?
<Zak> u should get the log 30-60 min after we both leave
<Zak> the channel and no1 else bothers monitor1
<Zak> so bye for now
<Zak> I hope u enjoyed it :)
<Zak> we aim to serve *humble bow*
<Rob> Well it has been a very POSITIVE experiance. Lets hope others
<Rob> get the VISION to use RELAY.... BYE for now
<Rob> and take care -=ROB=-
Robert Harper <Rob> left this conference and signed off
<Monitor1> I stop monitoring this conference.
Conference about BIOBIT was ended on 17 Mar 1989 at 19:33:56.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% END OF BIOBIT MINUTES %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
My first encounter with LIFESCI/RELAY was positive, but let me end with a
quote from "Teaching as a moral craft".
"The fisherman's expertise does not guarantee success... uncontrollable
factors often combine to neutralize the abilities of the best of
fishermen. In short there are no certainties when it comes to fishing"
I am sure that those sentiments will strike a chord with anyone who has
used the EARN/BITNET network over and extended period of time. But then
uncertainty is rather exciting... whereas predictability tends to be
boring.
.. By the way did I ever tell you about the time I was caught on the net
in a RELAY session, with forty female dairy scientists from Hong Kong :-)
-=ROB=-
kristoff@NET.BIO.NET (David Kristofferson) (03/22/89)
One important point left out of BIOBIT No. 4 which is of relevance to BIONET users and other people on the Internet. Rob is speaking about routines that are only available to BITNET users, i.e., RELAY as mentioned in BIOBIT No. 4 is not a command on computers with only Internet connections. Less biologists on the Internet feel cheated, I wish to point out that there are many Internet features that BITNETers would drool to have access to, but this is not the time to discuss the relative merits of the respective networks. I believe I am correct in stating that the features Rob mentions in BIOBIT No 4 are not accessible unless you have a direct BITNET connection, but if someone knows otherwise I would welcome corrections. Sincerely, Dave Kristofferson BIONET Resource Manager kristoff@net.bio.net or kristofferson@bionet-20.bio.net -- Sincerely, Dave Kristofferson BIONET Resource Manager kristoff@net.bio.net or kristofferson@bionet-20.bio.net
harper@cc.helsinki.fi (ROBERT HARPER FINLAND) (03/22/89)
In article <Mar.21.15.19.24.1989.22437@NET.BIO.NET>, kristoff@NET.BIO.NET (David Kristofferson) writes: > > I believe I am correct in > stating that the features Rob mentions in BIOBIT No 4 are not > accessible unless you have a direct BITNET connection, but if someone > knows otherwise I would welcome corrections. > > Sincerely, > > Dave Kristofferson > BIONET Resource Manager Dave is correct in that RELAY is only open to folks on EARN/BITNET/NETNORTH and even though the UK is on EARN... they can not use RELAY either, because they can not send "interactive messages". As a further clarification I should also point out that BIOBIT No 4 was particularly interested in the link between the LIFESCI server and RELAY, because by providing a PRIVATE channel, PAGING participants, and keeping a LOG of all the transactions, it attempts to "filter" out some of the "noise" that you normally get on RELAY. ... and of course you have to be REGISTERED with LIFESCI before you can use this CONFERENCE feature... but that is another story for BIOBIT. -=ROB=-