wtm@bunker.uucp (Bill McGarry) (09/03/90)
Index Number: 10031 In # 10030, Bob Lambert writes: >For a year or more, now, I have been seeing articles in the "handicap digest" >which refer to "the Blink Talk Conference" or "The Blink Talk Digest". This is my fault. I keep promising to post a monthly article explaining what all of the various parts of this conference/newsgroup/mailing list are and how they all fit together. Everytime I start one, something else comes up and it slips again. Here's a quick overview: On the Usenet side, there is the Handicap News newsgroup (misc.handicap). This is distributed to somewhere around 8,000 readers daily. On the Bitnet side, there is the Handicap Digest mailing list (also known as L-HCAP) where approximately 10 articles from the newsgroup are collected in digest form. Although the mailing list server is on a BITNET host, this is also used for anyone on any reachable network who cannot receive the misc.handicap newsgroup. Approximately 10 articles from the newsgroup are collected in Digest form. On the Fidonet side, there are several conferences that are gatewayed with the Handicap News and the Handicap Digest. Currently, these conferences include ABLED, Advocacy, Blink Talk (Visually impaired), Silent Talk (Hearing impaired, Spinal Injury and Chronic Pain. (There will be several new conferences added to this list shortly.) Due to the volume of articles in the Blink Talk conference, I collect these in digests by themselves and give them both a Handicap Digest number and a Blink Talk Digest number. Currently, the volume of the other specialized conferences are not high enough to warrant separate Digests. When I receive articles from non-Fidonet sites, I send it to the appropriate Fidonet newsgroup. The gatewaying is done on a Fidonet Bulletin Board that I run here in Connecticut. It is known as the Handicap News BBS and the phone number is 1-203-337-1607 (300/1200/2400 baud). I carry over 2 dozen conferences for/about the handicapped along with several hundred text files and programs relating to the handicapped. Bill McGarry (203) 337-1518 UUCP: {oliveb, philabs, decvax, yale}!bunker!wtm INTERNET: l-hcap@vm1.nodak.edu BITNET: l-hcap@ndsuvm1.bitnet (300/1200/2400 baud, 24 hours) Compuserve: 73170,1064