Not surfing the Net

The term "surfing the Net" implies browsing the Internet using software such as Mosaic and hopping from one server to another, yet another and another ... This is the purview of the young who have lots of patience and time and who are used to learning by exploration. Most engineers have neither the patience nor the time. For many, the day is governed by billable hours and the evening is divided by competing interests. For many users, there is also the cost of connect time -- browsing can be interesting but very expensive. Bottom line: If you have the time and interest, Net surfing can be fun and fascinating.

However, if you want to find some information quickly, or if you want to learn about a new service, you are looking for some pointers to speed you on your way. Over the course of developing and writing this column, I have logged on to many different sites and tried a variety of servers. This column presents a compilation of this information, updated to include changes that have occurred since publication and corrected to fix a few errors. There are a few additional site addresses that I have collected along the way, including some that were submitted in letters to the editor.

This information is also available in a file called "info.highway.update" that I referred to in my June 1995 column. In a sense, it also represents a brief overview of the kinds of electronic communications services that we have discussed in The Institute.

This information is provided on an as-is basis for use by IEEE members. While I personally attempt to provide information that is correct at the time (please realize that The Institute is completed six weeks before the date of publication), neither I nor the IEEE can guarantee that all this information is correct and appropriate for every user. Also, any of the addresses or commands may be modified or discontinued by their respective site management. Some file transfer protocol (FTP) site addresses include a directory (after the colon). There are often separate directories for Unix, Mac or Windows applications.

An ASCII text file for each of these Information Highway articles is provided for use by IEEE members. The file-naming convention is, by example, ti94.1 for issue number 1 (January/February) of The Institute in 1994 . Any IEEE member may copy these files for noncommercial purposes and reproduce them in full, provided that the IEEE is identified as the source and the year and month of the issue of The Institute is quoted.

In the list below, the first (left) column is a brief descriptor of the entity or service. The second column is the address you log on to or send to. The third (if present) is a comment or the command you place on the first line of the message, where appropriate; this is to get help on how to use the service. The reference in square brackets is to the relevant article in The Institute.

Since the contents of the articles are available from IEEE servers via e-mail, as well as Gopher and Web, please do not write to me to ask how to use or access these addresses. To find out how to obtain copies of these files, send a message to "fileserver@ieee.org" and place the file name "info.email" (without the quotes) at the start of the first line of the message. Please send any corrections to this information to me at r.alden@ieee.org.