************************************************************************** NETWORKS AND COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER : May 31, 1994 ************************************************************************** Networks and Community is devoted to encouraging LOCAL resource creation & GLOBAL resource sharing. ************************************************************************** The 20th report of 1994 is the 26th weekly survey. ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** Coverage in this issue includes: Global Community News From The World New Freenet - Seattle Community Network Internet Services - D.I.I.G. - Giftednet - I.C.I Internet Tools - HTMLASST for Windows (tm) Meeting - World Conference of Jewish Communal Service - Global Networking ########################################################################## Global Community ########################################################################## THE ONLINE "TIES THAT BIND" COMMUNITY NETWORKING CONFERENCE on COMMUNET On May 23,1994, Patrick Finn asked, The question of "who WE are" is still an important one. I would like to suggest that WE find out who WE are before we go too far down the path. A starting point might be people who are building communtiy networks or thinking about building networks, that would include independent projects and freenets and whatever else is out there We all need the same info and will be dealing with the same issues as we move toward meeting our goals. The question is "What is the common ground?" I don't think WE need to be afraid of an experiment, let's try something and see what emerges. Nothing ventured.. Partick J Finn La Plaza TeleCommiunity Foundation Taos, NM ************************************************************************* In the days since the conference, these & other folks have tried to answer that question: (all responses excerpted from Communet posts to "re: Ties etc") ******** Joan C. Durrance, Assoc. Prof, University of Michigan, School of Info. & Library Studies. "The flavor of the conference began to unfold at the airport. I shared a limo to the hotel with a freenet organizer from Texas (who I found out later was one of the CPB award winners), a Colorado sysop of a marketing bulletin board, the manager of a BBS for science teachers in the state of New Mexico who seeks to develop a multicultural approach, and an advocate of citizen democracy from a non-profit in Washington, DC. We bonded on the 15 minute trip to Cupertino. Five people with diverse backgrounds and experience who looked forward to sharing and learning about community network ties over the next several days. " ******** From: Ken Loss-Cutler " INTENSE! The other highpoint, for me, was the ad hoc breakout session that evolved in the cafe Friday afternoon. Nancy Willard, from Eugene Oregon, facilitated a discussion that lasted over two hours. Steve C. had to virtually beg us to adjourn for the final session in another room (he finally resorted to wheeling in an iced-down keg/carrot-on-a-stick). It worked. But not before the group of 32 people (by my count) had discussed essential elements of a plan for action for the community networking movement. We'll have to wait for Nancy's posting of the notes she took on our discussions, but I felt like we made strong progress in defining and, in some cases, taking on essential goals. More important, I believe we bonded in a way that we would not have without that session. (Thanks, Nancy) " ******** "The work of creating equality lies in our hands, we already "have", let's give it to those who don't. Even down the road there will always be those who don't have this tool. So the job is to create the interface that will reach those people. We must use our imagination and creativity to build the ties that bind, the link, to those who will never use a mouse, a keyboard or a touch screen. " Patrick J. Finn La Plaza TeleCommunity Foundation ******** From: "Kari Peterson (kapeterson@ucdavis.edu) "awesomely complicated (this is a global phenomenon, it involves a coalition of interests, sectors and needs that is larger than life and too hard to bring under a single umbrella.)" ******** "Community is what we are building in each of our own ways, but isn't community really a collection of individual relationships? Community encompasses more than that. It encompasses an overall atmosphere as well, but what is the basis of community? I think the basis for community is strong personal relationships between members of the community. I can't think of anything else that could be the key component of what we call "community." -- -- Grant Bowman Planning Director, SV-PAL -- grantbow@svpal.org Silicon Valley Public Access Link ******** "A community is a group of people united by the common objects of their love." That incorporates three critical elements: shared values, unity, and intimacy... Ed Schwartz, Institute for the Study of Civic Values, Edcivic@delphic.com ******** ******** Who are "we"? What is the common ground? "WE" are librarians, teachers, doctors, programmers, students, scientists, consultants, lawyers, firefighters, police officers, nurses; actually, we represent just about every profession known. "WE" are idealistic, pragmatic, energetic folks with a strong sense of "global community". "WE" are probably the last remnants of a society that "really" believes "all are created equal". At the risk of sounding melodramatic, maybe we are! "WE" worry about connectivity for the "have nots". "WE" are the folks that are accused of being "Socialists" when we post to the Comm-Priv list! The "Ties That Bind" conference was possibly the "Woodstock" of the Community Computing movement. We must re-harness the momentum that was so prevalent at Cupertino. We need to link our systems together both by wire and organizationally. There are many established groups already in existence. Could they be informally linked together (with other interested parties) to form an International Community Computing Alliance? Or do we want to form a separate coalition of systems to co-ordinate legislative action while the "window" is open as Mario Marino so aptly stated? My feeling is that a *NEW* organization should be set up to take advantage of the loose unification that was shared by the participants of the Conference. As we have seen "post" conference, many of those that could not attend share our enthusiasm but feel a loss at having missed such a "watershed" event. To become a viable, cohesive organization, we would have to *focus* on as Patrick Finn put it, a "Common Ground". We need to distill this discussion down to three or four issues to accomplish a our goals. After having audited this discussion since the conference, I have noticed that the topics of cost, universal access to both the tools and the Internet, political-social-economic effect on society, and on-going lobbying are most often discussed. Of course there are others, but these offer a platform from which to start. In any case, something should be started soon. This is an election year. We should be approaching Congress with a unified, energetic, logical, attainable vision. If we do not do it, a void will be created allowing commercial interests to determine community for us. Think about this, discuss the heck out of it, but let's get moving on something! It's too important to let pass by. -steve covington ########################################################################## NEWS of the WIRED & WEIRD **** Received from various sources ########################################################################## Forwarded by Gleason Sackman - InterNIC net-happenings moderator ************************************************************************* Subject: E-d-u-p-a-g-e 05/21/94 through 05/28/94 EDITED BY MYSELF ************************************************************************* DOES INFO HIGHWAY SHUN THE POOR? A study backed by groups including the Consumer Federation of America and the NAACP charges that the advanced communications now being planned and built are shunning poorer neighborhoods and minority populations, in what amounts to "electronic redlining" -- designating neighborhoods as bad for business. One industry spokesman, US West's Jerry Brown, counters: "To say that we're going to stay out of areas permanently is dishonest and ridiculous. But we had to start building our network someplace. And it is being built in areas where there are customers we believe will use and buy the service. This is a business." (New York Times 5/24/94 C5) AMERICANS LIKE TECHNOLOGY Almost one of every three households has a personal computer, and 65% of computer users say they would miss their machine "a lot" if they no longer had it. The study, which was done by Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press, also found that people with computers spend less time watching TV entertainment. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 5/24/94 A1) CAMPUSES WRESTLE WITH COMPUTER CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Campuses are increasingly dealing with computer-originated crime and mischief -- everything from bomb and death threats, to racist and sexual harassment, to forged messages such as one at Dartmouth that caused students to believe an important exam was canceled. While some students have called for a detailed list of computer commandments, campus officials are wary of limiting their disciplinary discretion. "If you make a long list of dos and don'ts, you are cajoling students into thinking, `How can I squeeze through that?' You should be making them think, `Should I be doing that?'" says a computer science professor at Kansas State. (Chronicle of Higher Education 5/25/94 A19) CYBERNOUGHTS ARE IN MINORITY Reporting on intense criticism on the net about a May 16th Newsweek article that had "sweeping generalizations" about the differences between the way men and women think and feel about computers, New York Magazine columnist Jon Katz decides that "the larger truth is harassers, pedophiles, and macho men constitute a fraction of the millions of ordinary people who use the more than 33,000 computer bulletin boards for work, news, research, shopping, business, marketing, and personal communications..." (New York Magazine 5/30/94 p.16) MFS OFFERS TRANSATLANTIC SERVICE MFS Communications will offer trans-Atlantic advanced telecommunications services via its private fiber optic network and asynchronous transfer mode switching equipment. The company is targeting multinational banks and investment firms in the U.S. and the U.K. that need high-speed voice, video and data communications capability. (Wall Street Journal 5/25/94 B3) INFO SUPERHIGHWAY WILL SPARK COMPETITION American Banker's Management Strategies (May 23) predicts a surge in competition among banks, mutual funds companies, insurance companies and other financial services firms, once the information superhighway becomes a reality and customers can track investment activities on their TV (or PC) screens. (Investor's Business Daily 5/25/94 A4) BOOKS ARE FOREVER, SAYS AUTHOR Fiction Pulitzer Prize winner E. Annie Prouix says that the information highway is "for bulletin boards on esoteric subjects, reference works, lists and news -- timely, utilitarian information, efficiently pulled through the wires. Nobody is going to sit down and read a novel on a twitchy little screen. Ever." (New York Times 5/26/94 A13) * E D U C O M * U P D A T E * 05/23/94 EVENTS *Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory, 11th Annual Symposium and Open House. University of Maryland at College Park, MD, June 13-14. This conference will highlight such topics as laying the foundation for the information superhighway, and concepts, design and evaluation of superteaching in the electronic classroom. Contact: Teresa Casey, e-mail tcasey@cs.umd.edu. *National Education Supercomputer Program (NESP). Roseville, MN, June 15-18. An institute intended for those teachers currently participating in the NESP and would like to expand knowledge of the resource. To receive an application form, call 612-638-8780 or send an e-mail request to: halvor@TIES.K12.MN.US. *Gateways and Productivity: How to Do Business on the Internet and Other Interactive Media. University of Massachusetts, Amherst campus, Montague, MA, June 23. Six Practitioners address the political issues of using the "information superhighway" as it exists today. Topics covered include interactive advertising, workgroup computing, use of information networks to achieve competitive advantage, and strategies for promoting Internet usage within an organization. Contact: Jean Graef at Montague Institute, 413-367-0245 or e-mail OGUJGRA@dpc01.dpc.umassp.edu. *National Information Infrastructure: Corporate Planning and Government Policy. Cambridge, MA, June 27-29. Business leaders, technology managers and public sector, non-profit, and academic leaders are invited to attend this M.I.T.-sponsored conference, which will survey the realignment of industry, business, and government, due to the convergence of communications and computer technologies. Contact: Trish Ezekiel at 617-253-1703 or e-mail trishs@.mit.edu. *1994 International Symposium on Mathematics/Science Education and Technology. Theme: "Emerging Issues and Trends." San Diego, CA, July 21- 23. Contact: 1994 Symposium, AACE at 804-973-3987 or e-mail AACE@Virginia.Edu. *The World Future Society presents, "Toward a New Millennium: Living, Learning, and Working." Boston, MA, July 24-26. The conference is expected to address the implications of current and future trends in society, technology, and values. Contact: The World Future Society at 800-989-8274. ************************************************************************ Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology ************************************************************************ ########################################################################## New Freenet ########################################################################## This message was posted to Communet recently. Welcome (almost) online! ************************* Community Focus on "Information Superhighway" Community Introduction to SCN, a New FREE Public-Access Computer System After 2 1/2 years of effort we are happy to announce the unveiling of the Seattle Community Network, a public-access computer network system that is FREE to use. SCN is the local affiliate of the National Public Telecomputing Network or NPTN, the network of community computer systems across the US and the world. We will be giving a "Community Introduction" at the Seattle Public Library on June 7th and will be giving a live demo. Of course you're all invited - but some of you probably won't be able to attend. If you'd like help us christen the system from long-distance we'd love to hear from you. To contribute a welcome message just send us a note at welcome@scn.org. Good luck to us all! ########################################################################## Internet Services: D. I. I. G. *** Giftednet List *** I C I ########################################################################## From: SAMSAM@VM1.YorkU.CA ========================================================================= Folks - register your free-nets and civic nets. Lets make sure that the "heart" of the Global Information Infrastructure is documented too! ========================================================================= Digital Information Infrastructure Guide (DIIG) DIIG@farnsworth.mit.edu ------------------------ Included Message: The MIT Research Program on Communications Policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is proud to announce the release of the Digital Information Infrastructure Guide (DIIG). What is DIIG? --------------- The Digital Information Infrastructure Guide (DIIG) is an online resource to facilitate the development of the National Information Infrastructure (NII). DIIG is intended to provide government, business and academic leaders with easy access to information about current research project(s) and critical public and private initiatives being developed for tomorrow's information infrastructure. Specifically, DIIG documents research conducted by NII stakeholders and models the interaction between NII stakeholders and their interests. DIIG will provide an invaluable impartial data resource for coordinating and guiding the development of the National Information Infrastructure. How do I access DIIG? ----------------------- DIIG is available in "gopherspace" and in World Wide Web "hypertextspace". If you have a WWW client (e.g. Mosaic), open URL http://farnsworth.mit.edu/ If you are using a gopher client (e.g. Turbogopher), point it at farnsworth.mit.edu (Port 70) Highlights of DIIG: --------------------- o A collection of profiles of 37 NII-related projects and institutions. o A collection of information from over 30 other NII-related projects. o Links to NII information at 25 other gopher servers, including ACE, CPSR, CCN, EFF, HPCC, IITF, ISOC, NSF, NIST, NASA and InterNIC. o A collection of Bills, Public Laws and Regulations dealing with communications. My project is helping to build the NII, but it is not in DIIG. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Send an email to diig@farnsworth.mit.edu You will be sent a survey that will be included in DIIG. You are also welcome to submit any other relevant material to be included in DIIG. Whom do I contact for more information about DIIG? --------------------------------------------------- Russell Rothstein MIT Research Program on Communications Policy One Amherst Street MIT, E40 - 218 Cambridge, MA 02139 +1-617-253-6828 +1-617-253-7326 (Fax) diig@farnsworth.mit.edu ************************************************************************** Sender: owner-net-happenings@is.internic.net giftednet-l on listserver@listserv.cc.wm.edu Gifted Education giftednet-l on listserver@listserv.cc.wm.edu is offered by The Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary as a forum for gifted education. Specifically, the listserv is intended to disseminate information about the National Science Curriculum Project for High Ability Learners and the National Language Arts Curriculum Project for High Ability Learners. Information exchange pertaining to gifted learners such as research, curriculum, intellectual, academic, moral and ethical, social, and emotional needs is welcome. To subscribe to giftednet-l, send the following command to listserver@listserv.cc.wm.edu via e-mail with text: subscribe giftednet-l Your Name For example: subscribe giftednet-l John Doe NOTE: The listserver is NOT the common VM/CMS LISTSERV. Some of its commands differ from those of LISTSERV. You can mail the command HELP to the listserver to receive more information on its use. Owner: Linda Neal Boyce lnboyc@mail.wm.edu Center for Gifted Education College of William and Mary 232 Jamestown Road Williamsburg, VA 23185 Phone: (804) 221-2588 FAX: (804) 221-2184 ************************************************************************** Sender: owner-net-happenings@is.internic.net ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Fabio Metitieri Subject: Internet Computer Index announcement ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Attached is the highlights of the press release we just issued. I think that people on the NEWNIR mailing list will be particularly interested in this service, given its bredth. Please feel free to tell others about it! Internet Computer Index Centralizes Information about Computers -- Free service gives easy access to widely-dispersed Internet resources -- Santa Cruz, California -- May 16, 1994 -- For the first time, Internet users can find anything available on the Internet about computers in one central location. The Internet Computer Index (ICI), created by Proper Publishing, tells users them everything that is known on the Internet about PCs, Macintoshes, and Unix systems. Additional information is also available on ICI that isn't available anywhere else on the Internet. Further, ICI is supported by commercial sponsors who add up-to-date information about their products to the ICI service. ICI uses the popular World Wide Web and Gopher systems to distribute its information. Using attractive, informative menus and hypertext, ICI gives up-to-date connections and pointers to the other freely-available information on the Internet. Anyone on the Internet, anywhere in the world, can access ICI 24 hours a day at no charge. Description of ICI The Internet Computer Index (ICI) is an easy-to-use, free service that leads Internet users to all of the information available on the Internet relating to PCs, Macintoshes, and Unix computers. ICI is the Internet's only one-stop, resource-locating service, helping users locate any information related to computers that is available on the Internet more easily and efficiently that ever before possible. ICI users can find out answers to their hardware and software questions, solve networking problems, research buying decisions, and keep up-to-date with their systems. Using Gopher or World Wide Web client software, any user on the Internet, anywhere in the world, can get the most up-to-date information including pointers to all Usenet news groups, mailing lists, Gopher and World Wide Web servers, anonymous FTP sites, and other Internet-specific resources. In order to make searching easy, ICI is organized as hierarchical menus of information. For each type of computer system (PC, Macintosh, or Unix), there is a menu that lists the type of Internet resources that describe that system. Most people will be only interested in one of the three main areas, but other can easily traverse between the three through cross-links. Users can search through Internet resources including: * Usenet news groups * mailing lists * Gopher servers * World Wide Web servers * anonymous FTP sites * frequently asked question files (FAQs) * online publications * commonly-downloaded files In addition, ICI freely provides information that is not available anywhere else on the Internet. For example, the Macintosh and PC sections allow users to search through indexes of reviews from popular magazines since January 1993. Further, ICI also lets users search through the messages from relevant Usenet news groups for topics of interest. In the future, Proper Publishing will add more original content to ICI as a service to the Internet community. Accessing ICI To reach ICI using a Gopher program, enter "ici.proper.com" as the host name. To reach ICI using a World Wide Web program such as Mosaic, enter "http://ici.proper.com" as the Universal Resource Locator (URL). Public contact: Send email to info@proper.com ########################################################################## Internet Tools - HTMLASST for Windows - WWW Hypertext Editor ########################################################################## This was forwarded by : owner-net-happenings@is.internic.net, I downloaded it, and set it up to use with Mosaic. I've had only about an hour with it so far, no problems yet, seems pretty stable. As that guy on the cable channel says, check it out! (sc) From: harawitz@fox.nstn.ns.ca (Howard Harawitz) Subject: HTML Assistant FAQ is available A preliminary FAQ for the MS Windows based hypertext editor "HTML Assistant" has been posted and is available on the Web. The URL is: "file://ftp.cs.dal.ca/htmlasst/htmlafaq.htm". It also contains links for downloading the editor software. The FAQ can also be obtained as plain text via FTP at: ftp.cs.dal.ca /htmlasst/htmlafaq.txt Howard Harawitz harawitz@fox.nstn.ns.ca ########################################################################## MEETING of INTEREST ########################################################################## From: Dov Winer Subject: World Conference of Jewish Communal Service - Global Networking World Conference of Jewish Communal Service Conseil Mondial des Services Communautaires Juifs Conferencia Mondial del Servicio Comunitario Judio ================================================== Jerusalem, Israel, July 4-7 1994 Shalom, The World Conference of Jewish Communal Service will take place from Monday to Thursday, 4-7 July 1994, in the Ramada Renaissance Hotel in Jerusalem following the tradition of convening it in Israel every four years (W.C.J.C.S.). This conference gathers from all parts of the world professionals in the areas of education and community: educators from the Diaspora and non-formal education specialists, family counsellors, community workers, social workers, consultants in the area of public health, geriatric workers and more. The participation of representatives from the Jewish communities from East Europe and South America will be emphasized this year in addition to the usual presence of involved representatives and leadership of Communities from North America, Europe and Israel. During the Conference four days several activities like conferences, workshops and visits witll take place. The present period of changes in the Jewish community in particular and in the world gives a particular importance to the meeting of professionals from Israel and the world, for mutual listening and fertilization not only concerning the professional areas but as a mean of strenghtening relations within the Jewish Diaspora. Your participation at the Conference will contribute to the advancement of the Jewish professional community. For further information you can either use reply to this email message or contact: Secretariat: P.O.B. 50006 Tel Aviv 61500 Israel Tel: (972-3) 5174571 TLX: 341171 KENS IL Fax: (972-3) 5175674 660326 =============================================================================== Global Jewish Networking in the World Conference of the Jewish Communal Service ============================================== A session dedicated to the Global Jewish Information Network has been included in the program of the Congress. Current projects being carried in the framework of the network and relevant to community work will be presented. We expect to be able to furnish all interested participants with direct experiences of the potential of networking for community integration and professional development. Pointers will be given to all Jewish information available and to professional forums relevant to the participants needs. Information and materials necessary for getting a connection back when returning home will be distributed. Prof. Armand Lauffer, head of the Projec STAR at the University of Michigan School of Social Work has already volunteered his help and his students assistance for participants willing to get connected to the network after the conference. The program for Global Jewish Networking at the Conference is being established by a committee leaded by Prof. Daniel Elazar, chairman of the Steering Committee of the Global Jewish Information Network Project. You are invited to participate and to call the attention of participants coming from your community to this session. We expect the Conference and the networking session to become a landmark in the evolution of Global Jewish Networking. Best regards, Dov Winer Ben Gurion University viener@bgumail.bgu.ac.il ========================================================================== Global Jewish Information Network telnet www.huji.ac.il login: JEWISHNET To subscribe to - JEWISHNT send to LISTSERV@BGUVM.BGU.AC.IL the message: SUBscribe JEWISHNT ########################################################################## ########################################################################## NETWORKS and COMMUNITY is a result of the work of people located throughout the global Internet community. Net facilities for the preparation of this newsletter are provided by NETCOM On-line Communications Service, Inc. Editing is done by myself. Back issues are archived through the kindness of the staff at the WELL : gopher ---->gopher.well.sf.ca.us ->community --> civic nets... ---> networks & community; & the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA : gopher ----> gopher.nlc-bnc.ca "Subscriptions" are available through the generosity of the Listowner for the RRE NEWS SERVICE: subscribe by sending e-mail to: rre-request@weber.ucsd.edu) with a SUBJECT LINE reading "subscribe ", OR by e-mail to myself, cvington@netcom.com requesting to be put on my mailing list for the newsletter. Additional distribution is assisted by the managers and owners of NET-HAPPENINGS, COMMUNET, & the CANADIAN FREENET listservs. This newsletter is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN, with the exception of Global Community or where noted, and may be used as you see fit. To contribute items or enquire about this newsletter, contact Stephen Covington .