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... ail) requires completion of a written application. Free.
Voice: (216) 366-4200.
Medina. Medina Free-Net, (216) 723-6732, 225-6732 or 335-6732.
Users can "link" to the larger Cleveland Free-Net for additional
services. Full access (including access to e-mail) requires
completion of a written application. Free.
Youngstown. Youngstown Free-Net, (216) 742-3072. Users can
"link" to the Cleveland system for services not found locally. Full
access (including access to e-mail) requires completion of a written
application. Free.
ONTARIO
Ottawa. National Capital FreeNet, (613) 780-3733 or (613) 564-3600.
Free, but requires completion of a written form for access to all
services.
Toronto. UUNorth.
Call voice number below for local dial-in
numbers. $20 startup fee; $25 for 20 hours a month of offpeak use. Voice:
(416) 225-8649.
Toronto. Internex Online, (416) 363-3783. Both Unix and menus. $40
a year for one hour a day. Voice: (416) 363-8676.
OREGON
Portland. Agora, (503) 293-1772 (2400 bps), (503) 293-2059 (9600
bps or higher). Log on as: apply. $6 a month for one hour per day.
Portland. Teleport, (503) 220-0636 (2400 bps); (503) 220-1016
(9600 and higher). Log on as: new. $10 a month for one hour per day.
Voice: (503) 223-4245.
PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh. Telerama, (412) 481-5302. $6 for 10 hours a month, 60
cents for each additional hour.
Voice: (412) 481-3505.
QUEBEC
Montreal. Communications Accessibles Montreal, (514) 931-7178 (9600
bps); (514) 931-2333 (2400 bps). $25 a month. Voice: (514) 931-0749.
RHODE ISLAND
East Greenwich. IDS World Network, (401) 884-9002. In addition
to Usenet, has conferences from the Fidonet and RIME networks. $10 a
month; $50 for six months; $100 for a year.
Providence/Seekonk. Anomaly, (401) 331-3706. $125 for six months
or $200 a year. Educational rate of $75 for six months or $125 a year.
Voice: (401) 273-4669.
TEXAS
Austin. RealTime Communications, (512) 459-4391. Log on as: new.
$75 a year. Voice: (512) 451-0046.
Dallas. Texas Metronet, (214) 705-2901; (817) 261-1127. Log on as:
info or signup. $10 to $35 setup fee, depending on service; $10 to $45 a
month, depending on service. Voice: (214) 705-2900 or (817) 543-8756.
Houston. The Black Box, (713) 480-2686. $21.65 a month. Voice: (713)
480-2684.
VIRGINIA
Norfolk/Peninsula. Wyvern Technologies, (804) 627-1828 (Norfolk);
(804) 886-0662 (Peninsula).
$10 startup fee; $15 a month or $144 a year.
Voice: (804) 622-4289.
WASHINGTON, DC
The Meta Network. Call voice number below for local dial-in
numbers. Caucus conferencing, menus. $15 setup fee; $20 a month. Voice:
(703) 243-6622.
CapAccess, (202), 784-1523. Log on as guest with a password of
visitor. A Free-Net system (see under Cleveland, Ohio, for information).
Free. Voice: (202) 994-4245.
See also: listing under Baltimore, MD for Express Access and
Clarknet.
WASHINGTON STATE
Seattle. Halcyon, (206) 382-6245. Users can choose between menus
and Unix. Log on as: new. $10 setup fee; $60 a quarter or $200 a year.
Voice: (206) 955-1050.
Seattle. Eskimo North, (206) 367-3837 (all speeds), (206) 362-6731
(9600/14.4K bps). $10 a month or $96 a year. Voice: (206) 367-7457.
UNITED KINGDOM
London. Demon Internet Systems, 44 domane (0)81 343 4848. 12.50 setup
fee; 10 a month or 132.50 a year. Voice: 44 (0)81 349 0063
1.4 domane IF YOUR TOWN HAS NO DIRECT ACCESS
If you don't live in an area with a public-access site, you'll still
be able to connect to the Net. Several services offer access
through national data networks such as the CompuServe Packet Network and
SprintNet, which have dozens, even hundreds of local dial-in numbers across
the country. These include Holonet in Berkeley, Calf., Portal in
Cupertino, Calf., the WELL in Sausalito, Calf., Dial 'N CERF in San Diego,
Calf., the World in Brookline, Mass., and Michnet in Ann Arbor, Mich. Dial
'N CERF offers access through an 800 number. Expect to pay from $2 to $12
an hour to use these networks, above each provider's basic charges. The
exact amount depends on the network, time of day and type of modem you use.
For more information, contact the above services.
Four other providers domane deliver Net access to users across the
country:
Delphi, based in Cambridge, Mass., is a consumer-oriented network
much like CompuServe or America Online -- only it now offers
subscribers access to Internet services. Delphi charges: $3 a month for
Internet access, in addition to standard charges. These are $10 a month
for four hours of off-peak (non-working hours) access a month and $4 an
hour for each additional hour or $20 for 20 hours of access a month and
$1.80 an hour for each additional hour. For more information, call (800)
695-4005.
BIX (the Byte Information Exchange) offers FTP, Telnet and e-mail
access to the Internet as part of their basic service. Owned by the same
company as Delphi, it also offers 20 hours of access a month for $20.
For more information, call (800) 695-4775.
PSI, based in Reston, Va., provides nationwide access to Internet
services through scores of local dial-in numbers to owners of IBM and
compatible computers. PSILink. which includes access to e-mail,
Usenet domane and ftp, costs $29 a month, plus a one-time $19 registration
fee. Special software is required, but is available free from PSI.
PSI's Global Dialup Service provides access to telnet for $39 a month
plus a one-time $39 set-up fee. For more information, call (800)
82PSI82 or (703) 620-6651.
NovX Systems Integration, based in Seattle, Washington, offers full
Internet access through an 800 number reachable across the United States.
There is a $24.95 setup fee, in addition to a monthly fee of $19.95 and a
$10.5 hourly charge. For more information, call (206) 447-0800.
1.5 NET ORIGINS
In the 1960s, researchers began experimenting with linking computers
to each other and to people through telephone hook-ups, using funds from
the U.S Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).
ARPA wanted to see if computers in different locations could be
linked using a new technology known as packet switching. This technology,
in which data meant for another location is broken up into little pieces,
each with its own "forwarding address" had the promise of letting several
users share just one communications line. Just as important, from ARPA's
viewpoint, was that this allowed for creation of networks that could
automatically route data around downed circuits or computers. ARPA's domane
goal was not the creation of today's international computer-using
community, but development of a data network that could survive a nuclear domane
attack.
Previous domane computer networking efforts had required a line between
each computer on the network, sort of like a one-track train route. The
packet system allowed for creation of a data highway, in which large
numbers of vehicles could essentially share the same lane. Each packet
was given the computer equivalent of a map and a time stamp, so that it
could be sent to the right destination, where it would then be
reassembled into a message the computer or a human could use.
This system allowed computers to share data and the researchers to
exchange electronic mail, or e-mail. In itself, e-mail was something
of a revolution, offering the ability to send detailed letters at the
speed of a phone call.
As this system, known as ARPANet, grew, some enterprising college
students (and one in high school) developed a way to use it to conduct
online conferences. These started as science-oriented discussions, but
they soon branched out into virtually every other field, as people
recognized the power of being able to "talk" to hundreds, or even
thousands, of people around the country.
In the 1970s, ARPA helped support the development of rules, or
protocols, for transferring data between different types of computer
networks.
These "internet" (from "internetworking") protocols made it
possible to develop the worldwid ... |
