From: margaret@glas.apc.org (Patricia Schwartz)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.soviet
Subject: email advice - Moscow
Date: 15 Oct 92 21:18:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:glas:84600015:000:5373
Nf-From: glas.UUCP!margaret    Oct 15 15:18:00 1992


How I got my computer/modem/email in Moscow in a few days:
 
1) I was not prescient enough to realize that I would need email
here, I thought I could live without it, but since my home cannot run
itself and my husband in Pasadena likes my advice on most things,
I had to get a computer in Moscow.
 
VERY SIMPLE thing to do. There is a Computerland on Kutusovsky
Prospect, although their stuff was all still in cusotms on the day
I wanted a computer. (They are about three blocks from the fmaous
so-grotesque -it's-lovable Hotel Ukraine.)
 
Global USA had AT clones in stock, and delivered. They also had modems, and
they took credit cards. (Lucky me to have such a thing.) They are
near Sportivnaya station, on Usacheva street, by the stadium.
(These directions will be obvious when you are here and looking at the
new, and reasonably accurate, street map of Moscow now available everywhere.)
 
So - Global USA delivered my computer and modem to my apartment
the same day I bought it in their store. (Financial aside - I am only
here for three months, but luckily I am married to a man interested
in helping what's left of Russian science, so he said I may buy a simple
computer and just donate it to the Institute I am visiting when I leave.
This idea was appreciated by everyone involved.)
 
2) HOWEVER then the problem arose of CABLES and CORDS!
 
The RS232 cable did not come with the modem I bought and could not be
had for money anywhere in Moscow. Computerland "in principle" (that
very famous Moscow phrase!) carries them but they were alas still
in Customs at the airport. Maybe they have them now? It's possible.
 
The owner of Global USA came to my rescue as a new cash-paying customer and
let me have the cable from his OWN computer. Therefore, I know RECOMMEND
this store to everyone needing any electronic equipment in Moscow.
They also sell food processors, stereos, TVs, washing machines, etc.
 
NEW problem: lack of phone adaptors between Russian/American phone jacks,
and difficulty of obtaining extension cords for 220v meant I had to
set up my system in a very inconvenient location, rather than
on the desk in the corner of my apartment.
 
BEST solution: pack wire cutters, wire strippers, lots of telephone
cord, alligator clips, and electricians tape in your luggage.
OR spend several days roaming around GUM and other places cursing
the lack of a Moscow Yellow pages but still seeing very interesting
parts of Moscow that you might have otherwise ignored. The memory
will probably be ALL that you get, because these trivial connectors
and cables are not simple to find.
 
MY solution: I bought a Russian cookbook in the Metro. Then I went out
and got mushrooms and other nice things from the market. I made
a batch of fresh hot Pirozhki s gribami and invited a computer-owning
Russian friend over for tea. We had a delightful evening and when it
was finished, somehow my system was all set up in the corner on
the desk. However, all connections are insulated with elastic bands we
found in my girlfriend's sewing basket (it's her apartment I
am using) and we were lucky that she had discarded a few old telephones
in a cabinet and never cannibalized them for their precious cords.
 
I LOVE MOSCOW! In priciple, anything is possible.
 
Especially when you can produce hot fresh pirozhki from your oven.
 
3) EMAIL SERVICES:
Glasnet is run by very energetic interesting people but my
phone line here is too noisy even for MNP5, so I only manage
a good connection with them once or twice a day. They are out by
VDNKh, about three blocks directly behind the Yaroslavl Hotel.
It is a ten minute walk from the VDNKh Metro to go there, and I paid
1800 roubles to get connected for the first month. I wonder if I
will have to make this long journey to also pay for the second month?
 
Glasnet gets Usenet groups and has their own eco- and human rights-
oriented conferencing system with APC.
 
SOVAM Teleport is mainly for business people. They charge $100 for hookup
and $10/month for simple email and dull virtual conferences.
They are in the center of the city, on Nezhdanovoi near Gertsena.
They are boring but I always get a better signal from them, so
for contacting my husband, I use them. The turnaround time for
Internet routing seems shorter than with Glasnet. They also
can offer Compuserve and MCI Mail and I think Sprint Net, for
extra fees, of course. You have to have an escort to get from the
lobby to their offices; I surmise that they are in a part of Moscow
not neglected by "intelligence" interests, judging by the type of
office buildings I noticed on the way and the signs in front of them,
and the number of brand new beige Volga sedans parked here and there.
 
Pay cash in dollars, bring exact change.
They allowed me to try their service for $25 for the first month,
then if I want to continue I should pay the $100 start-up fee.
ALSO: their email system has a full-screen Emacs-like editor, and Glasnet
does not, Glasnet only has a *&&!@#*&!$#! line editor.
 
So much for that.
 
Any questions?
 
Hope I helped,
margaret
 
PS Spend $13.50 on the guide book "Where In Moscow", it has a good map,
and locations of lots of things like email services, electronics
stores, dry cleaning, restaurants, supermarkets (if you need stuff
you can't get for roubles - but that's another subject - The Insanity
of Living in a Two Tier Economy!)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.soviet