From: cummings@natinst.com (Rodney Cummings)
Newsgroups: austin.public-net
Subject: IEEE sponsored access
Date: 15 Dec 92 18:59:09 GMT
Distribution: austin
Organization: National Instruments, Austin, TX

I just received this through one of the IEEE reflectors and I thought it
may be of interest.  They charge 8.95 a month for a mere UUCP connection.
On top of that, I assume that one would also have to be a member of IEEE
to take advantage of the offer.

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from "The IEEE Grid", December 1992, Page 5, George Carter


NEW MEMBER BENEFIT:  LOW-COST E-MAIL/USENET


As a service to the membership, the IEEE San Francisco Bay Area Council has
negotiated low-cost Internet e-mail and usenet access.  For the uninitiated,
the Internet is a vast internetwork of computers connecting universities, 
government contractors, many large companies, and other access providers.  Many
other e-mail networks such as CompuServe and MCI Mail have e-mail gateways
to the Internet.  The result is that millions of people are now accessible 
through e-mail for those with Internet access.  This now includes many
people at IEEE Headquarters and an increasing number of members and
volunteers around the country.  Usenet netnews is an associated
computer conferencing facility that supports over 2700 group discussions
ranging from very detailed engineering design discussions to conferences
concerning hobbies.  We are currently posting the monthly calendar of
technical meetings that appears in the GRID i two of these conferences, 
ba.seminars and ieee.general.

Some of our members already have Internet access through facilites provided
by their employers.  But for those who do not or for those whose
employer-supplied access is insufficient for some reason, we have 
negotiated low-cost e-mail and usenet access with a commercial vendor.  From
now until next May an e-mail/usenet account for IEEE members costs $8.95 per
month for unlimited e-mail use and up to 1000 usenet items per week plus a
$15.00 signup fee, auto-billed through your credit card.  This is known
as option 1000.  The heavy use rate (1000 to 2500 items), option 2500, is
$11.95 per month.  For both options, newsgroups can be changed as often
as desired.  These rates are for a UUCP connection, which means you run a
UUCP-compatible e-mail/news package on your PC/DOS, MAC or Unix computer
and connect to InfoServ only to upload and download mail and news and to
configure the system initially.  Mail and news reading and composition
are done off-line, minimizing phone line charges and modem pool equipment
costs.

To sign-up, call InfoServ Connections with your modem at (408) 243-9314.  The
Windows 3.X "Terminal" program, Procomm, Kermit or other communications
software can be used.  For more information, InfoServ's voice number is
(408)724-3446.  You can download UUCP software for DOS from the system.
MAC and Unix workstation users will need to supply their own client UUCP
software, which is available commercially from various vendors.

Modem speeds from 2400 to 14,400 baud are supported.

When asked to select an e-mail node name, if you wish to facilitate
communications with other IEEE members, we suggest concatenated your
first initial with up to 7 characters of your last name.  For example, 
John Doe's e-mail address would become jdoe@infoserv.com.  You should
also sign-up for all of the IEEE usenet conferences.  Because this system
uses public domain and low-cost shareware to reduce costs, it is designed
for use by those users who are able to use communication programs to
interact with BBSes and download files and to modify configuration files
on your client system.  PC commercial-grade installation and the 
associated much higher costs are not yet available.  Once installed, 
use is very simple.

The San Francisco Bay Area Council is very interested in your reactions
to this experimental program.  While you should notify InfoServ directly of
any service problems, please send a copy to the Council at gcarter@infoserv.com
or fax them to the Information Networks Director at 415-321-9692 or U.S.
mail them to me at the Council Office address in the masthead.  More
general evaluations are most welcome as well.

masthead address:
	George Carter
	IEEE Council Office
	701 Welch Road, Suite 2205
	Palo Alto, CA 94304

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-- 
     Rodney Cummings            cummings@natinst.com
     National Instruments       Austin, Texas