Newsgroups: bit.listserv.cwis-l
Date:         Tue, 15 Dec 1992 17:39:35 PST
From:         "Rick Gates" <LB05GATE@UCSBUXA.BITNET>
Subject:      December Hunt Results
Comments: To: cwis-l@wuvmd.bitnet

**********************************************************
*                                                        *
*              December Internet Hunt                    *
*                                                        *
*                     RESULTS                            *
*                                                        *
*        (Watch out! 617 lines in this message)          *
**********************************************************

The results are in.  The winner is:

              Calvin Boyer
              Library
              University of California, Irvine

Calvin scored a total of 41 points out of a maximum of 42 in an
entry dated Tue, 01 Dec 92 19:52:40 -0800.

One of the distinguishing features of Calvin's effort was his
almost total reliance on a single gopher server.  Here is his
own words:

>As an experiment to see how far I could go using only one of
>the more robust gopher servers (University of California -
>Santa Cruz InfoSlug), I limited my first round assistance to
>INFOSLUG.  The number of answers with the InfoSlug tag is most
>illustrative.
>
>and it takes longer to type the answers than to find!

Congratulations Calvin, on a job well done!

STATISTICS
----------

The number of players was down this month, partly (I suspect),
due to the usually frantic end-of-the-term activities occurring
in academic centers around the world.

Number of players: 11

Number of comments: 32

COMMENTS ABOUT THIS HUNT
------------------------

As our winner has already pointed out, the InfoSlug Gopher at
UC Santa Cruz provides a good starting point for network
searches.

As expected Veronica is already becoming a vital tool.  Roughly
half of all gopher solutions sent by this month's players used
Veronica.

THE USUAL
---------

If any player would like a copy of their individual results,
please feel free to send me a message.

ASIDE
-----
In response to the proliferation of Network tools named after cartoon
characters (Archie, Veronica), I propose that we come up with a new
maxim for Cybernauts:

     "Just Use Gopher Heavily, Especially After Dark"

Well, now for something completely different:

GOPHER/ALIAS HINT  (3 or 4 screens of info)
-----------------

I thought that maybe people would be interested in a how I've
been using aliases with the gopher command.  I'm on a Unix
system here, and I can can use the alias command to cut down on
keystrokes.  For instance when I type the letter 'm' and hit
return, I get put into my emacs mailer.  That's because I have
the following line in my .login file:

alias m emacs -f rmail

In other words, 'm' becomes an alias (substitute, synonym) for
the command 'emacs -f rmail'.

This sort of facility is availble on other, non-Unix platforms
as well.

The way I use this feature with Gopher revolves around the fact
that you can always find out what address and directory you are
connected to with Gopher.  For instance from the following menu
on my local Gopher server:

                      Other Gopher and Information Servers

      1.  Univ of Minnesota Gopher Server/
      2.  Other Gopher and Information Servers/
      3.  Apple Computer Higher Education Gopher Server/
      4.  UCB Berkeley Gopher Server/
      5.  University of California - Irvine/
 -->  6.  Veronica (search menu items in most of GopherSpace)/

...if I press '=', I will get a screen that looks like this:

Name=Veronica (search menu items in most of GopherSpace)
Type=1
Port=70
Path=1/Veronica
Host=futique.scs.unr.edu

This gives us the name of the menu choice, the type (1 is a
directory), the port, the directory path, and the address of
the remote host.  Here's how I can use this info.

My Gopher client, and I suspect many others, allows for the
specification of path, address and port on the command line.
So if I type the following command:

        gopher -p 1/Veronica futique.scs.unr.edu 70

...then after a short pause I will see the following screen

                    Root gopher server: futique.scs.unr.edu

 -->  1.  About Veronica.
      2.  Search many (300) Internet gopher menus by _SINGLE_ keyword  <?>
      3.  About the reduced-redundancy search.
      4.  Proposals for Veronica Development.

As I frequently do Veronica searches, it's useful for me to
create an alias for this command.  Thus a line in my .login
file reads:

alias ver "gopher -p 1/Veronica futique.scs.unr.edu 70"

Now, rather than having to traverse a number of Gopher menus to
get to the Veronica search screen, I simply type 'ver' and I am
there!

This can be a real time saver for any set of Gopher resources
that you need to visit regularly.  For instance, rather than
having to choose:

Other gophers
   North America
      U.S.A
        page down several times
           Choose UC Santa Cruz InfoSlug system

I simply type 'slug' from my system prompt, and I am there
because of the following line in my .login file:

alias slug "gopher scilibx.ucsc.edu 70"

How did I get the information for my gopher command?  I simply
pressed '=' from the following menu:

                                      USA

      109. Texas A&M/
      110. UCCSN System Computing Services Gopher (Las Vegas, Nevada)/
      111. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)/
      112. University System of Georgia Information Service/
      113. University of California -  Berkeley, Open Computing Facility/
      114. University of California - Berkeley, Workstation Support Services/
      115. University of California - Irvine/
      116. University of California - Irvine, Information & Computer Science/
      117. University of California - San Francisco, UCSFYI Experimental Gop/
      118. University of California - Santa Barbara/
 -->  119. University of California - Santa Cruz, InfoSlug System/
      120. University of Chicago (under construction)/
      121. University of Colorado, Boulder/
      122. University of Delaware gopher server/
      123. University of Florida (experimental)/
      124. University of Georgia (test gopher)/
      125. University of Houston Protein Information Resource gopher/
      126. University of Houston, Texas/

Press ? for Help, q to Quit, u to go up a menu                     Page: 7/10


...and got this information:

Name=University of California - Santa Cruz, InfoSlug System
Type=1
Port=70
Path=
Host=scilibx.ucsc.edu

(Note that there is no path needed here, or in my .login alias.)

I hope that this information proves useful.  I'm fairly certain
that much of it is available on other platforms as well.

To those anxious for the Hunt answers, I will now release you
from captivity.  Hopefully before long, I will find a
Gopher/FTP site for the Hunt, and I'll be able to place
information of this sort in a hints or tips file there.

Without further delay...

THE HUNT ANSWERS
----------------

1. (3) What is the atomic weight of boron?
   (Question contributed by Jim Olivetti.)

Winner's Answer
---------------
U of C - Santa Cruz InfoSlug System
<select>        The Library/
<select>        Electronic Reference Books/
<select>        Periodic Table of Elements/
<select>        Boron
                        answer: 10.811

Other Answers
-------------
   gopher at University of Minnesota
   All the Gophers in the World/
   University of Colorado, Boulder/
   Online Library Catalogues, Electronic Books and Reference Databases/
   Reference Works/
   Periodic Table of Elements/
   boron
   The atomic weight of boron is 10.811.

2. (6) Seems like a funny question to ask from so far away, but I'm
trying to find a new book on the Internet by an author named Krol.
Are there any local bookstores that might carry this?  I live in
Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Winner's Answer
---------------
<telnet>        Gopher.Ora.Com
<log in>        Gopher
<select>        Ordering Information/
<select>        List of Bookstores Carrying O'Reilly Books/
<select>        New Mexico
                        answer:  Page One; Holman's


3. (4) Early last month, U.S. president-elect Bill Clinton proposed a
new technology policy.  Where can I find the text of this proposed
policy?

Winner's Answer
---------------
University of California - Santa Cruz InfoSlug System
<select>        The World/
<select>        US Presidential Campaign '92 Documents/
<select>        Search Democratic Files <?>  "technology"
<select>        /Democratic/Statements/tech-policy.
                        answer: document is available for reading from
                        screen, for mailing, for saving as a file, or
                        for printing.

Other Answers
-------------
EFFector Online November 4, 1992        Issue 3.08      A Publication of the Ele
Frontier Foundation     ISSN 1062-9424  A TECHNOLOGY POLICY FOR AMERICA Six
Broad Initiatives       by Bill Clinton (September, 1992)

-----
telnet to quake.think.com (WAIS)
select [sunsite.unc.edu] clinton-speechess (sic!)
search for "technology policy" (found 40 items)
select "TECHNOLOGY: Position Paper - 9/16/92" (score 1000)


4. (5) I'm going to be in Denver, Colorado on the nights of Jan 22-25.
Will the Denver Nuggets basketball team be playing at home on any of
those nights?
   (Idea for question contributed by Nancy Pope, LSU Library.)

Winner's Answer
---------------
University of California - Santa Cruz InfoSlug System
<select>        The Community/
<select>        Professional Sports Schedules/
<select>        National Basketball Association Schedule (92 - 93) Season <TEL>
once connected
<type>          denver 1/22 1/23 1/24 1/25
                answer: Saturday, 1/23 Cleveland at Denver (7:00 pm)
                        Monday, 1/25 Minnesota at Denver (7:00 pm)

[Rick: I showed a provincial nature on this one by forgetting
to point out that the Denver Nuggets was a *professional*
basketball team.  A few players found schedules for the
University of Colorado, who's team will be out of town on those
nights.]

5. (5) What was the total amount of sales in liquor stores in the
United States in September of this year?  Was this more than last
year?

Winner's Answer
---------------
University of California - Santa Cruz InfoSlug System
<select>        The Library/
<select>        Electronic Reference Books/
<select>        Economic Bulletin Board/
<select>        Business Statistics for the last 4 Calendar Years/
<select>        Select Domestic Trade.
<scroll to>     DM0540  Retail sales, liquor stores
                        answer:  September, 1991  1733
                                 September, 1992    ?*

* Since data for August 1992 had not yet been posted, either I
have the second best source, i.e., not the correct one, or,
....  Try this one again in a few days/weeks?

[Rick:  This was a tough question as it had to be answered
using 2 of the files available via the Economic Bulletin
Board.  The figures for September 1991 can be found either
through the resource mentioned above or the Revised Monthly
Retail Sales.  For September 92 data, one needs to choose:

        Economic Bulletin Board/
        Economic Indicators/
        Advance Retail Sales.

...where you will find projected, preliminary, and final
data for the last three months.  Under the section "Not
Adjusted for Seasonal, Holiday, and Trading Day Differences"
you will find that sales for September 92 were 1.959 billion
dollars, thus sales for September of this year exceeded last
year by 226 million dollars.]

6. (6) I'm volunteering some time for a local hiking association.  I'd
like to know if anything's been written on the development of trails
for the handicapped?

Winner's Answer
---------------
University of California - Santa Cruz InforSlug System
<select>        The World/
<select>        Other Internet Gopher Servers/
<select>        Search many (250) Internet gopher menus by SINGLE keyword <?>
                        "trails"
<scroll to>
                Whole Access, 1987. Accessibility and California recreational
                trails. Redwood City, CA, Whole Access. [14] pp.

                09
                TRAILS FOR THE HANDICAPPED

                        answer: this must be it....

[Rick:  Yes, the Gopher server at the Univ. of Minnesota
College of Natural Resources maintains a large database of
citations to literature on trails.  The section on trails for
the handicapped would give someone a good starting place.]

7. (4) What's the name of the FidoNet system that Nik Ellwood of
Melbourne Australia runs?

Winner's Answer
---------------
University of Minnesota Gopher Server
<select>        Other Gopher and Information Servers/
<select>        WAIS Based Information/
<select>        Everything/
<select>        136. fidonet - nodelist.src. <?>  "ellwood"
                        answer:  DirtBags


8. (3) I'm going to London next February.  Is there a place that I can
ask about some of the different pubs that might help take the chill
away?

Winner's Answer
---------------
                        an answer:  Since London is a big place, were I
                        faced with this situation, I would post a
                        specific query giving location of my stay
                        on the news group "rec.crafts.brewing."  You
                        can find similar "threads" posted there by:

                        (For particulars on how to post to news group,
                        see Krol pp.146-148--another reminder as to
                        why no one should be without Krol.)

University of Minnesota Gopher Server
<select>        Other Gopher and Information Servers/
<select>        WAIS Based Information/
<select>        Everything/
<select>        homebrew.src. <?>  "london"
<browse among hits>  .... Re: London-area pubs; ...Re: Pubs near London; etc.

But above all buy your own personal copy of the CAMRA Good Pub Guide--
it is indespensible!

Other Answers
-------------
WAIS
source -- homebrew.src
search on keyword london pubs
a number of articles found Re: London pubs.txt
one from tony@spss.com mentions a list of pubs from Michael Jackson's Pocket
Guide...

another place to post a question would be rec.travel or soc.cultural.british


[Rick: Another good place with lots of advice about where to
get good beer is the Usenet group alt.beer.]


9. (3) Where is the ACM's SIGGRAPH '93 Conference being held next
August?

Winner's Answer
---------------
University of California - Santa Cruz InfoSlug System
<select>        The World/
<select>        Other Internet Gopher Servers
<select>        Search many (250) Internet gopher menus by SINGLE keyword
                        "siggraph"
<select>        SGRAPH93; ACM SIGGRAPH'93 Conference Proceedings
                        answer: Anaheim, CA  August 1 -6, 1993

Other Answers
-------------
   gopher at University of Minnesota
   All the Gophers in the World/
   ACM SIGGRAPH/
   conferences/
   Siggraph93/
   READ_ME
   Anaheim, California

10. (3) I've heard it said that traffic on the Internet is growing at
an astronomical rate!  Where can I find some statistics that would
verify this?

Winner's Answer
---------------
<select>        Search FTP sites (Archie)/
<select>        Exact search of archive sites on the internet <?> "statistics"
<select>        nis.nsf.net:nsfnet/statistics//
<select>        history.packets.*
                        illustrative answer: traffic in millions of packets
                        has increased from 357 million packets in October
                        1988 to 22.498 billion packets in October 1992.


Other Answers
-------------
Panda -- panda.uiowa.edu
4. Online Information Services...
2. Anonymous FTP - nic.merit.edu...
10. Merit Internet Information (a must for new Internet users)..
2. Anonymous FTP - nic.merit.edu...
13. nsfnet...
13. statistics..
statistic data on internet usage and growth is available via ftp at
NIC.MERIT.EDU. This site contains some of the following data:
 pnets    Traffic broken down by network, measured in packets, which
          traversed the specified NSFNET backbone during the one-month
          reporting period.
country  Traffic broken down by country, measured in both packets and
          bytes, which traversed the specified NSFNET backbone during
          the one-month reporting period.
history.netcount Growth as reflected in the number of domestic and
                 foreign networks having announcement to the NSFNET
                 infrastructures.
-----
The Domain Survey attempts to discover every host on the Internet by
 doing a complete search of the Domain Name System.  The latest results
 gathered during late October 1992 are listed.  For more information
 see RFC 1296; for detailed data see the pub/zone directory on
 ftp.nisc.sri.com.

N.1 Number of Internet Hosts

   The chart below shows the number of IP hosts on the Internet.  These
   are hosts with at least one IP address assigned.  Data was collected
   by ZONE except where noted.  The following two sections are graphs of
   the data in this chart.

        Date             Hosts

        08/81              213          Host table #152
        05/82              235          Host table #166
        08/83              562          Host table #300
        10/84            1,024          Host table #392
        10/85            1,961          Host table #485
        02/86            2,308          Host table #515
        11/86            5,089
        12/87           28,174
        07/88           33,000
        10/88           56,000
        01/89           80,000
        07/89          130,000
        10/89          159,000
        10/90          313,000
        01/91          376,000
        07/91          535,000
        10/91          617,000
        01/92          727,000

800|
780|
760|
740|                                                                  *
720|
700|
680|                                                                 .
660|
640|
620|
600| T                                                              *
580| h
560| o
540| u
520| s                                                             *
500| a
480| n                                                            .
460| d
440| s
420|                                                             .
400| o
380| f
360|                                                            *
340| H                                                         .
320| o
300| s                                                        *
280| t
260| s                                                       .
240|                                                        .
220|                                                       .
200|                                                      .
180|                                                     .
160|
140|                                                    *
120|                                                   *
100|                                                 ..
 80|                                                *
 60|                                               .
 40|                                              *
 20|                                       ..*...*
  0|...*....*......*......*.....*.*....*...
    -------------------------------------------------------------------
    8     8     8     8     8     8     8     8     8     9     9     9
    1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     0     1     2
                                   Date
    "*"  = data point,  "." = estimate
This graph is a linear plot of the number of Internet hosts.

[Rick: Astounding information on the growth of hosts. ]

Extra Credit Question
---------------------

<select>        The University of California - Santa Barbara/
<select>        UCSB Electronic Address Server <CSO>
<insert>        1
<insert>        gates
                        answer:  choose from among
                                lb05gate@ucsbuxa.bitnet
                                lb05gate@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu
                                lb13goph@ucsbuxa.ucsb.bitnet
                                lb13goph@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu

-----
Well, at least I can find your email address; two sigs at the
bottom of the article helps! And since I read it on News, it's
Internet info, right?

-----
It better be lb05gate%ucsbuxa@hub.ucsb.EDU, or he won't get this!

-----
Whois also produces......
whois Gates
Gates, Rick (RG120)             lb05gate@UCSBUXA.UCSB.EDU       (805) 893-7225


Mystery Question
----------------

Here is another idea which exploits the real reason people
would find on-line info easier to use than library data - you
can process data without retyping it.

I want to create a spreadsheet which adjusts my monthly
investment account balances for inflation as measured by the
Consumer Price Index. Where can I get the monthly CPI values
for the last decade on-line?

I know CENDATA carries this (e.g. on Compu$erve), but I'm not
sure where it is on the internet.  Must be there - I'll search
for it if you don't know where....

   (Question contributed by Neal McBurnett, AT&T Bell Labs, Denver)


Okay, I'm sure that there are several ways to access CompuServe Information
Service over the Internet, however, the best way that I've found to access
CIS is by telnet'ing to hermes.mit.edu, which is a SprintNet gateway.  From
there you can connect to CompuServe's computers in Dayton over an x.25 line
(this effectively runs at 9600bps, thus your account will be billed at that
rate, plus a small surcharge of around 6 cents/minute for use of SprintNet,
if memory serves).  Once you've connected to the CIS host, login and and
type "GO CENDATA" to get to Census Data Forum.

-----
FTP to info.umd.edu
has ecnomic data
see info/EconData/Data/USNational/Price/cpi.zip

[Rick: I haven't had the time to download this very large
file.  Here's the listing:

-rw-rw-r--  1 503      503       1713984 Jun 24 18:14 cpi.zip
]
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU