Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Sat, 23 Jan 1993 09:29:27 EST
From:         mulliner@OUVAXA.CATS.OHIOU.EDU
Subject:      SG: Computing Newsletter (long), Pt. II

                   Ohio University Electronic Communication


   Date:  23-Jan-1993 09:29am EST

     To:  Southeast Asia Listers               ( _MX%"SEASIA-L@MSU.EDU" )

   From:  Kent Mulliner                              Dept:  Library
          MULLINER                                 Tel No:  614-593-2707

Subject:  SG: Computing Newsletter (long), Pt. II



Hitchhiker -- Forwarded from Technet Singapore, Part II
*****************************************************************************
WAIS through GOPHER.
*****************************************************************************
By Milton Choo

Remember my article on "Travelling in Gopher space" in the first issue of
Hitchhiker where I first introduced the idea of a resource discovery tool?
One of the many examples of a resource discovery tool besides Gopher is
WAIS. WAIS, (pronounced as 'WISE' ), or Wide Area Information Server, is an
information server that helps you to search for valuable resources or
information from Internet.

One of the features that make WAIS so powerful is its ability to do a
heuristic search by some very smart guessing algorithm. The only drawback is
that it is so difficult to use. In fact, I can't even use it effectively
without the aid of the X Window Interface, and not many people has access to
the X Window System on a powerful Workstation. For many of us, it is just
plain good-old dumb terminal and kermit.

Fortunately, we are now able to access WAIS through Gopher, a very user
friendly tool that could actually wrap itself on WAIS!  As an example, let's
look up the trading price of pigs in the agriculture market news database:

When we first connect to the Technet's  Gopher, we see the following screen.

                    Internet Gopher Information Client v1.02
                     Root gopher server: solomon.technet.sg

      1. Welcome to TECHNET - Singapore's Island-wide Network/
      2.  Announcements and Important Information /
      3.  Singapore - Island, City, State/
      4.  BioComputing Resources and Facilities /
 -->5.  Other Gopher Servers in the World/

Select item "Other Gopher Servers in the World/" by moving your down-arrow
key and hitting <return> when done. You will be presented with the next
screen.

                    Internet Gopher Information Client v1.02
                       Other Gopher Servers in the World

      1.  - All Gopher Servers in the World/
      2.  - Campus-wide Info Systems/
      3.  - Europe/
      4.  - Middle East/
      5.  - North America/
      6.  - Pacific/
--> 7.  - WAIS-based Information/
      8.  > University of Illinois Gopher Server/
      9.  > University of Minnesota Gopher Server/
      10. > University of North Texas Gopher Server/
      11. > University of South Carolina, Dept. of mathematics/

Select item "WAIS-based Information/" and you will be presented with the
next screen.

The WAIS base information is categorized loosely.  So for our specific
example, we will need to go to the WAIS index for "Everything/".

                    Internet Gopher Information Client v1.02
                            - WAIS-based Information

      1.  Biology/
      2.  E-Mail/
 -->3.  Everything/
      4.  READ THIS!.
      5.  byletter/

You will be presented with a list of all the WAIS base database in the whole
world.  Currently this database is close to 300.  Choose the item
"agricultural-market-news.src <?>" since we are interested in market news
for prices of pigs.

                    Internet Gopher Information Client v1.02
                                   Everything

      37. SDSU_PhoneBook.src <?>
      38. SGML.src <?>
      ......
 -->  52. agricultural-market-news.src <?>

You will be prompted to search for an indexed item. Type in the animal we
are interested in : pig

Index word(s) to search for: pig

Hit <return> when done and you will be presented with a list of indices on
all the information regarding pigs.

This is usually the time when I could take a back seat while the
'enlightened' user who requested for this searching demonstration would
start mumbling ecstatically his area of technical jargons about pig prices
and lot numbers.  I shall now leave you to navigate this wonderful tool and
enjoy the many information that you may be flooded with :-)

[Dow Jones News  & Newsfind articles omitted]

*****************************************************************************
Personnally Speaking :

once upon a time there was no postscript printer
******************************************************************************
*******

By Yu Chien Siang

Today, Technet is one of my most important R&D tools.  In fact, I cancelled
subscription for certain costly consulting reports because I feel that I can
now get more timely and dynamic kind of information from the Internet
instead.  Although Internet information is not packaged or comes in a
professional binding, it is a "living" information.  Though it could be hard
to find something lost amidst the gigabytes of Internet data, you know it is
there.  You just have to persist.

Hence, this kind of "learning" via Internet sources is a taxing involvement.
In gist, Technet rewards only the hardworking.  Despite the vast amount of
resources now available at one's fingertips, the novice user has to navigate
the network, scan through countless newsgroups and acquaint oneself with the
culture and norms of net-etiquette and so forth.  Even after gaining
proficiency, he has to maintain his reading of networked data, cultivate
friendship via electronic wires and invest in new equipment to maintain such
electronic lifestyle.  For example, my team of engineers has been working
for years without a Postscript laser printer.  With the advent of Technet,
we found quite a large proportion of downloaded text documents are in
Postscript, which consequently demand an upgrade of our laser printing
capability.

Of course, the reward in our case is clearly a more than 100 % boost in our
R&D productivity.  With an extra workload of about 10 %, we reap a
tremendous gain.  Some of the rewards of using Internet is not easily
quantifiable.  It depends on your assessment of how much you value by being
among the first in the world to know of a new product, a new problem, a new
solution etc.  Although Internet's E-mail coverage is almost universal,
Technet still has its limits.  For instance, it cannot reach Netwire.  Once
I was using Archie and I waited 10 minutes for a "not found" message.  It
took so long that you are in danger of been timed out for no activity.
Clearly, I would need more than one PC - one to wait for Technet responses
and another to do something useful while I was waiting.

All things considered, Technet is distinctly one of the most important
contributions that the Singapore government has made to the local R&D
community.  Therefore, I would like to give a word of thanks to those who
have created, administered and supported Technet.  I like its UNIX
orientation, the use of MS Kermit and its unlocked structure.  It is a good
thing that Technet's menu system is optional.  Otherwise, you just cannot
get to the command line to save yourself the added burden of navigating
menus.

Yu Chien Siang is the Computer Security Consultant in the Ministry of Home
Affairs. He can be reached at yucs@solomon.technet.sg

******************************************************************************
Singapore Informatics '92
****************************************************************************
By Michelle Chiang

Technet Unit participated in the Singapore Informatics in October under the
umbrella of the NCB Pavilion.  The theme "Community Interaction - Linking
community" appropriately summarized Technet's role as the gateway for global
interaction with the rest of the R&D community.

Patrons from all walks of life were given the opportunity of feeling the
world was at their fingertips when they visited our booth.  They telnet into
every remote computer that they know of, tried out hytelnet and gopher,
accessed the free software in the network, took a peek at the list of
Technet members and generally had a great time reading usenet.  Some of the
professionals brimmed with envy at the R&D and academic institutions that
had access to Internet.  One jewelry designer came back the second day to
check out the latest happenings in his favorite newsgroup after 'hogging'
the PC for almost 4 hours on Thursday!  He exclaimed that "this is a
wonderful place to see things happening.  I am really surprised that these
people ACTUALLY care to respond to queries and problems that are posted
here. I mean, isn't this unbelievable?" Indeed, Internet is engendering an
interesting social phenomenon; that of volunteerism, sharing and giving.

Anyway, our ardent patron could not qualify for Technet application.
However, should Technet be allowed to 'open up' to the other communities one
day, we promised to give these people that were already on our 'waiting
list' a call.  And it was a long, long list!

*****************************************************************************
SIFLASH!
A Singapore International Foundation Students' Program
******************************************************************************

With the SIF (Singapore International Foundation) joining Technet as a
member in November 1992, you can now have the latest Singapore news at your
fingertips free of charge!  SIFlash, a database specially created and
managed by SIF, will update you with what is hitting the political,
economic, social and cultural scenes in Singapore.  SIFLash is targetted at
overseas Singaporean students to keep them informed of home issues and
events.

SIFlash, Singapore's News in a Flash,  received a 'roaring' welcome when it
was first announced in the soc.culture.asean newsgroup.  2 weeks into the
launch and records have shown that this database has been read over 1600
times, and the readership is still growing!

What is SIFlash?
---------------------

The SIF will sniff out interesting morsels from the many Singapore
publications, compile and zap them into the Technet gopher database twice a
week, on Tuesdays and Fridays.  You may retrieve to read it anytime.  The
news is never more than 3 days old.

If you are looking for straight news reports, tune in to Singapore Daze, a
summary of news on Singapore, compiled mainly from local newspapers and
magazines.  In Painting the Town Red and White, you get snippets of the
sights and sounds of the arts, fashion and cultural scene, the who's who in
local fashion, pop music plus, Singapore's local bestseller list!  A mini
directory of addresses/telephone numbers of Singapore Student Associations,
Overseas Singapore Clubs, government departments (e.g. EDB, STPB, SIA,
AWARE) and research organizations are found in Contact Point.

There is also a segment called Weekly Review which 'gossips' about anything
 under the sun.

How to access?
-------------------

At the tmenu, simply go to the "Gopher" listed under "Services".  You will
find SIFlash under the "Singapore - Island, City, State" sub menu.
Alternatively, you can access SIFlash by typing gopher solomon.technet.sg.

If your system doesn't support gopher, you could telnet to
consultant.micro.umn.edu, type gopher and look up the "other gophers in the
world" option.  Check the "Pacific" region for the "Technet Singapore"
option.

***************************************************************************
COMMENTS WELCOMED!
*****************************************************************************
"The Hitchhiker" is a quarterly newsletter published by the Technet Unit,
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Received:  23-Jan-1993 09:29am
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU