From: phoward@ac.dal.ca (Philip M. Howard)
Newsgroups: can.general
Subject: "Computers graphic...", letter to the Globe.
Date: 30 Jul 92 00:21:26 GMT
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada


The following letter was faxed to the Globe today. Not 30min. later I got a 
call from Peter Moon, the reporter who wrote the article. He was still 
chuckling... He admitted, though, that the Internet is a hard concept to 
grasp (no ribald pun intended).





                                                  610-5681 Rhuland Street
                                                  Halifax, Nova Scotia

The Editor,
The Globe & Mail
Toronto, Ontario
Fax: (416) 585-5085

Dear Sir or Madam,

The following response to your front page "expose" of the Internet is
written in the style of a network article, or "post." On "the Net", quoted
passages are preceded by the '>' symbol (inserted automatically by software
when replying to a post). Puns or tongue-in-cheek remarks often end in a
"smilie", a sideways happy-face symbol made up of keyboard characters; eg,
:-). Critical remarks are known as "flames." Postings are usually far more
casual than is common with written correspondence. Acronyms like IMHO (In
My Humble Opinion) and BTW (By The Way) are used freely to the distress of
those new to the system, the "newbies." Postings usually conclude with
information about the poster. These signature lines, or "sigs", may include
sarcastic disclaimers along the lines of "The opinions expressed are not
necessarily those of my employer."

(Note: For correct spacing, reproduce the following in a mono-spaced font
like courier, 80 column page width.)

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Relay-Version: VMS News - V6.0-3 14/03/90 VAX/VMS; site husky1.stmarys.ca
Newsgroups: can.globe&mail.sex
Subject: Computers graphic when it comes to porn
From: phoward@husky1.stmarys.ca
Date: 27 Jul 92 13:46:50 -0400
Organization: St. Mary's University, Halifax, N.S., Canada

In article<1992July20.frontpage@globe.to.ont>,"Computers graphic when it
comes to porn", Moon@globe.to.ont<"Peter Moon"> writes:

>Pornographic photographs and obscene stories... are available to
>virtually anyone in Canada with a computer and a telephone link.

Uh, well, nooo... unless one has purchased the network service, access is
not *publicly* available, Peter... as you confess later in the article. But
then that would not have grabbed your readers' ...uh... attention, right?

>Canadian universities enter the computer system that includes the
>controversial sex bulletin boards through Internet.

Peter, I think you really missed the mark on this one. Of the almost 3,000
*Usenet* (to be accurate) discussion groups with worldwide distribution,
you mentioned the three or four sleazy ones. In fact, Usenet discussion
groups or "netnews" is only one feature of this "network of networks."
Electronic mail, the speedy transfer of vast data files, and Internet
accessible library catalogs and databases make up a far greater portion of
network traffic. The Internet is a tremendous knowledge resource and your
article only covered the worst of it.

It was as if you had visited a foreign land and spent your entire visit at
the garbage dump! You overlooked the language and the culture. The Internet
is becoming, to employ a common phrase, a "distinct society." Its ethos is
people helping people, sharing information and computing resources, working
together in a way that outsiders cannot fully appreciate. We are not the
computer hackers of common lore. We come from all disciplines because every
field of endeavour benefits from improved access to information.
Future, faster networks like the Internet have been called "the critical
infrastructure of information superhighways" by one supporter, American
Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Albert Gore. IMHO the subject deserved
fuller coverage than that very narrow article which could only have been
meant to appeal the most prurient interests of your readers.

BTW, these comments will have been available to tens of thousands of people
by the time you get around to deciding whether or not to include them on
the Letters to the Editor page. They will circle the globe in can.general
and alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk :-)

Please direct any flames to my email box since I am not a regular reader of
can.sex.globe&mail... *wink* ;-)

-----
Philip M. Howard             | internet: phoward@husky1.stmarys.ca
Technical Support Analyst    |    voice: (902) 420-5481
Saint Mary's University      |      fax: (902) 420-5115
Halifax, Nova Scotia         | "Maintaining regularity
C A N A D A  B3H 3C3         |     without drugs or medication."