6.3  SOME INTERESTING TELNET SITES
 
 
AGRICULTURE
 
PENPages, run by Pennsylvania State University's College of Agricultural 
Sciences, provides weekly world weather and crop reports from the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture. These reports detail everything from the 
effect of the weather on palm trees in Malaysia to the state of the 
Ukrainian wheat crop. Reports from Pennsylvania country extension 
officers offer tips for improving farm life. One database lists 
Pennsylvania hay distributors by county -- and rates the quality of their 
hay! 

The service lets you search for information two different ways. A menu 
system gives you quick access to reports that change frequently, such as 
the weekly crop/weather reports. An index system lets you search through 
several thousand online documents by keyword. At the main menu, you can 
either browse through an online manual or chose "PENPages,'' which puts 
you into the agriculture system. 

     Telnet: psupen.psu.edu
     User name: Your 2-letter state code or WORLD
 
California State University's Advanced Technology Information Network 
provides similar information as PENPages, only focusing on California 
crops. It also maintains lists of upcoming California trade shows and 
carries updates on biotechnology. 

     Telnet:  caticsuf.cati.csufresno.edu 
     Log in:  public 
 
You will then be asked to register and will be given a user name and 
password.  Hit "a'' at the main menu for agricultural information.  Hit 
"d'' to call up a menu that includes a biweekly biotechnology report. 
 
 
AIDS
 
The University of Miami maintains a database of AIDS health providers in 
southern Florida. 

     Telnet:  callcat.med.miami.edu
     Log in:  library
 
At the main menu, select P (for "AIDS providers" and you'll be able to 
search for doctors, hospitals and other providers that care for patients 
with AIDS.  You can also search by speciality. 
 
     See also under Conversation and Health.
 
 
AMATEUR RADIO
 
The National Ham Radio Call-Sign Callbook lets you search for American 
amateur operators by callsign, city, last name or Zip code. A successful 
search will give you the ham's name, address, callsign, age, type of 
license and when he or she got it. 

     Telnet:  callsign.cs.buffalo.edu 2000 or ham.njit.edu 2000.

When you connect, you tell the system how you want to search and what 
you're looking for. For example, if you want to search for hams by city, 
you would type 
 
     city name of city
 
and hit enter (for example: city Kankakee).

Other search choices are "call" (after which you would type a ham's 
name), "name," and "zip" (which you would follow with a Zip code).  Be 
careful when searching for hams in a large city; there doesn't seem to be 
anyway to shut off the list once it starts except by using control-]. 
Otherwise, when done, type 
 
      quit 
 
and hit enter to disconnect. 
 
 
ANIMALS
 
See under Health.

  
CALCULATORS
 
Hewlett-Packard maintains a free service on which you can seek advice 
about their line of calculators. 

     Telnet: hpcvbbs.cv.hp.com
     No log-in is needed.
 
CHEMISTRY

The Electronic Periodic Table of the Elements draws the table on your 
screen and then lets you look up various properties of individual 
elements. 

     Telnet: camms2.caos.kun.nl
     No password needed.

CONVERSATION
    
Communications Canada, a Canadian government agency is developing 
Conversational Hypertext Access Technology (CHAT) is a system being 
developed by Communications Canada to provide easy database access to 
people with little or no computer experience, using what are known as 
hypertext links.  Instead of cryptic computer commands, users type 
questions in English. 

    Telnet:  debra.doc.ca 
    Log in:  chat 

You chose one of the three databases now online, one on AIDS, and 
then ask questions in English. 

Ask the AIDS database, "When was AIDS first discovered?'' and it answers: 

    "The first case of AIDS in North America was diagnosed in 1979.  
    Before that, it existed in Africa, probably beginning in the 1950's.  
    AIDS was discovered in North America when a number of young men with 
    a history of homosexuality developed a rare type of cancer called 
    Kaposi's sarcoma.'' 
    
Sometimes, you do have to rephrase your question. For example, when asked 
"What is the link between AIDS and drug use?'' the computer responds: 

    "I know two things about drugs: the drugs that are used to treat 
    people with AIDS, and the risks that drug users have in getting AIDS.  
    Please ask about treatments or drug users.'' 
 
COPYRIGHT LAW
 
See under Government.

CURRENT EVENTS
 
Every year, the CIA publishes a Fact Book that is essentially an almanac 
of all the world's countries and international organizations, including 
such information as major products, type of government and names of its 
leaders.  It's available for searching through the University of Maryland 
Info Database. 

     Telnet: info.umd.edu

Chose a terminal type and hit enter (or just hit enter if you are using 
VT100).  At the main menu, choose the number next to "Educational 
Resources." Then select the number next to "International," followed by 
"Factbook." You can then search by country or agency. 

This site also maintains copies of the U.S. budget, documents related to 
the North American Free Trade Agreement and other government initiatives. 
At the "Educational Resources" menu, select the number next to "United 
States" and then the one next to "Government." 

The Access Legislative Information Service lets you browse through and 
look up bills before the Hawaiian legislature. 

     Telnet: access.uhcc.hawaii.edu
 
ENVIRONMENT
 
Envirolink is a large database and conference system about the 
environment, based in Pittsburgh. 

     Telnet: envirolink.org
     Log on: gopher

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maintains online databases of 
materials related to hazardous waste, the Clean Lakes program and cleanup 
efforts in New England.  The agency plans to eventually include cleanup 
work in other regions, as well.  The database is actually a computerized 
card catalog of EPA documents -- you can look the documents up, but 
you'll still have to visit your regional EPA office to see them. 

     Telnet: epaibm.rtpnc.epa.gov

No password or user name is needed.  At the main menu, type
 
          public
 
and hit enter (there are other listed choices, but they are only for 
use by EPA employees).  You'll then see a one-line menu.  Type 
   
          ols 
 
and hit enter, and you'll see something like this:
 
 NET-106 Logon to TSO04    in progress.
 
    DATABASES:
        N     NATIONAL CATALOG         CH    CHEMICAL COLL. SYSTEM
        H     HAZARDOUS WASTE          1     REGION I
        L     CLEAN LAKES
 
    OTHER OPTIONS:
        ?     HELP
        Q     QUIT
 
  ENTER SELECTION -->
 
Choose one and you'll get a menu that lets you search by document title, 
keyword, year of publication or corporation.  After you enter the search 
word and hit enter, you'll be told how many matches were found.  Hit 1 
and then enter to see a list of the entries.  To view the bibliographic 
record for a specific entry, hit V and enter and then type the number of 
the record. 
 
The University of Michigan maintains a database of newspaper and magazine 
articles related to the environment, with the emphasis on Michigan, 
dating back to 1980. 

     Telnet:  hermes.merit.edu
     Host:  mirlyn
     Log in: meem  
 
GEOGRAPHY
 
The University of Michigan Geographic Name Server can provide basic 
information, such as population, latitude and longitude of U.S. cities 
and many mountains, rivers and other geographic features. 

     Telnet: martini.eecs.umich.edu 3000 

No password or user name is needed. Type in the name of a city, a Zip 
code or a geographic feature and hit enter.  The system doesn't like 
names with abbreviations in them (for example, Mt. McKinley), so spell 
them out (for example, Mount McKinley). 

By typing in a town's name or zip code, you can find out a community's 
county, Zip code and longitude and latitude. Not all geographic features 
are yet included in the database. 
 
GOVERNMENT
 
The Library of Congress Information Service lets you search current and 
past legislation (dating to 1982). 

     Telnet: locis.loc.gov
     Password: none needed.

When you connect, you'll get a main menu that lets you select from 
several databases, including the Library of Congress card catalog (with 
book entries dating to 1978) and a database of information on copyright 
laws. 

 For the congressional database, select the number next to its entry and 
hit enter.  You'll then be asked to choose which legislative year to 
search. After that, a menu similar to this will come up: 
 
  ***C103- THE LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION FILE FOR THE 103RD CONGRESS,
           which was updated on 05/10/93 and contains 4,044 records, 
           is now available for your search.
                                                                               
   CURRENCY: All information is NOT current through the above date, which is 
             machine generated when ANY information is added to the file.
             Bill numbers, official titles, sponsors, and status (STEP) added
             within 48 hours.  Indexing terms and digests added later, in 
             some cases several weeks after the bill is added to the file.
                                                                               
    TO START   RETRIEVE to find:                    EXAMPLES: 
    SEARCH:    member name  -------------->    retrieve rep gingrich 
                                               retrieve sen kennedy 
               bill number  -------------->    retrieve h.r. 1 
               subject keywords  --------->    retrieve day care
                                                                               
    FOR HELP:  Type the word HELP and press the ENTER key. 
                                                                               
                                                                               
    READY FOR NEW COMMAND:
 
The National Technical Information Service runs a system that not only 
provides huge numbers of federal documents of all sorts -- from 
environmental factsheets to patent abstract -- but serves as a gateway to 
dozens of other federal information systems. 

     Telnet: fedworld.gov
     Log on as: new
 
HEALTH
 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration runs a database of health-related 
information. 

      Telnet:  fdabbs.fda.gov
      Log in:  bbs
 
You'll then be asked for your name and a password you want to use in the 
future.  After that, type 
 
           topics
 
and hit enter.  You'll see this:
 
     TOPICS       DESCRIPTION
                                                                               
     *  NEWS         News releases
     *  ENFORCE      Enforcement Report
     *  APPROVALS    Drug and Device Product Approvals list
     *  CDRH         Centers for Devices and Radiological Health Bulletins
     *  BULLETIN     Text from Drug Bulletin                             
     *  AIDS         Current Information on AIDS
     *  CONSUMER     FDA Consumer magazine index and selected articles
     *  SUBJ-REG     FDA Federal Register Summaries by Subject       
     *  ANSWERS      Summaries of FDA information    
     *  INDEX        Index of News Releases and Answers
     *  DATE-REG     FDA Federal Register Summaries by Publication Date
     *  CONGRESS     Text of Testimony at FDA Congressional Hearings
     *  SPEECH       Speeches Given by FDA Commissioner and Deputy
     *  VETNEWS      Veterinary Medicine News
     *  MEETINGS     Upcoming FDA Meetings
     *  IMPORT       Import Alerts 
     *  MANUAL       On-Line User's Manual
                                                                               
You'll be able to search these topics by key word or chronologically. 
It's probably a good idea, however, to capture a copy of the manual, 
first, because the way searching works on the system is a little odd.  To 
capture a copy, type 
 
          manual
 
and hit enter.  Then type
 
         scan
 
and hit enter.  You'll see this:
 
     FOR LIST OF AVAILABLE TOPICS TYPE TOPICS
     OR ENTER THE TOPIC YOU DESIRE ==>
 
     MANUAL
     BBSUSER    
     08-OCT-91  
     1  BBS User Manual 
                                                                               
At this point, turn on your own computer's screen-capture or logging 
function and hit your 1 key and then enter.  The manual will begin to 
scroll on your screen, pausing every 24 lines.
 
HIRING AND COLLEGE PROGRAM INFORMATION
 
The Federal Information Exchange in Gaithersburg, MD, runs two systems at 
the same address: FEDIX and MOLIS. FEDIX offers research, scholarship and 
service information for several federal agencies, including NASA, the 
Department of Energy and the Federal Aviation Administration. Several 
more federal agencies provide minority hiring and scholarship 
information. MOLIS provides information about minority colleges, their 
programs and professors. 

     Telnet: fedix.fie.com 
     User name:  fedix (for the federal hiring database) or
                 molis (for the minority-college system)

Both use easy menus to get you to information.
 
HISTORY
 
Stanford University maintains a database of documents related to Martin 
Luther King. 

     Telnet:  forsythetn.stanford.edu
     Account: socrates
 
     At the main menu, type
 
        select mlk
 
and hit enter.
 
SKI REPORTS
 
See under weather.
 
SPACE
 
NASA Spacelink in Huntsville, Ala.,  provides all sorts of reports and 
data about NASA, its history and its various missions, past and present.  
You'll find detailed reports on every single probe, satellite and mission 
NASA has ever launched along with daily updates and lesson plans for 
teachers. 

The system maintains a large file library of GIF-format space graphics, 
but  you can't download these through telnet. If you want them, you have 
to dial the system directly, at (205) 895-0028. 

     Telnet: spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov 

When you connect, you'll be given an overview of the system and asked to 
register and chose a password. 
 
The NED-NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database lists data on more than 
100,000 galaxies, quasars and other objects outside the Milky Way. 

     Telnet:  ipac.caltech.edu. 
     Log in:  ned
 
You can learn more than you ever wanted to about quasars, novae and 
related objects on a system run by the Smithsonian Astrophysical 
Observatory in Cambridge, Mass. 

     Telnet:  cfa204.harvard.edu
     Log in:  einline
 
The physics department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst runs 
a bulletin-board system that provides extensive conferences and document 
libraries related to space. 

     Telnet: spacemet.phast.umass.edu
     Log on with your name and a password.
 
SUPREME COURT DECISIONS
 
The University of Maryland Info Database maintains U.S. Supreme Court 
decisions from 1991 on. 

     Telnet:  info.umd.edu

Chose a terminal type and hit enter (or just hit enter if you are 
using VT100).  At the main menu, choose the number next to "Educational 
Resources" and hit enter. One of your options will then be for "United 
States."  Select that number and then, at the next menu, choose the one 
next to "Supreme Court." 
 
TELNET
 
Hytelnet, at the University of Saskatchewan, is an online guide to 
hundreds of telnet sites around the world. 

     Telnet:  access.usask.ca
     Log in:  hytelnet 
      
WEATHER
 
The University of Michigan's Department of Atmospheric, Oceanographic 
and Space Sciences supplies weather forecasts for U.S. and foreign cities, 
along with skiing and hurricane reports. 

     Telnet: madlab.sprl.umich.edu 3000 (note the 3000).
     No log-in name is needed.

Also see under Weather in the FTP list for information on downloading 
satellite and radar weather images.