The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Discover the Other Internet Keith Leutert

Most Internet users are familiar with checking e-mails and surfing the Web. But for anyone with an adventurous spirit and wanting to get more out of their online experience, there is a wide range of interesting tools (and toys!) online that predate the multimedia glitz of the World Wide Web. Best of all, because these applications were born in a time when bandwidth was scarce and computers were less powerful, they can be utilised by a much wider user base. So settle in and take a look at what the rest of the `net has to offer - you might just be surprised how enduring some things are.

Internet Relay Chat

What is it?

Developed in 1988, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) enables real time chat between Internet users. IRC made something of a name for itself during the early 1990s when it was used by people from around the globe to swap the latest information on major world events as they happened. During operation Desert Storm, the first Gulf War, Internet users came together on IRC to share the different perspectives that their media were offering. But the high point for IRC probably came in 1993. During the standoff between Boris Yeltsin and parliamentary rebels, IRC users in Moscow were reporting events in the city ahead of the mainstream media. Despite the growth of instant messaging and the chat services offered by Yahoo, MSN and AOL, it's still possible to find tens of thousands of users chatting on IRC each day.

What is there to do?

As the name suggests, the main thing you do on IRC is chat. With IRC it is possible to chat in public channels (which might be referred to by other chat programs as rooms), or swap private messages with other IRC users. IRC also has its share of users engaged in file sharing, with whole channels dedicated to sharing information on where to source software or music. It's also possible to directly share your files with other users and in some channels you will even find automated bots with which you can trade files.

What do I need?

To get chatting on IRC you will need to download and install an IRC client that is supported by your operating system. By far the most commonly used Windows client is mIRC. http://www.mirc.co.uk. There are versions of mIRC available for most versions of Windows (see Figure 1).

For Macintosh users there is a selection of clients available at http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/mac/. Users of other operating systems can check out http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/ircii/ for a list of IRC clients for their systems.

Tips for Newbies

The usual safety tips for Internet chat also apply to IRC. Be wary of giving out personal information or your e-mail address. It's also probably best to keep younger children off IRC, as generally it lacks the parental controls you might find in other Internet chat rooms or services.

On IRC, channels are controlled by people known as operators, or Ops for short. They can be recognised by the '@' symbol in front of their name. Ops enforce the rules of the channel so use your common sense and courtesy or you could find yourself suspended or banned from that channel.

The command "/ignore" is followed by the name of the user you wish to ignore. This command blocks all messages from the user you choose to ignore and is great for dealing with abusive users or people who are a little too persistent or nosey. As a courtesy, perhaps you might like to warn people first though, so at least they know that their bad behaviour will be punished.

IRC is not as anonymous as it might seem at first glance, so think before you download or send files. Whilst you might think you are sharing music with an anonymous friend in Canada, they could well be a private investigator or law enforcement agent.

Telnet

What is it?

Have you ever watched one of those 1980s computer hacker movies where people sit in a darkened room, hunched over their computer while green letters slowly blink across the screen? Did you think that it looked cool, in a somewhat retro kind of way? If you answered yes to both these questions, then perhaps Telnet is for you.

Telnet is a communications protocol that was developed over 20 years ago. It enables a user to connect to a remote computer on the Internet and use it interactively, as if connected directly to it.

What is there to do?

Not that many years ago, most large academic institutions made their library searches available via Telnet. Today, library searches via terminal sessions have been superseded by Web based search facilities with much better functionality and usability. However, some libraries still offer searches via Telnet. For those who want to get a feel for doing research in this fashion, the United States National Institute of Health has a list of library catalogues, including some Telnet services that you can try out http://nihlibrary.nih.gov/othercatalogs.html.

Another use of Telnet is to connect to Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) via the Internet. A good starting point for this is the Telnet BBS Guide http://www.dmine.com/Telnet/, which provides a comprehensive listing of BBS that can be accessed via the Internet.

What do I need?

If you're not satisfied with the Telnet client that came with your operating system, there are plenty of other choices out there. For Windows users, it is hard to go past NetTerm http://www.securenetterm.com/. For the Macintosh owner, Alabama University has a small but current list of Telnet clients http://ncs.ua.edu/software/telnet-mac.html, whilst Telnet enthusiast Andrew Johnson offers a larger, but slightly more dated list http://www.echonyc.com/~andrewj/telnet.html.

Tips for Newbies

Patience is a virtue for those who wish to enter the world of terminal sessions. Firstly, if you aren't just going to work your way through the Telnet BBS guide mentioned above, you'll need patience whilst you search for other Telnet services to which to connect.

Secondly, when you do find a Telnet service to which you can connect, be aware that Telnet sessions are sensitive to Network conditions. In practice this means that sometimes you will find your keystrokes don't immediately lead to characters appearing on the screen.

Information may also be slow to refresh on your terminal window. Be patient. Typing too fast and too far ahead, or pressing buttons before a screen has fully refreshed, is likely to lead to a more, rather than less frustrating experience.

MUD - MOO - MUSH

What is it?

No, we're not going to visit the farmyard. We're actually talking about an early but enduring form of online gaming. Depending on who you talk to, MUD stands for either Multi-User Dungeon, Domain or Dimension. The close relatives of the MUD are the MOO (Multi-user domain Object Oriented) and the MUSH (Multi-User Shared Hallucination). For convenience, I'll simply refer to them all as MUDs.

MUDs are virtual worlds, accessed using either Telnet or using special Telnet based MUD clients. Whilst playing the current generation of online games requires a PC with a good graphics card and a broadband Internet connection, MUDs are text based, and thus have the beauty of being able to be enjoyed by a much wider audience. Your typical MUD can be played quite comfortably on that old 486 your next-door neighbour was throwing out and using a standard dial-up Internet connection.

What is there to do?

By far the most common use of MUDs is games. But don't assume that your only options are a dozen different flavours of fantasy role playing. The size of Internet means there is probably a MUD to suit whatever your particular interests are, from living out a secret night life as a super hero, becoming a character in your favourite TV show, or even owning and racing thoroughbred horses.

MUDs can also be used to hold meetings, discussions - even classes. For example, The University of Newcastle has its own MUD where students can live out life in a virtual campus, including attending some of their real world tutorials. (HIPPO campus: river.newcastle.edu.au:4114 - Figure 2)

What do I need?

There are a few ways to access the world of MUDing. One way is using a simple Telnet client (see above on Telnet). Whilst Telnet is the more traditional way to MUD, another alternative is to use a special MUD client. MudConnect http://www.mudconnect.com has a list of MUD clients from which to choose, or you can do a search for "MUD clients" on your favourite search engine.

For MS-Windows users, zMUD http://www.zuggsoft.com/zuggsoft/zuggsoft.htm is worth a look. For anyone new to MUDs, the big advantage of this client is that it is preconfigured to connect and work with a huge list of MUDs. This makes it quick and easy to try out a lot of MUDs and find the one you like.

Tips for Newbies

Finding the right MUD for you can take time. Many MUDs these days have their own Web site, so it's possible to do a bit of research first to find out which MUDs might suit you. As a starting point try Mud-Connect http://www.mudconnect.com to find something of interest.

Once you've connected up to the virtual world of your choice, use the in-game help or the MUD's Web site to obtain a list of all the actions and commands available to you. Print the list out then familiarise yourself with the commands by trying them out. Just remember - not all commands will work in all situations. Trying to shoot something when there is nothing to shoot might not get any response, or it may get you a wisecrack reply "There is nothing to shoot. You shot your M-16 at nothing and hit nothing.

A real time saver and improvement to your experience is creating aliases. An alias enables you to create a shorthand way of entering popular commands or sequences or commands. For example, you might create an alias "ww" as a shortcut for typing "walk west". Aliases can be created and stored in the MUD itself, but if your chosen MUD doesn't support aliases, MUD clients will usually offer their own alias functionality.

Gopher - See it Before It's Too Late

What is it?

Before the Web really took off, another application was already trying to make life easier for Internet users. For a brief period of time, Gopher servers were extremely popular as a way of providing information in a manner more accessible than Telnet.

Gopher is perhaps best thought of as a stepping stone between File Transfer Protocol servers (FTP) and the Web. Gopher users are able to navigate between directories of files in a similar way to how one might browse a Web site. However, the linking is at the directory level, and not in the document itself. Similarly, whilst text, video and audio files can all be transmitted via Gopher, they don't appear together in the one document, the way they can on a Web page.

Given the similarity between the type of information presented on Gopher servers and Web sites, it was probably inevitable that the Web would eventually bring about the near extinction of Gopher.

What is there to do?

Gopher hunt! Gopher servers are quite rare, so it's possible to whittle away many hours searching for hidden Gopher servers. To prove that they do still exist, use your Gopher client to visit gopher.mek.lif.hu. However, unless you are fortunate enough to read Hungarian, you'll probably want to continue searching.

For those who don't feel like looking for long lost gophers, you can still read about Gopher on the Web. Bjorn Karger's Gopher Manifesto http://www.scn.org/~bkarger/gopher-manifesto probably won't bring about his dream of a new Renaissance on the Internet, but it does provide a good account of what Gopher is and its merits.
If you want a near-Gopher experience, point your Web browser to Wiretap Gopher http://wiretap.area.com/Gopher/ a Gopher server migrated straight to the Web. As such, it maintains much of the look and feel of the original Gopher server, whilst being accessible and searchable via a standard Web browser.

What do I need?

A gopher client. Wisconsin University has a selection of Internet tools available for download, including gopher clients for both Windows and Macintosh http://www.wisc.edu/doit-pct/pctprod.html.

Tips for Newbies

Keep track of any Gopher sites you happen to find. Gopher servers are nearing extinction so it's a special find, regardless of whether it is small or large and irrespective of the language.

About the Author
Keith Leutert currently works in the Internet industry and has been an Internet user ever since his days at University.