+--------------------------------------------------+
        |        Accessing The Internet By E-Mail          |
        |  Doctor Bob's Guide to Offline Internet Access   |        
        |           6th Edition - November 1996            |
        +--------------------------------------------------+

             Copyright (c) 1994-96, "Doctor Bob" Rankin

   All rights reserved.  Permission is granted to make and distribute
   verbatim copies of this document provided the copyright notice and
   this permission notice are preserved on all copies.  Feel free to
            upload to your favorite BBS or Internet server!


How to Access Internet Services by E-mail
-----------------------------------------
If you don't have direct access to the Internet through your BBS
or online service, you're not alone.  Many of the world's countries
with Internet connections have only e-mail access to this world-wide
network of networks.

But if you think that sounds limiting, read on.  You can access almost any
Internet resource using e-mail.  Maybe you've heard of FTP, Gopher, Archie,
Veronica, Finger, Usenet, Whois, Netfind, WAIS, and the World-Wide Web but
thought they were out of your reach because you don't have a direct
connection.

Not so!  You can use simple e-mail commands to do all of this and much
more on the Internet.  And even if you do have full Internet access,
using e-mail services can save you time and money.  If you can send a
note to an Internet address, you're in the game.

I encourage you to read this entire document first and then go back and
try out the techniques that are covered.  This way, you will gain a
broader perspective of the information resources that are available, an
introduction to the tools you can work with, and the best methods for
finding the information you want.


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--------------

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  send a blank message to "emailclub@mailback.com" or visit on the Web
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  DR. BOB'S PAINLESS GUIDE to the Internet (And Amazing Things You Can Do
  With E-Mail) is different than any other Internet book.  It's cheap--only
  $12.95, and it's blissfully short--just 145 pages.  Additional details  and
  ordering information are located at the end of this document.


Recent Changes To This Document
-------------------------------

6.1 New/defunct FTP, WWW, gopher mail servers; Anon.penet.fi is gone;
    New anon mailers; dns@grasp.insa-lyon.fr is gone; Vigilante Filter;
    Mercury Mail;
6.0 New LISZT list/newsgroup searcher; new archiemail, ftpmail, gophermail
    and wwwmail servers; INETMAIL utility; minor editing; Updated info on
    Usenet and WAIS by e-mail; Sunsite, DEC, & Oakland FTP-mailers axed;   
    Reference.Com replaces Stanford usenet filter;  new translations
5.3 New address for www-mail servers; Pizza Server; new usenet server sites
    New gophermail in CZ; More mail->usenet addresses; FAQ@whitehouse.gov


Finding the Latest Version
--------------------------

This document is now available from several automated mail servers.
To get the latest edition, send e-mail to one of the addresses below.

To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (for US, Canada & South America)
Enter only this line in the BODY of the note:
  send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email

To: mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk (for Europe, Asia, etc.)
Enter only this line in the BODY of the note:
  send lis-iis e-access-inet.txt

You can also get the file by anonymous FTP at one of these sites:

Site: rtfm.mit.edu
   get pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email
Site: ftp.mailbase.ac.uk
   get pub/lists/lis-iis/files/e-access-inet.txt

Or on the Web in HTML format at:
   http://202.41.100.93/~unicefd/dbobfram.htm

If you'd like to keep up with the latest updates and announcements 
of new versions, send the command:

   SUBSCRIBE ACCMAIL Firstname Lastname

in the BODY of a message to the address "LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM".  In
fact, the ACCMAIL list is a great place to ask any questions you have about
this guide.  You're likely to get a quicker response from one of the list
subscribers, because the author gets several hundred messages per week!

Other Translations of This Document
-----------------------------------

Several readers have graciously volunteered to translate this text into
languages other than English.  Please contact the author if you would like
to assist in the translation of this document into another language.  The
list below shows the status of the translation work that has been done or
is in progress.  To obtain any of the completed texts, send e-mail with

Subject: send accmail.xx             (where "xx" is as shown below)
To: BobRankin@MHV.NET

 Translation             Filename     Translation             Filename
 ----------------------- ----------   ----------------------- ----------
 Catalan (5th Ed.)       accmail.ca   Chinese GB (6th Ed.)    accmail.cn
 Chinese BIG5 (5th Ed.)  accmail.tw   Croatian (4th Ed.)      accmail.hr
 Czech (6th Ed.)         accmail.cz   Danish (5th Ed.)        accmail.dk
 Dutch (3rd Ed.)         accmail.nl   Esperanto (4th Ed.)     accmail.eo
 Farsi (5th Ed.)         accmail.ir   Finnish (6th Ed.)       accmail.fi 
 French (6th Ed.)        accmail.fr   German (5th Ed.)        accmail.de
 Greek (In progress)     accmail.gr   Hebrew (5th Ed.)        accmail.he
 Hungarian (4th Ed.)     accmail.hu   Irish (In progress)     accmail.ie
 Indonesian (4th Ed.)    accmail.id   Italian (5th Ed.)       accmail.it
 Lithuanian (6th Ed.)    accmail.lt   Japanese (6th Ed.)      accmail.jp
 Norwegian (4th Ed.)     accmail.no   Polish (4th Ed.)        accmail.pl
 Portuguese (6th Ed.)    accmail.pt   Romanian (6th Ed.)    
 

A Short Aside... "What is the Internet?"
----------------------------------------

Many introductory texts on the Internet go into excruciating detail on
the history, composition and protocol of the Internet.  If you were
looking for that you won't find it here, because this is a "how to"
lesson, not a history book.

When you buy a new car, they don't make you read "The Life and Times of
Henry Ford" before you can turn the top down and squeal off the lot.
And when you get a new computer, nobody forces you to read a text on
logic design before you fire up Leisure Suit Larry or WordPerfect.

So if you're the type that wants to short-circuit the preliminaries and
just dig in, you've come to the right place.  I'm not going to bore you
with the gory details.  Instead, I'll just offer up my Reader's Digest
condensed definition of the Internet, and encourage you to find out
more as you gain skill at using the tools described herein.

Internet (noun) - A sprawling collection of computer networks that spans
the globe, connecting government, military, educational and commercial
institutions, as well as private citizens to a wide range of computer
services, resources, and information.  A set of network conventions and
common tools are employed to give the appearance of a single large
network, even though the computers that are linked together use many
different hardware and software platforms.


The Rules of The Game
---------------------

This document is meant to be both tutorial and practical, so there are
lots of actual commands and internet addresses listed herein.  You'll
notice that when these are included in the text they are indented by
several spaces for clarity.  Don't include the leading spaces when you
try these commands on your own!

You'll also see things like "<file>" or "<name>" appearing in this
document.  Think of these as place holders or variables which must
be replaced with an appropriate value.  Do NOT include the quotes or
brackets in your value unless specifically directed to do so.

Most e-mail servers understand only a small set of commands and are
not very forgiving if you deviate from what they expect.  So include
ONLY the specified commanil servers in 1995.

If you have more direct Internet access, let others who are less 
fortunate use the e-mail servers.  Try to limit your data transfers 
to one megabyte per day.  Don't swamp the servers with many requests at a time.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


                           FTP BY E-MAIL
                           -------------

FTP stands for "file transfer protocol", and is a means of accessing
files that are stored on remote computer systems (sites). Files at FTP
sites are typically stored in a tree-like set of directories (or nested
folders for Mac fans), each of which pertains to a different subject.

When visiting an FTP site using a "live" internet connection, one would
specify the name of the site, login with a userid & password, navigate
to the desired directory and select one or more files to be transferred
back to their local system.

Using FTP by e-mail is very similar, except that the desired site is
reached through a special "ftpmail server" which logs in to the remote
site and returns the requested files to you in response to a set of
commands in an e-mail message.

Using FTP by e-mail can be nice even for those with full Internet
access, because some popular FTP sites are heavily loaded and
interactive response can be very sluggish.  So it makes sense not to
waste time and connect charges in these cases.

To use FTP by e-mail, you first need a list of FTP "sites" which are the
addresses of the remote computer systems that allow you to retrieve
files anonymously (without having a userid and password on that system).
There are some popular sites listed later in this guide, but you can get
a comprehensive list of hundreds of anonymous FTP sites by sending an
e-mail message to the internet address:

  mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu

and include these lines in the BODY of the note.

   send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part1
   ... (19 lines omitted for brevity) ...
   send usenet/news.answer@relay.interbit.ro      (Romania)
   ftpmail@ftp.sunet.se           (Sweden)
   ftpmail@ftp.luth.se            (Sweden)   
   bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu      (United States)
   ftpmail@census.gov             (United States)
   ftp-request@netcom.com         (United States)
   ftpmail@ftpmail.ramona.vix.com (United States)
   ftpmail@src.doc.ic.ac.uk       (United Kingdom)
   ftpmail@conicit.ve             (Venezuela)
   ftpmail@inf.tu-dresden.de      (Germany * Local files only *)
   ftpmail@oak.oakland.edu        (USA     * Local files only *)
   ftpmail@NCTUCCCA.edu.tw        (Taiwan  * Local files only *)   
   ftpmail@archie.inesc.pt        (* DEFUNCT *)
   ftpmail@cs.uow.edu.au          (* DEFUNCT *)
   ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com         (* DEFUNCT *)
   ftpmail@sunsite.unc.edu        (* DEFUNCT *)
   ftpmail@ftp.sun.ac.za          (* DEFUNCT *)


It doesn't really matter which one you choose, but a server that is
geographically close may respond quicker.  (Please DON'T use the first
one in the list just because it's there!)  In the body of the note,
include these lines:

   open <site>                   * use "connect <site>" for dec.com sites   
   dir
   quit

This will return to you a list of the files stored in the root directory
at that site.  See the figure below for an example of the output when
using "oak.oakland.edu" for the site name.

 +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
    -r--r--r--   1 w8sdz    OAK         1255 Nov  9 16:32 README
    drwxr-xr-x   3 w8sdz    OAK         8192 Feb 25 05:17 SimTel
    d--x--x--x   3 root     system      8192 Jan 19 20:26 bin
    d--x--x--x   5 root     system      8192 Dec 30 05:15 etc    
    drwxr-xr-x   3 w8sdz    OAK         8192 Jan 30 17:37 pub
 +---------------------------------------------------------------------+

In your next e-mail message you can navigate to other directories by
inserting (for example)

   chdir pub                        (use "cd" if "chdir" doesn't work)

before the "dutes, hours, or days.
- Some large files may be split into smaller pieces and returned to you as
  multiple messages.  You can control this (and also override the return  
  e-mail address) using special ftpmail commands.
- The commands are not the same on every server - send the "help" command
  to find out how FTPMAIL works on the server you are using!
- Often the ftpmail servers keep local archives. Open the local archives by
  not specifying a site on the "open" line. Using the local archives gives
  your request priority so it will be processed before all outside requests.

If the file that is returned to you ends up looking something like what
you see below, (the word "begin" with a number and the filename on one
line, followed by a bunch of 61-character lines) it most likely is a
binary file that has been "uuencoded" by the sender.  (This is required
in order to reliably transmit binary files by e-mail.)

    begin 666 answer2.zip
    M4$L#!`H`!@`.`/6H?18.$-Z$F@P```@?```,````5$5,25@S,34N5%A480I[
    M!P8;!KL,2P,)!PL).PD'%@.(!@4.!P8%-@.6%PL*!@@*.P4.%00.%P4*.`4.

You'll need to scrounge up a version of the "uudecode" program for your
operating system (DOS, OS/2, Unix, Mac, etc.) in order to reconstruct the
file.  Most likely you'll find a copy already at your site or in your
service provider's download library, but if not you can use the instructions
in the next section to find out how to search FTP sites for a copy.


                            ARCHIE BY E-MAIL
                            ----------------

Let's say you know the name of a file, but you have no idea at which FTP
site it might be lurking.  Or maybe you're curious to know if files
matching a certain naming criteria are available via FTP.  Archie is the
tool you can use to find out.

Archie servers can be thought of as a database of all the anonymous FTP
sites in the world, allowing you to find the site and/or name of a file
to be retrieved.  And using Archie by e-mail can be convenient because
some Archie s.edu (or one of
the other archie servers), and include the following lines in the message:

   set match_domain usa
   set search sub             (looking for a substring match...)   
   find uudecode              (must contain this string...)

Note: You'll be looking for the uudecode source code, not the executable
version, which would of course be a binary file and would arrive
uuencoded - a Catch 22!  The output of your archie query will contain
lots of information like this:

   Host ftp.clarkson.edu    (128.153.4.2)
   Last updated 06:31  9 Oct 1994

   Location: /pub/simtel20-cdrom/msdos/starter
   FILE    -r-xr-xr-x    5572 bytes  21:00 11 Mar 1991  uudecode.bas

   Location: /pub/simtel20-cdrom/msdos/starter   FILE    -r-xr-xr-x   
   5349 bytes  20:00 17 Apr 1991  uudecode.c

Now you can use an ftpmail server to request "uudecode.bas" (if you have
BASIC available) or "uudecode.c" (if you have a C compiler) from the
ftp.clarkson.edu site.

It should be noted that the latest version of uudecode can be found at
the SimTel repository.  Send e-mail to listserv@SimTel.net,
including any or all of these commands in the BODY of the note, and the
requested files will be returned to you by e-mail.
   get uudecode.bas
   get uudecode.c
   get uudecode.doc

SPECIAL NOTE:  For DOS users, there is an EXECUTABLE ASCII version of the
UUDECODE.COM program available.  This is a rare exception to the rule that
executable files must be encoded to survive e-mail transmission.  You can
receive it via e-mail and execute it "as is".  To get a copy, send e-mail
to BobRankin@MHV.net with Subject: send uudecode.com  (must be lowercase).
For further info on using uudecode, request the "uudecode.how" file.

                            GOPHER BY E-MAIL
                            ----------------

Gopher is an excellent tool for exploring the Internet and is the best
way to find a resource if you know what you want, but not where to find
it.  Gopher systems are menu-based,  and provide a user-friendly front end
to Internet resources, searches and information retrieval.

Gopher knows where things are, thanks to the many volunteers who spend
time creating pointers to useful collections of 'Net resources.  And
Gopher takes the rough edges off of the Internet by automating remote
logins, hiding the sometimes-cryptic command sequences, and offers
powerful search capabilities as well.

When visiting a Gopher site using a "live" Internet connection, one would
specify the name of the site, navigate through a series of hierarchical
menus to a desired resource, and then either read or transfer the
information back to their home system.

Using Gopher by e-mail is very similar, except that the desired site is
reached through a special "gophermail server" which gophers to the remote
site on your behalf and and returns the requested menu, submenu or file to
you in response to a set of commands in an e-mail message.

Although not every item on every menu will be accessible by "gophermail",
you'll still find plenty of interesting things using this technique.
Down to brass tacks...  let's send e-mail to one of these addresses:

   gopher@nig.ac.jp                *OUT OF SERVICE*
   gopher@earn.net                 *OUT OF SERVICE*
   gophermail@calvin.edu           *OUT OF SERVICE*

You can optionally specify the address of a known gopher site on the
Subject line to get the main menu for that site instead.  Here are some 
interesting gopher sites you may like to explore at your leisure.

   cwis.usc.edu
   gopher.micro.umn.edu
   english-server.hss.cmu.edu

Let's be bold and skip the HELP stuff for now.  Fire off a note to one of
the gophermail servers and specify

   Subject: cwis.usc.edu

You'll get a message back from the server that looks something like
the text in the figure below.

 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+  
  Mail this file back to gopher with an X before the items you want.

         1.  About USCgopher/
         2.  How To Find Things on Gopher/
         3.  University Information/
         4.  Campus Life/
         5.  Computing Information/
         6.  Library and Research Information/
         7.  Health Sciences/
         8.  Research and Technology Centers/
         9.  Other Gophers & Info Resources/

   You may edit the following numbers to set the maximum sizes 
after which GopherMail should send output as multiple email messages:

   Split=27K bytes/message <- For text, bin, HQX messages
   Menu=100 items/message <- For menus and query responses
   #
   Name=About USCgopher
   Numb=1
   Type=1
   Port=70
   Path=1/About_USCgopher
   Host=cwis.usc.edu
   # ... (some lines deleted) ...
   Name=Other Gophers and Information Resources
   Numb=9
   Type=1
   Port=70
   Path=1/Other_Gophers_and_Information_Resources
   Host=cwis.usc.edu
 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
To proceed to a selection on the returned menu just e-mail the whole text
of the note (from the menu downwards) back to the gopher server, placing
an "x" next to the items(s) you want to explore.  You'll then receive the
next level of the gopher menu by e-mail.  Some menu choices lead to other
menus, some lead to text files, and some lead to searches.  In the example
above, let's select
  
   x 9. Other Gophers & Info Resources

and mail the whole shebang right back at the gophermail server. You should
then get a menu with a number of interesting selections including "Gopher
Jewels".  You'll find a LOT of good stuff along that path.  The Gopher
Jewels project is probably the best organized collection of Internet
resources around.

If a menu item is labelled "Search" you can select that item with an "x"
and supply your search words in the Subject: of your reply.  Note that
your search criteria can be a single word or a boolean expression such as:

   document and (historic or government)

Each of the results (the "hits") of your search will be displayed as an
entry on yet another gopher menu!

Note: You needn't actually return the entire gopher menu and all the
routing info that follows it each time you reply to the gophermail server.
If you want to minimize the size of your query, you can strip out the
"menu" portion at the top and include only the portion below that pertains
to the menu selection you want.

Just remember that if you use this approach, you must specify "get all" on
the Subject line.  (Exception: for searching, specify only the search
terms on the Subject line.)  The example below is equivalent to selecting
"option 9" as we did earlier.

   Split=0K bytes/message
   Menu=0 items/message
   #
   Name=Other Gophers
   Numb=9
   Type=1
   Port=70
   Path=1/Other_Gophers_and_Information_Resources
   Host=cwis.usc.edu

If this looks like nonsense to you, here's a human translation:

   Connect to PORT 70 of the HOST (computer) at "cwis.usc.edu",
   retrieve the sub-menu "Other Gophers", and send it to me in
   ONE PIECE, regardless of its size.


Note: Sometimes gophermail requests return a blank menu or message.  This
is most likely because the server failed to connect to the host from which
you were trying to get your information.  Send your request again later
and it'll probably work.
  
                VERONICA BY E-MAIL
                ------------------


Speaking of searches, this is a good time to mention Veronica.  Just
as Archie provides a searchable index of FTP sites, Veronica provides
this function for "gopherspace".  Veronica will ask you what you want to
look for (your search 
words) and then display another menu listing allthe gopher menu items 
that match your search.  In typical gopher fashion, you can then select 
one of these items and "go-pher it"!

To try Veronica by e-mail, retrieve the main menu from a gophermail server
using the method just described.  Then try the choice labelled "Other
Gopher and Information Servers".  This menu will have an entry for
Veronica.

You'll have to select one (or more) Veronica servers to handle your
query, specifying the search words in th
e Subject of your reply.  Here'sanother example of where using e-mail 
servers can save time and money. Often the Veronica servers are very busy 
and tell you to "try again later".  So select 2 or 3 servers, and chances 
are one of them will be able to handle your request the first time around.

A Gophermail Shortcut:
----------------------

The path to some resources, files or databases can be a bit tedious,
requiring several e-mail messages to the gophermail server.  But here's
the good news...  If you've d
one it once, you can re-use any of thee-mail messages previously sent in,
changing it to suit your current needs.  As an example, here's a clipping 
from the Veronica menu you would get by following the previous instructions.  
You can send these lines to any gophermail server to run a Veronica search.

   Split=64K bytes/message <- For text, bin, HQX messages (0 = No split)
   Menu=100 items/message <- For menus and query responses (0 = No split)
   #
   Name=Search GopherSpace by Title word(s) (via NYSERNet)  
   Type=7
   Port=2347
   Path=
   Host=empire.nysernet.org

Specify the search words in the Subject line and see what turns up!  You
can use boolean expressions in Veronica searche" message, try it at another
time of day.  The servers are very busy during regular business hours.

If you decide to make a post of your own, mail the text of your post to:

   group.name@dispatch.demon.co.uk
   group.name@news.demon.co.uk
   group.name@brushtail.hna.com.au
   group.name@news.uni-stuttgart.de
   group.name@myriad.alias.net   
   group.name@crs4gw.crs4.it             (Italy users only)
   group.name-news@newsbase.cs.yale.edu  (* DEFUNCT *)

Note: Some servers only support a limited range of newsgroups.

So to post to news.newusers.questions, you might send your
message to:

   news.newusers.questions@dispatch.demon.co.uk

Be sure to include an appropriate Subject: line, and include your real
name and e-mail address at the close of your note.

TIP: SEARCHING FOR USENET NEWSGROUPS - Don't know the name of the newsgro
up?To search for Usenet groups about "pets", for example, send e-mail to
an Agora server (see WWW section) with this line in the message BODY:

   send http://www.nova.edu/Inter-Links/cgi-bin/news.pl?pets

Another way to find newsgroups: Send e-mail to "liszter@bluemarble.net" with

   news "keyword"

in the BODY if the message.  (The quotes force an exact match.)


                             USENET SEARCHES
                             ---------------

A service called REFERENCE.COM makes it possible to search USENET newsgroups
for postings that contain keywords of interest to you.  You can even 
"subscribe" and receive a daily list of newsgroup postings that match your 
search criteria.  Send mail to "email-queries@reference.com" with HELP in 
the body of note for full details.  A similar service called the Vigilante 
Information Filter can be reached by sending e-mail to "info@vigilant.bc.ca".


                          WAIS SEARCHES BY E-MAIL
                          -----------------------



WAIS stands for Wide Area Information Service, and is a means of
searching a set of over 500 indexed databases.  The range of topics is
too broad to mention, and besides, you'll soon learn how to get the
topic list for yourself.

I recommend that you send e-mail to "waismail@sunsite.unc.edu" with HELP
in the body of the note to get the full WAISmail user guide.  But if you
can't wait, use the info below as a quickstart.

A list of WAIS databases (or "resources" as they like to be called) can be
obtained by sending e-mail to the waismail server with the line

   search xxx xxx

in the body of the note.  Look through the returned list for topics that
are of interest to you and use one of them in the next example.

OK, let's do an actual search.  Send e-mail to:

   waismail@sunsite.unc.edu

with the following commands in the note body:

   maxres 10
   search bush-speeches lips

This will tell WAISmail to search through the text of the "bush-speeches"
database and return a list of at most 10 documents containing "lips".

A successful search will return one or more "DOCid:" lines, which
identify the location of the matching documents.  To retrieve the full
text of a matching document, send one of the returned "DOCid:" lines
(exactly as is) in the body of your next message to WAISmail.

 (Note: The WAISmail server at "quake.think.com" is defunct.  The server
 listed above still had a few bugs as of this writing, so if it doesn't
 work, try the WAIS via gophermail method described next.)

A list of WAIS databases can also be obtained by sending e-mail to
gophermail@calvin.edu with "Subject: get all" and these lines in the
message body:

   Type=1
   Name=WAIS Databases
   Path=1/WAISes/Everything
   Host=gopher-gw.micro.umn.edu
   Port=70

Look through the returned list for topics that are of interest to you and
select one to search.  Specify your search term(s) on the Subject line,
and clip out just the section of the returned gopher menu that corresponds
to your target database.  For example:

   Type=7+
   Name=bush-speeches.src
   Path=waissrc:/WAISes/Everything/bush-speeches
   Host=gopher-gw.micro.umn.edu
   Port=70

You will (hopefully) receive a gophermail menu in response listing the
matching "documents". To retrieve the full text of a matching document,
just make a selection from the returned gopher menu, and the referenced
file will be sent to you.

In my testing, WAIS by gophermail was not reliable.  Often a blank menu
was returned but repeated attempts did eventually meet with success.


                       WORLD-WIDE WEB BY E-MAIL
                       ------------------------


The World-Wide Web is touted as the future of Internet navigational
tools.  It's a hypertext and multimedia system that lets you hop around
the Net, read documents, and access images & sounds linked to a source.

Have you ever heard someone say, "Wow, check out the cool stuff at
http://www.somewhere.com/blah.html" and wondered what the heck they
were talking about?  Now you can retrieve WWW documents by e-mail
using an Agora WWW-mail server.

All you need to know is the Uniform Resource Locator (or URL, that
long ugly string starting with "http:", "gopher:", or "ftp:") which
defines the address of the document, and you can retrieve it by sending
e-mail to either of:


   agora@dna.affrc.go.jp        (Japan)
   agora@kamakura.mss.co.jp     (Japan)
   agora@info.lanic.utexas.edu  (USA)
   agora@mx.nsu.nsk.su          (Russia ONLY)
   agora@www.undp.org           (restricted to "developing" countries)   
   agora@mail.w3.org            (out of service)

In the body of your note include one of these lines, replacing "<URL>"
with the actual URL specification.

   send <URL>
   rsend <return-address> <URL>  (to override your return address)

This will send you back the document you requested, with a list of all
the documents referenced within, so that you may make further requests.

To try WWW by e-mail send the following commands to an Agora server :

   www
   send http://www.w3.org
You'll receive in due course the Agora help file and the "WWW Welcome
Page" which will include references to other Web documents you'll want
to explore.

THERE ARE SOME OTHER WWW mail servers...

   Address                   Syntax     Comments
   -----------------------   ---------- -------------------------

   webmail@www.ucc.ie        GO <URL>   Same as webmail@curia.ucc.ie
   w3mail@gmd.de             GET <URL>  Send HELP command for more info
   web@glr.com               <URL>
   wwwfmail@linux.netmor.com            Use 'Subject: info' for help   
   web-mail@ebay.com         <URL>      Fee-based, limited free searches

Note: The WWW-mail servers are sometimes unavailable for days (or weeks)
at a time without explanation.  If you get an error or no reply, please
retry in a day or so.


                           WWW SEARCH BY E-MAIL
                           --------------------
There's a lot of great stuff out on the Web, but how do you find it?
Well, just like Archie and Veronica help you search FTP and gopher sites,
there are several search engines that have been developed to search for
information on the Web.  But until now, you had to have direct Internet
access to use them.

After a bit of research, I have found that it is possible to use several
WWW search mechanisms by e-mail.  Here are some sample queries that you
can use to search via Lycos, WebCrawler and the CUI W3 Catalog.  Any of
these lines can be sent to an Agora server (see above) to perform a
search.  If you're not interested in spam or frogs, then by all means
feel free to use your own search keywords.

For Lycos, append a dot to your keywords to force an exact match, or you
will get a substring search by default.  Separate words with a "+" sign.

   http://query1.lycos.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/pursuit?spam
   http://query1.lycos.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/pursuit?spam.
   http://query1.lycos.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/pursuit?frog.+dissection.

For WebCrawler searches you must separate words with a "+" sign.
All searches are exact, no trailing dot required.

   http://webcrawler.cs.washington.edu/cgi-bin/WebQuery?spam
   http://webcrawler.cs.washington.edu/cgi-bin/WebQuery?frog+dissection

For CUI W3 Catalog searches you must separate words with "%20" as below.
All searches are exact, no trailing dot required.

   http://cuiwww.unige.ch/w3catalog?spam
   http://cuiwww.unige.ch/w3catalog?frog%20dissection


                              MAILING LISTS
                              -------------

There are literally thousands of discussion groups that stay in touch
using e-mail based systems known as "mailing lists".  People interested
in a topic "subscribe" to a "list" and then send and receive postings by
e-mail.  For a good introduction to this topic, send e-mail to:

   LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu

In the body of your note include only this command:

   GET NEW-LIST WOUTERS

Finding a Mailing List
----------------------

To find out about mailing lists that are relevant to your interests,
send the following command to the same address given above.

   LIST GLOBAL /keyword

(Of course you must replace "keyword" with an appropriate search word
such as Marketing, Education, etc.)

Another helpful document which details the commands used to subscribe,
unsubscribe and search mailing list archives can be had by sending to:

   LISTSERV@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu

In the body of your note include only this command:

   get mailser cmd nettrain f=mail

New in These Parts?
-------------------

If you're new to the Internet, I suggest you subscribe to the HELP-NET list
where you're likely to find answers to your questions.  Send the command:

   SUBSCRIBE HELP-NET <Firstname Lastname>

in the BODY of a note to LISTSERV@VM.TEMPLE.EDU, then e-mail your questions
to the list address:

   HELP-NET@VM.TEMPLE.EDU

                               FINGER BY E-MAIL
                               ----------------

"Finger" is a utility that returns information about another user.
Usually it's just boring stuff like last logon, etc., but sometimes
people put fun or useful information in their finger replies.  To try
out finger, send e-mail with

   Subject: FINGER <user@site>
   To: infobot@infomania.com

Use one of the e-mail addresses below instead of <user@site> ...

   nasanews@space.mit.edu      coke@cs.cmu.edu
   quake@gldfs.cr.usgs.gov     aurora@xi.uleth.ca
   solar@xi.uleth.ca           higgins@dorsai.dorsai.org
   copi@oddjob.uchicago.edu    cyndiw@magnus1.com
Just for kicks, try finger using a combination of gopher and WWW.  Send
the command:

   send gopher://<site>:79/0<user>

to one of the WWWmail servers mentioned earlier.


                     "DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE" BY E-MAIL
                     --------------------------------

"WHOIS" is a service that queries a database of Internet names and
addresses.  If you're looking for someone or you want to know where
a particular Internet site is located, send e-mail with

   Subject: whois <name>
   To: mailserv@internic.net
Try substituting "mit.edu" or the last name of someone you know in place
of "<name>" and see what comes back!  It should be noted that WHOIS is
not a comprehensive listing of all Internet users.  It contains mostly
network administrators and some "notable" Internet figures.

Another alternative name looker-upper is a database at MIT which keeps
tabs on everyone who has posted a message on Usenet.  Send e-mail to
"mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu" and include this command ONLY in the BODY:

   
send usenet-addresses/<name>
Specify as much information as you can about the person (lastname,
firstname, userid, site, etc.) to limit the amount of information that
is returned to you.  Here's a sample query to find the address of
someone you think may be at Harvard University:

   send usenet-addresses/Jane Doe Harvard

NETFIND is another more powerful search engine that uses a person's name
and keywords describing a physical location to return a bunch of info
about the person (or persons) who fit the bill.
Let's say we want some other interesting things you can do by e-mail.  
(Some of them are accessible only by e-mail!)


* THE INTERNET TOURBUS
Take a virtual tour of the Internet - hop on The Internet TourBus!  You'll
receive a short mailing twice a week highlighting fun and interesting sites
on the Internet.  It's absolutely free, and you can join 75,000 others by
sending SUBSCRIBE TOURBUS Firstname Lastname in the BODY of a message to
"LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM".

* STOCKS, NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS
Try 
Mercury Mail for free daily delivery of a variety of information.Send e-mail 
to "info@merc.com" for details.

* VIRTUAL PIZZA!
Order an electronic pizza by e-mail.  Send e-mail to 
"pizza@ecst.csuchico.edu" with a subject of "pizza help" for details.

* WEBSTER DICTIONARY LOOKUP
To retrieve the definition of a word, send this line to an Agora server:
send http://c.gp.cs.cmu.edu:5103/prog/webster?whatever

* MORE WORD FUN!
The wordserver at wsmith@wordsmith.org will serve up A.Word.A.Day,
Dictionary-by-mail,
 Thesaurus-by-mail, Acronym-by-mail, Anagram-by-mail,and Rhyme-n-Reason

* PLAY GAMES BY E-MAIL
Yoyodyne specializes in online games.  Send mail to "win@yoyo.com".
You can also play games via the PBeM Server, for info, send e-mail to
"pbmserv@eiss.erols.com" with Subject: help

* BIBLE SEARCH
Search the King James version of the Bible.  Examples below can be sent to
an Agora server.  Use "+" to specify multiple words; prefix proper names
with "%23"; add "&PHRASE=ON" to find a phrase.
send http://colet.uchicago.edu/htbin/KJV.sh?title=&word=angel+%23Mary
send http://colet.uchicago.edu/htbin/KJV.sh?title=&word=fig+tree&PHRASE=ON

* ALMANAC, WEATHER & THE SWEDISH CHEF
Infomania offers a bunch of services by e-mail!  Almanac (daily
updates), Weather, CD Music Catalog, etc. Send e-mail to
infobot@infomania.com with subject HELP for full details.

* THE USENET ORACLE
A cooperative, anonymous and humorous exchange of questions and answers.
Send e-mail to oracle@cs.indiana.edu for more informym.alias.net,
help@weasel
.owl.de, remailer@remailer.nl.com, privacy@interlink-bbs.com
* NET JOURNALS LISTING
I highly recommend "The Internet Press - A guide to electronic journals
about the Internet".  To get it, send e-mail with Subject: subscribe to
ipress-request@northcoast.com

* ASK DR. MATH
Have a math question?  No problem's too big or too small for The Swat
Team.  Write to dr.math@forum.swarthmore.edu

* VIRUS PROTECTION SOFTWARE
F-Prot, one of the top PC virus scanners can be requested by e-mail.
To get the current versi
on (uuencoded) send e-mail tof-prot-update@complex.is with this message body:

  send-as:  uue

* SCOUT REPORT
...is a weekly featuring announcements of new and interesting resources
on the Internet.  To subscribe, send e-mail to LISTSERV@lists.internic.net
with "Subscribe scout-report Your Name" in the body.

* SUICIDE HELPLINE
There's a suicide helpline accessible by e-mail.  Send your message
to jo@samaritans.org -- No syntax, they have humans!

* ISPs BY AREA CODE
For a list of Internet Service Providers in your area code, send this line
to an Agora server: http://thelist.iworld.com/areacode/???.html (where
???=your area code)

* E-MAIL TO FAX Full-featured service with free trial period.  They also
accept resellers who are able to promote the service on a personal home
page. For details, send e-mail to sam@afrsc.mhs.compuserve.com

* E-MAIL TO SNAIL-MAIL Need to get a message to someone in Britain who
doesn't have e-mail? Send it to PaperMail!  For full details on this
fee-based service, send e-mail to 
info@papermail.win-uk.net
* MAIL REFLECTORS
If you ever want to test your ability to send or receive e-mail, send a
message to "echo@tu-berlin.de".  Your message will be echoed back to you.

* FOR FURTHER READING
If you'd like some additional information on on e-mail retrieval services
send to infomart@acy.digex.net with Subject: send email4u


                          CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
                          --------------------- 
              
"Doctor Bob", also known as Bob Rankin, welcomes your feedback on this
guide and can be reached at the following addresses.  Send corrections,
ideas, suggestions and comments by e-mail.  I'll try to include any new
e-mail services in future editions of this guide.

E-Mail  :  BobRankin@MHV.net
Web     :  http://csbh.mhv.net/~bobrankin
US Mail :  Doctor Bob / P.O. Box 39 / Tillson, NY / 12486


                  MORE PUBLICATIONS FROM DOCTOR BOB!
                  ----------------------------------

                             Announcing ...

           +------------------------------------------------+
           |    "100 COOL THINGS TO DO ON THE INTERNET!"    |
           |        Doctor Bob's Internet Tour Guide        |
           | Over 100 places you *must* visit in cyberspace |
           +------------------------------------------------+

This is the guide I wanted when the Internet was new to me.  Just a
quick overview of the "tools of the trade" and a list of "cool things to
do".  Not 300 pages...  And not $39!  This information could save you
money, hours of valuable time, or lead you to a new career.

There's a goldmine of information, software and services out there just
waiting to be discovered!  It can be yours, but it's not easy...  That's
why you must have this informative report which gives you the lowdown on:

* Online databases          * Electronic Library Catalogs
* Shopping in Cyberspace    * Job Postings Online
* Vast software libraries   * ALL FREE!

You'll learn the basics of TELNETing, FTPing and GOPHERing to the
information you want, with specific instructions and the "secret keys"
you need to unlock all the doors on the way!


          +------------------------------------------------+
          |     Doctor Bob's Internet Business Guide       |
          |            An Introduction to Good             |
          |    Old-Fashioned Capitalism In Cyberspace      |
          +------------------------------------------------+

There are those who say that the Internet should be free of capitalism,
commerce, advertising and anything that smells like "business".

But there ARE ways to conduct business on the 'Net without raising the ire
of the inhabitants of the electronic domain.  You can lower costs, make
money and even get thanked for providing your service if you know how to
do it right!

I can't promise that you'll make lots of money selling your product or
service, but I'm certain that after you've read this guide, you will have
a better understanding of:

* Internet Tools & Techniques      * Business Resources on the Net
* Setting Up Shop on the Net       * Avoiding Net Marketing Pitfalls
* What business are on the Net     * Getting paid for your product


          To get your copy of:

  "100 COOL THINGS TO DO ON THE INTERNET!"
                   - or -
   "DOCTOR BOB'S INTERNET BUSINESS GUIDE"

Send just $5 each (cash, check or credit card) plus a self-addressed,
stamped envelope to:

 -->  DOCTOR BOB
 -->  PO BOX 39, DEPT U4
 -->  TILLSON, NY 12486  USA

Note: For e-mail delivery (preferred) you can skip the envelope but
make sure to send your e-mail address along with your order.

To pay with your Credit Card send the following information by US Mail
to the address above, or by e-mail to BobRankin@MHV.net :

  - Visa/MasterCard/Discover/Amex card number, with expiration date
  - Your name (as it appears on your card)
  - Mailing address and phone number
  - Number of copies you wish to order
  - A statement reading "I authorize Doctor Bob Publications to
    charge the price of this order to my credit card."

Outside the USA:  Skip the stamp, but please add $1 for postage.
If it's too difficult to get US funds, send 12 International
Postal Coupons in lieu of cash.  And if all else fails, send your
own (paper) currency, estimating the conversion factor.  I cannot
accept checks or money orders drawn on non-US institutions.

I also accept electronic payment via NetCash and First Virtual!  For
details send e-mail to catalog@agents.com with DOCTOR BOB on the first
line of your note.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------

             Copyright (c) 1994-96, "Doctor Bob" Rankin

   All rights reserved.  Permission is granted to make and distribute
   verbatim copies of this document provided the copyright notice and
   this permission notice are preserved on all copies.  Feel free to
   upload to your favorite BBS or Internet server!
   
   Persons wishing to summarize this document in other publications
   may do so, but please include the instructions herein for obtaining
   the full document. I also request that you kindly supply me with a
   copy of the article when published.

                                # # #