By Donna and Tom Recktenwalt
The Internet and the World Wide Web are buzzwords currently being bandied about with abandon. Terms once used only by the computer world are now making headlines and moving into the area of ordinary discussion.
It almost sounds too good to be true – a person at home can connect to computers almost anywhere to find access to almost any subject, via the Internet.
Want to purchase aquarist’s supplies by mail? There’s a list available on the Internet that provides the names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of some of the major by-mail suppliers in the country. There is a list of aquarists’ clubs and organizations around the country, and the world. You can find specialty electronic mailing lists for killifish; web pages for discus and for killies and more; as well as reviews of aquarists’ books; and a wealth of resource information – on plants, on water conditions, on reef tanks, on equipment. You name the topic, it’s probably available somewhere on the Internet.
But back to basics. Just what is the Internet?
Basically, the Internet is a loosely organized, fully redundant, self repairing network of computers around the world through which an average computer user can access files and information on an almost limitless list of topics. Using various search tools (computer programs), you can find the location of programs and files world-wide. Then you can go to those computers and access those files or download them to your PC. If the Internet is the major connection between main frame computers world-wide, then the World Wide Web as your user friendly genie, to help you find what you seek.
What can the Internet do for you?
Put you in touch with other fishkeepers of similar interests through its primary venues: Bulletin Boards, Interest Groups, and Mailing Lists. Allow you to locate information, do research, find answers, even find pictures and download them to your home computer.
What do you need to make use of this resource?
A computer with a monitor . Ideally, the computer should be a 486 IBM type machine or a Mac with 4 megs of RAM or better. The faster the computer, the more quickly it will accomplish the searches you request; the greater the speed and memory, the better you will be able to download and view large complex files, such as pictures. If you’re planning to look at a lot of pictures, you will probably want a high resolution color monitor.
A mouse. A good many of the electronic search tools and Internet providers use menu driven screens requiring a mouse for navigation.
And a modem. The modem is what connects your computer, via telephone line, to the other computers that comprise the Internet. The faster the modem, the more quickly you will make connections and complete downloads. These days a 14.4kbs modem is the minimum recommended. Many new machines come with 28.8kbs modems installed. Since you must download a file to view it, this time can add up in additional fees, depending on the speed of your equipment, and on your provider.
For most computer users, the simplest connectivity to the Internet is with a commercial service provider, such as Prodigy, America On Line, or CompuServe. These are basically user friendly systems, menu and mouse driven, where each screen leads you to the next one, and requiring a minimum knowledge of computer language and commands. Also available are a growing number of local services that connect users to the Internet, such as Erinet, Pipeline, GNN and RCInet. Some vendors of computer hardware and software now offer classes to help their customers get connected.
As our provider, we use Prodigy, a general use service for which we pay a monthly fee for connection and basic service, with additional fees for certain functions. Prodigy provides us with e-mail connection, access to Bulletin Boards and Interest Groups, World Wide Web, USENET Newsgroups and more.
Subscribers to a service aren’t limited solely to the venues offered by their subscriber package, however. If the package has Internet connectivity, and most now do, you can search for specific topics or items yourself, using a number of search tools.
Access on the Internet
Access on the Internet falls into several general categories: Bulletin Boards; USENET Newsgroups; electronic mail (e-mail); chat groups; and the World Wide Web.
Bulletin Boards allow you to post notes, as well as to read and reply to notes from others. It’s the electronic equivalent of the neighborhood grocery store bulletin board. Many local Bulletin Boards are run by hobbyists. Most computer BB’s are themed. In Prodigy, for example, there is a “Pets Bulletin Board,” with a topic called “Fish and Aquaria.”
USENET Newsgroups are the Internet’s equivalent of bulletin board systems. There are literally thousands of them, covering a broad range of topics. If you’re just beginning to learn your way around, it’s good practice to find the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) file and read it, as well as simply “lurking” for a while (reading notes, but not yet posting), to learn the general rules of the board. Most posts to Newsgroups “age off” in a preset period of time, being automatically deleted. Among those newsgroups of potential interest to killie-keepers are the *.aquaria Newsgroups – alt.aquaria, rec.aquaria, and sci.aquaria. Some are broken further into subgroups, like alt.aquaria.killies.
Mailing Lists. Subscribing to a mailing list is a little like subscribing to a magazine; you receive all posts to the list as items in your personal e-mail. Mailing lists are defined by topic, and subscribers are urged to stay within the topic guidelines; posts that have no relevance tend to be swiftly chastised!
To join a mailing list, you traditionally send an e-mail to the list address with only one word in the body of the message, “subscribe.” The mailing list for killies is at killies@mejac.palo-alto-ca.us.
Chat Groups provide a real-time, on-line forum for discussion. Each participant’s input appears on-screen as it is received, so there may be several “threads” of conversation going on in the same place at the same time. An example of a chat group are those held in the “Fishroom,” via Telnet at kplace.monrou.com 1025
The World Wide Web. Basically, the WWW is a new robust form of connectivity in the Internet. The Web allows for text, pictures, mouse support as well as a point and click navigation to other places in the Web. In the World Wide Web there are many search engines. Using one of them, Yahoo, you can search for the Web address of anything of interest to you. If you were to use the search term “AKA” in Yahoo you’d probably get a list of “hits” back that included the AKA’s “Home Page” on the WWW, at http://www.aka.org/
Some Other Terminology
You will encounter a number of strange sounding names when you begin to try to use the Internet, terms like Archie and Gopher, Telnet, USENET, FTP, HTML, etc. It’s confusing at first, but each refers to a specific program, or type of program protocol, or a type of file.
Telnet (or remote login) is a protocol that allows a user on a computer with full Internet access to access another computer via the Internet. Most Telnet sites are login sites only, requiring a password for access, but some applications are available for use by the public. As mentioned earlier, “Fishroom” is available via Telnet.
USENET is a system of organized Newsgroups, that are similar to traditional newsletters and mailing lists. Newsgroups begin with suffixes like .alt, .comp, .news, .k12, etc. There are over 16,000 Newsgroups in USENET with groups on everything from porn to particle physics!
FTP is shorthand for File Transfer Protocol, which is a program used for file transfers between two computers with full Internet access. You can use WWW Browser software to “FTP” to a computer and download files to your PC.
HTML is Hyper Text Markup Language. HTML is the computer language used to build the World Wide Web. It allows direct mouse click connection to another web site. Most web pages utilize this to allow direct connectivity to a number of related sites, making access simple for users.
Using Search Tools
Most search efforts on the Internet involve the use of search tools to locate materials. Search tools are nothing more than user interface programs that help you locate information. The user keys in a character word or string, such as “fish” or “killi”, and the search tool provides a list of “hits” for that term. Items on the list can then be downloaded for viewing, or ignored. An asterisk (*) used in a search string indicates a “wild card” and tells the computer to search for anything that ends with whatever follows the asterisk. For instance, *.aquaria will search for all files that end in .aquaria. *.aquaria.* will search for all files that have .aquaria. within the file name.
Don’t be too surprised at some of the “odd matches” you may get with such searches. For instance, the computers don’t know that killi is short for killifish, so include items that have killi as it appears in proper names, such as McKilligan, or even Long Fin Killie, which is a music group!
Below are some of the many search tools available, which you may encounter.
Web Search Tools
Alta Vista (http://www.altavista.digital.com/ ) boasts “over 16 million web pages to find,” and that number grows daily. It offers a web index, an index of 13,000 plus Newsgroups, and articles.
Excite ( http://www.excite.com )”the intelligent way to navigate the net,” offers web documents with an 11.5 million page database; reviews of web sites’ access to USENET, with over 1 million articles from 10,000 Newsgroups; and two weeks of classified ads.
Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com/ ) offers a catalog of fish related pages. It’s a good starting point for exploration.
Other Internet Search Tools
Gopher is a search tool that “tunnels” through the Internet. It makes its connections via a menu, and is an easy way to search on the Internet. Archie and Veronica are related search tools. If you know the exact file title, then Archie will find a computer somewhere in the world that contains that file. Then you can FTP to get it. Veronica provides a title search capability in Gopher sites.
Finding Material on the Internet
In addition to subject string searches, individual sites on the Internet can be accessed directly by using their proper Internet address. Internet addresses are strings of characters that tell the computers involved where to go, how to connect, and what to find. Remember, when using Internet addresses, that each portion of the address has a specific meaning to the computers involved in the transaction, and that all characters must appear exactly as given, including all punctuation, special characters, and capital and lower case letters. Always keep in mind that the Internet and the World Wide Web are continually growing and changing. Site names change, content changes, the computers that drive the system change, or go off line at various times for various reasons. An address that may work today may not work tomorrow, or a link on a web page may be temporarily inactive. Many web pages, in particular, are in a constant state of “under construction,” so you never know exactly what you’ll find.
There are many sites on the Internet of interest to aquarists. At the end of the article we’ve listed a few that that might be of interest. As you investigate on your own, you’ll find many more that meet your specific needs and interests.
Is It Worth It?
Is it worth the time and energy to learn how to access the Internet?
Definitely, if you have the interest, a bit of patience, and adequate hardware. You can most easily learn the skills necessary to navigate the Internet by joining one of the major on-line services, such as America On Line (AOL), Compuserve, or Prodigy. If you’re fairly computer literate, or adventuresome, you may wish to try other venues, which can be equally successful.
Either way, there is a great deal of good information available and the total resources grow bigger every day. So get out there and search for an article; research a subject; join a mailing list,. Request information, share advice, maintain contact with others in the hobby, or perhaps just make a few new friends. The possibilities are nearly limitless.
A Few Addresses of Potential Interest:
American Killifish Association Home Page – http://www.aka.org/
International Killifish Association Home Page – http://www.killi.net
Bay Area Killifish Association Web Page – http://vrx.net/baka/
Greater Cincinnati Killifish Association Web Page – http://www/intellweb.com/gcka
New Zealand Killifish Association Web Page – http://www.killi.net/nzka/species.html
American Cichlid Association Home Page – http:petsforum.com/ACA/
Aqualink – http://www.aqualink.com
Just Aquaria Web Site – http//www.msn.fullfeed.com/~mbuna/fish.htm
The Aquarium FAQs – http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aquaria/Faq/
The Krib (a good site) – http://www.cco.caltech.edu/aquaria/Krib
FINS (Fish Information Service) Index – http://www.actwin.com/fish/index.cgi
Killie Images (pictures) – http://www.vrx.net/killies/images
Fish Foods – http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aquaria/Krib/Food
American Livebearer Association – http://petsforum.com/ala/
Aquatic Gardener’s Association http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aquaria/Aga/
Desert Fishes Council – http://www.utexas.edu/ftp/depts/tnhc/.www/fish/dfc/
Mailing Lists:
The notations in parenthesis ( ) provide the “subscribe” information requested.
Aquarium – LISTSERV@EMUVM1.CC.EMORY.EDU (“subscribe aquarium”)
Killifish – killies-request@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Discus – LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Ponds and Lake Management – listserv@execpc.com (“subscribe ponds-1”)
Cichlids – mail-server@mailmill.com
Author Blurb: Despite all the above, it doesn’t hurt to have a handy “Internet expert” nearby. Tom (thomas_recktenwalt@prodigy.net) was for several years the Internet Bulletin Board leader for Prodigy, and also wrote their Internet Help Web Page. He spends his free time writing web pages and helping newcomers learn their way around the world of the Internet. Donna ( dmrecktenwalt@prodigy.net ) is a killikeeper/writer who writes and maintains the Greater Cincinnati Killifish Association web page, http://www.intellweb.com/gcka.
— G.C.K.A. Newsletter, October 1996