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Lesson 77: Getting Connected, Part II

This tutorial is the second in our two-part series about going online with CompuServe Information Service. In "Getting Connected, Part I" we talked about ways to get CompuServe accounts, navigate around the service, send messages, and join forums. In this tutorial we’ll let you in on some CompuServe “etiquette,” then talk about how you can save time and money when using CompuServe by using autonavigator programs.

MESSAGE MANNERS

Now that you’re online and ready to commune with your fellow techheads, here are some guidelines and suggestions to help you make the most of CompuServe messaging.

1. Be polite. Remember, no one knows you except by what you write. if you get involved in a heated conversation and you feel like the other person has the IQ of a box of rocks, take a break and cool down. Also, swearing is not allowed. If you want to make a point, be creative and use other expressions or words, or substitute letters with punctuation marks (like in the comics). Don’t forget that anyone with a CompuServe account can access public forums, including children.
   
   Also, double-check your messages before you post them. The CompuServe software does not filter messages, nor can a Sysop edit any message. A Sysop, however, can move a message out of public sight if it is deemed grossly offensive or inappropriate.
2. Stick to the point. Say enough to get your idea across, and don’t ramble. For messages in which you are seeking specific technical advice, be sure to include version or revision numbers.
3. Limit quotebacks. When replying to a message, people often like to quote part of the original message as a memory jogger. This is fine, and helpful if you are trying to follow a particularly busy thread. But do not quote back the entire message, or an entire paragraph.
4. Once is enough. Never post a message in more than one section of a forum, or more than one forum in a group (such as Microsoft or Novell). Many people read a complete forum or group, and they resent having to waste time and money reading the same message twice.
   
   If you do not receive a response to your message within two days in a busy forum, then it is OK to post the message in another forum in that same group. The LAN Magazine forum is not really intended for urgent technical support, so some messages may not receive a reply until three or four days after posting. Don’t worry, though. If no one on the forum has the expertise to help you, the Sysop should be able to suggest another forum where you can get an answer.
5. No attacks. Personal attacks are not allowed on CompuServe. If you disagree with what a person says, make sure you disagree with the idea, not the person.
6. Forget the long signatures. CompuServe is not the place for Internet-style signature lines. Remember, people are paying for connect time to read or download your messages.
7. Don’t ask for individual advice via e-mail from any Sysop on CompuServe. That is called “consulting” and it completely misses the purpose of CompuServe. A message posted on a public forum will garner more points of view, spark other discussions, and be a better learning tool for you and other readers.

Vendors who want to sell something on CompuServe must get a store in the service’s shopping mall area. CompuServe forum message areas are not an appropriate place to sell your products. LAN Magazine realizes that running a network often involves a close relationship with vendors, and a library section has been set aside in the LAN Magazine forum where vendors can upload press releases and shareware authors can upload informational files. For LAN Magazine vendor guidelines, download POLICY.TXT in Library I/General Information. Vendors posing as end users and recommending their own products will be shot.

TIME IS MONEY

Many network managers wish for a 36-hour day or an assistant. You might think that adding CompuServe to your routine is the last thing you need. Wrong. Nearly every regular forum participant will tell you that an hour or two of reading messages on the right forums can save you hours of head-banging.

But you need to approach this task in the right way. CompuServe’s own software, the CIMs (CompuServe Information Managers), are a great “getting-started” tool. But as you become comfortable with the service and come to depend on it for information, it’s time to throw out the CIMs and get some different tools. These tools will help you accomplish the same amount of message- reading in less than half the time.

USING AUTONAV

The tools you need to perform this trick are referred to as autonavigators— autonavs or short—or autopilot programs. They do what their name implies (automatically navigate CompuServe), plus a lot more.

When you use an autonav program, you first specify which forum messages or library files you would like to read or download. Then the program logs onto CompuServe, downloads the appropriate messages or files, and disconnects. Since you can’t read at 2,400bps or faster, you might as well download the messages at your modem’s top speed for reading later, when you are not paying for connect time.

Once you have finished reading and preparing replies, you use the autonav program to log back on and upload your messages. Not only does this save you money, it gives you a chance to double-check your messages before you post them.

Just as many remote e-mail programs provide filters so you don’t have to download every e-mail message when you’re on the road, autonavs let you do some filtering before you download messages from a forum. You can decide if you want to read all of the messages in a forum, or all the messages from certain sections, or if you simply want to scan the headers in specific sections to see what looks interesting.

The interface used on the CIM products has its advantages, but speed in going from message to message, and especially from one forum to the next, is not one of them. Autonav programs read all or most of the messages from a forum into your computer’s memory at one time, making it much faster to go from one message to the next when you read them later.

This difference in speed is dramatic. A forum that might have taken an hour to read online with a CIM product can take 20 minutes to a half-hour to read with an autonav program. Instead of spending an hour of connect time, you’ve spent maybe two or three minutes.

Furthermore, many autonav programs have library management capabilities built-in, so it takes only a couple of keystrokes to download a file that you might otherwise have to spend five or 10 minutes searching for with a CIM product.

Another capability is message management. Since many forums have a three-day to four-day scroll rate (the time a message remains on the forum until it is bumped off by the newer messages), you may see a message you want to read, but not have the time to read it until it’s too late. With an autonav program you can download the messages to your hard disk to read at your leisure.

AUTONAV PRODUCTS

Plenty of CompuServe autonav programs are available, and since many of them are shareware, it’s easy to evaluate them before you buy. Many are supported on a forum or a section of a forum, and plenty of knowledgeable users are around to answer questions. If your favorite platform isn’t listed here, it’s easy enough to find a forum where you can make inquiries, using the FIND command.

Autonav programs are available for most platforms. Two popular DOS-based autonav programs are TAPCIS (The Access Program, CompuServe Information Service) and OzCIS. Both can run under Windows or OS/2 if you prefer to run in a GUI environment. And both are shareware programs that can be downloaded from their own CompuServe forums (GO TAPCIS and GO OZCIS).

TAPCIS is arguably the easiest of the DOS-based autonav programs to set up and use, and it requires fewer system resources than OZCIS. On the other hand, OZCIS has more sophisticated built-in features. To get those same features with TAPCIS, you can use an add-on program called RECON (visit the TAPCIS forum for more details; also see figure), which is easy-to-use and is one of the best-supported shareware programs around.

Golden CommPass is the only OS/2-based autonav available at the time of this writing. It is a commercial program available for $99 from Creative Systems Programming (Mount Laurel, NJ). Another product, XC, is the only Unix-based autonav program. It is available for free on the Unix Forum (GO UNIXFO) as a self-extracting ASCII file, or a Gzipped tar archive.

A few Windows-based autonav programs are available, but they have received mixed reviews regarding reliability and speed.

There is only one Macintosh-based autonav available, CompuServe Navigator. You can order it online from CompuServe (GO ORDER); the list price is $70. Complete information about where to download or purchase these programs, along with short reviews, can be found in the AUTOP.INF file in Library I/general Information of the LAN Magazine forum.

GET GOING

CompuServe can be a significant resource for network managers, many of whom rely on technical support forums as a first-line resource. For the cost of a few minutes of connect time, they often save their companies hundreds of dollars that would otherwise be spent on technical support calls or contracts. “Lurking,” or reading what others are saying without posting any messages, can often accomplish the same thing.

Early last year on the LAN Magazine forum, a schoolteacher who was setting up a network lab came to the forum to double-check his contractor’s wiring recommendation. Some of the forum’s more knowledgeable wiring experts showed him that the contractor was wrong, and he ended up saving a bundle for his school. How sure are you about the advice you’re getting?