Introduction. 

I've waited till the release of OS/2 Warp to write these tips so that I'd
have something new to write about.  I will be discussing the OS/2 Bonus
Package,  essentially the IBM Information Superhighway, which allows
connection to the Internet. 

I will add at this stage a very big congratulations to IBM for actually
releasing the product on time.  IBM has a history of releasing their
products within their own specified deadlines, in that Warp was announced,
earlier in the year, to be released in October and it was.  Whereas other
companies are making big PR announcements and never produce the goods. For
example the Windy City project, from the old established CP/M company. 

I have to say IBM has produced an excellent package with really delivers
the goods, at an exceptionally low price, definitely OS/2 Warp is more OS/2
for you money.  It's performance increases alone makes this a worthy to add
a better OS/2 than OS/2. 
Contents 

1.	What's Internet?
2.	How does the connection to Internet work?
3.	What's supplied with the IBM Internet Connection?
4.	Multimedia Viewer?
5a.	Setup
	b. Installing for another Internet Service Provider.
6	Internet Tools
	a. Gopher?
	b. FTP?
	c. WebExplorer?
	d. Mail?
	e. News?
7.	IRC Add-ons?
8.	Navigation?
9.	Getting files?
10.	Some OS/2 FTP, Gopher and WEB Sites.
11.	Newsgroups. 
12.	TCP/IP tools and more definitions.

1. What's Internet? 

Internet is a huge network of interconnected servers that span the world,
in fact it is the largest information network in the world, and has an
estimated 20 million subscribers. A figure which is growing rapidly.

It grew out of the need of University Academics to communicate with each
other, and since then has grown to encircle the world.  These days we can
send a message around the world in a matter of minutes, and read about the
latest inventions, innovations or whatever of over 4000 topics!  Not only
are there just messages, you can access many of the world's on-line
services and obtain access to hundreds of servers (computers), each of
which contain thousands of files.

However Internet was often a hard beast to master as you had to know so
much about the varying commands to access it (Not to mention UNIX).  But
with the advent of the world wide web all of the tiresome use of commands
has been hidden by a fancy point and click interface.  Essentially the
world wide web is a new standard that allows you to access the features of
internet without having much interaction with the old ways of navigation.
i.e. typeing arcaic commands. Accessing internet via a Web browser is so
simple and efficient that you no longer need a computer education
background. The Web allows you to access many sites around the world, but
the major feature of the Web is that it's multimedia capable. You can view
pictures, movies and listen to sounds, whilst reading on-line
documentation.  I've included a list of Web sites at the end of these tips.

2. How does the connection to Internet work? 

There are several ways in which you can connect to Internet, UUPC, Dial-In,
BBS or SLIP.  Basically each of these methods provides both different
levels of access and ease of use.  Many of us older Internet users are used
to using a UUPC connection and then using software to 'gate' the
information into our BBS packages to allow users to access the Internet.
This method simplifies the access to Internet for the BBS users, and hence
many BBS systems these days offer this feature.  

A Dail-in access system is virtually the same as a BBS system, but is a
little like having your own window to internet, but generally these are
only used as a method for students to submit assignments these days. 

By far the easiest and most powerful tool available to us home users is the
SLIP connection.  A SLIP connection is virtually a direct line to Internet
and hence you have many features you can utilise.  This link enables you to
access information in real-time, so as people write information and post it
you get their 'works of art'.  This also allows you to be in a party line
chat session such as "OS/2 round table", which allows you to talk to OS/2
experts all over the world. The big thing about SLIP access is that your
system becomes apart of the internet, whereas with the traditional comms
package (such as ZOC, TE/2 or LiveWire) you are only accessing someone
else's pc.  With SLIP the only limitations is what your system
administrator applies to your account or what conditions various systems
around the world impose.

SLIP is short for Serial Line Interface Protocol, and this uses TCP/IP to
decipher the packets from your internet service host.  TCP/IP is short for
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, which means as it reads.
It's a protocol designed to interface to the Internet network and controls
how to send and receive packets of information and how to convert these
packets of information to form which you can use.  All this activity is
hidden from the user and is totally transparent in operation.  Each packet
sent and received is uniquely identified as a particular port number and
sequence number for that port.  The idea of a port can best be described as
an individual process accessing internet.  Depending on your system and
your host's system a SLIP line will allow several ports active at once.
On mine, I often have 12 file transfers in action at once, on the same
line,  this sure beats the old 'one-at-a-time' zmodem.  As just mentioned,
the performance of the link is dependent on the your machine, host's and
also on the internet traffic levels, which vary considerably.

Hence with IBM's new OS/2, Warp, you are given Slip and Tcp/IP to access
the internet.  So this version of OS/2 is definitely no toy operating system. 

3. What's supplied with the IBM Internet Connection? 

With the OS/2 BonusPak that's bundled with OS/2 Warp you will receive many
new tools, previously only available as extras.  The IBM Internet
Connection is a part of this package.  IBM has made the utilities to access
the Internet so easy to use that I am amazed, I am normally used to seeing
things done the hard way.  I think IBM is realising that if you listen
closely to you clients, rather than to your boffins you will get a good
workable product from every user level's viewpoint.  I think that IBM has
made an exceptional product with this Internet Connection package.

The Package comes with the following features:

	SLIP and TCP/IP (OS/2, virtual DOS and Windows drivers)
	UltiMail Lite - The tool required to post and receive E-mail messages
        NewsReader/2  - Post and read internet News
        Gopher        - Interactive Menu driven interface to access internet
                        information.
        TelnetPM      - Feature to allow to logon to other network servers.
        3270 Telnet   - Access VMS Telnet sites.
        FTPPM         - File transfers from any file repository around the
                        world. (PM and Text Access)

4. Multimedia Viewer? 

Another part of  the BonusPak is the Multimedia Viewer, it is essential to
install this part of the BonusPak if you wish to use any of the Multimedia
offerings available through internet.  This package allows you to view
different graphics formats, such as GIF, JPEG, TARGA and listen to various
sound and movie formats.  Without Multi-Media extensions loaded you will
not be able to use these features of the package. 

5a. Setup 

For the Internet Connection to be used you must have access to an internet
provider.  At this stage, in Australia, there is only 3rd Party providers.
The following is a list of groups who supply internet feeds, by no means
the definitive list. Note that some of these may not be able to offer you
the full Internet service that you need to use all of Warp's features, so
ask before you buy.

	Brisnet
	Connect.com
	Dailix
	Internet Access Australia
	Message Handling Systems
	Oz-Email
	Pegusas 

IBM Australia is phasing in their internet service and should be available
in most states by about January.  Prices are yet to be announced.
 
Generally the installation of the package is very straight forward, but
unfortunately it's a little harder if you don't plan to use the IBM
service.  IBM has supplied a prearranged program and setup based solely on
the planned IBM offerings.  This means that when IBM actually supplies an
internet access service we will be able to join the internet community with
the click of a button.  The unfortunate part is those people, like myself,
who just can't wait for IBM and go through one of the above providers have
to configure their system first.

5b. Installing for another Internet Service Provider. 

Installing for a non-IBM service provider the problems are easily solved,
but as with all things relating to computers easy has different levels.  I
myself am lucky in that my provider (BrisNet) offers a very easy slip login
process, which has no extras.  So I can only talk about this method.
Before you can call the host's system you will have to approach the
relevant person who runs the system.  This person will then ask you some
questions. It would probably be best to have the provider's technical
support staff on the phone whilst you are setting this up to answer any
questions you might have and to provide the information you will need.

Open up the "IBM Internet Connection for OS/2" folder, then open the
"Internet Utilities" folder.  now start the "Dial Other Internet Providers"
program.  This will start the Slip system, and bring up the following screen. 

Click on "Add Provider" and you can start to fill in the blanks whilst the
System Administrator asks you the important questions.

Please note that this is an actual screen shot, and the title of the
dialogue box says Modify Provider, this is because I have chosen to show
you my setup, rather than recreate one from scratch.  The Add Provider
dialogue box is Identical. 

Basically the questions and answers will be as follows.  I shall give
answers and show you above where to insert the configuration data. 

	The Provider's Name?	Brisnet
	What is your logon name?	ipproteus
	What is your password going to be?	<Whatever you want> :-)
	What is your system name?	proteus
	The phone number to call is?	278-7694 

At this stage we will go the next configuration screen, so click on the
"Next" button. 

	Your Internet Address is? 	203.4.148.196
	Our Internet Address is?	203.4.148.1
	The Netmask Address is?	255.255.255.0
	We have are MTU set to?	296
	Allow compression of the TCP/IP headers? On.
	Our Domain server is?	203.4.148.1
	Your host name is?	proteus
	Your Domain name is?	brisnet.org.au 

Ok, now press the "next" button again. 

At this stage the questions are up to you, and are totally optional.
Basically all these options set default sites around the world, generally
you will set them to be your host's system.  The best choices are sites
which you are always accessing, therefore there is no time wasted in going
to these systems.  Being in Australia I'd recommend you setting your
"Gopher Server" to gohper.latrobe.edu.au, because this is the Australian
mirror site for Hobbes OS/2. 

Ok, now press the "next" button again. 

This is also up to you, as this is where you configure your software to be
able to talk to your modem.  Once you've completed this dialogue, press the
"Ok" button, and you are ready to begin your Internet adventure.  I now
shall look at the various features of IBM's package. 

6 Internet Tools 

So you now have Slip setup, and you can dial your host's system, what next?
Well nothing actually, except to tour the information networks of internet.
'There's life out there Jim'!  So move over Spock and let me at them
systems!  (So much for the Star Trek talk :-))

IBM supplies a full set of tools that you can use to cruise the internet:
Gopher, FTP, WebExplorer, Mail and News.

6a. Gopher.

This is a very easy to use interface to allow file transfers from around
the world, with just a click of a button.  I'd recommend Gopher to people
who are generally inexperienced with the way internet functions.  Also I
have found that Gopher is much better to use because it takes less
processing power, hence leaves you with a more responsive system.  With
Gopher you can actually transfer several files at once.  A much more
productive tool than the old zmodem comms package to BBS linkup. 

6b FTP 

FTP is a very interesting tool, it allows you to interact with other
servers across the world, as though you where in your own PC.  IBM has
supplied two separate FTP programs, a PM and a text based interface.   

The PM version is ok, but in my eye's very system demanding.  If you want
drop and drag and all the bells and whistles this is the way to go.  I
myself prefer the old text based version, as it's fast and uses very
similar commands to the OS/2 command line for navigating and accessing the
remote site. 

6c. WebExplorer 

IBM is working on a World Wide Web explorer, which is currently in final
beta testing.  This according to OS/2 users from internet the best thing
since sliced bread, which  is usual for OS/2er's.  I myself can make no
comparisons because I've never been overally interested in this feature of
Internet.  This is a multimedia gateway to the internet which allows you to
hear sounds, see pictures and movies, and plus access all of the other
usual internet services.  

Explorer has a graphical display of the links you've migrated through on
your way to the destination.  In my eye's it is a little to plain to be
shown here, all it does is show you the links you have access in your
current exploring session.  This map is ideal to return to a particular
site quickly if you notice on your travels something of interest, and
believe me there is plenty of interesting places to stop and enjoy. 

6d. Mail 

As you would expect with the internet you have access to electronic mail,
commonly referred to as email.  Email is like a personal letter you write
by hand and is delivered via the internet network rather than by the old
'postie'.  It's very fast, most email messages are sent in under 30
minutes, some as fast as 2 minutes, but this time delay is insignificant as
these messages often go around the world. 

Internet does have it problems, and sometimes, although rare, your message
will be returned with a number of reasons of why your message wasn't sent
to it's destination.  These problems can be as simple as a link is being
upgraded, or a vital file on the destination's computer is corrupted.  Also
you could have accidentally typed the address incorrectly, but don't fear
you can simply readdress or re-send your message.  If  the problem is
referred to as a time-outed connection, you don't to have to worry as your
message will resent over a number of hours, until either it gets through or
fails, this message usually means that some link between you and the
destination is down for maintenance.

6e. News 

IBM also supplies it's News Reader/2 software.  This application allows you
to read the latest news forums in real-time.  Internet has thousands of
separate topic areas that you can access.  Often you will be reply to these
messages, but remember a very important point, news messages go everywhere,
and not just to the original author.  So if you want to ask more details
it's best to use email to reply to the intended author.  Many 'newbies'
often get 'flamed' over things like this, so the best advice is to read the
newsgroups and see the way other people 'behave', before you start writing
messages.  Most times I've found that you spend most of your time reading
newsgroups and replying via email to get more details.  I only respond in
newsgroups if either I have a problem which others may know a solution or
if I have some information I wish to share with others.  Oh, by the way, a
'flame' is basically a nasty message informing of your mistaken ways, and
it's often regarded as bad behaviour if you deliberately enter annoying
message in a newsgroup, for example 'MS-Windows sucks' written in an
MS-Windows group.  (But then again, MS-Windows does suck, so perhaps the
truth would be considered a unannoying message)

7. IRC - Internet Relay Chat

	Filename : IRC2_003.ZIP 
	Size : 145k 

IRC is a third party shareware product which allows you to join a growing
fad on internet.  Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a side of internet where you
to operate in real-time chatting to one or more other users.  It can be fun
to just sit back and watch the action, or you can participate in the talk.
It's not just based on OS/2 there is hundreds of separate talk channels.
You may never know who's cruising the IRC, it's been known that rock stars
and many other famous (or infamous) people are often on the net.  Rolling
Stone's Mick Jagger is a fan of internet, so keep your eye's open and if
the computer community of the world has it's way, we will all be plugged
into the information superhighway soon.  Think of IRC as a party line chat,
where you can basically talk about anything and someone is sure to respond.

The IRC software is very easy to install and the documentation is a
reasonable standard, thus beginners should be quite comfortable with
installing this product. 

8. Navigation 

On of the many points about internet is it's size, and it's unusual naming
scheme.  For instance me email address is josephm@proteus.brisnet.org.au.
What does this tell me, you may ask.  Firstly the user's name is josephm.
Secondly the system he's using is proteus.  Brisnet is the supplier of my
feed and the rest are to do with location.  Unfortunately not all email
addresses have the location defined clear and there is not much you can do
about this, unless you can use the 'finger' command (more on this later).

One way of really understanding the addresses is to look at it like this
josephm is on machine proteus which is linked to the internet via
brisnet.org.au. 

These are what some of the extensions mean on your 'target' email or ftp's
address.
	ARPA	Old style Arpanet
	COM	Commercial
	EDU	Educational
	GOV	Government
	INT	International field
	MIL	US Military
	NATO	Nato field
	NET	Network
	ORG	Non-Profit Organization

9. Getting files. 

So we have played around now with out new tools, but how do we get these
files and messages containing files to our systems.  For all new comers I
suggest you use the gohper service, because you don't have to worry about
the things I am about to describe.  Gopher is a point and click interface,
double click on a file you are after and down it comes. 

FTP is a very common way to access remote file archives, but there is a
very important catch.  You must tell the FTP software to transfer in binary
mode otherwise you will only receive garbage, but after you have done this
you will get the file as normal. 

Another way to obtain files is via the newsgroups and email messages.  This
is a very tricky business as most times you will receive files that are
broken down into a number of parts.  By utilising various programs, mainly
third party programmes you combine these parts into a uuencode file.  Then
to make any use of this file you then have to decode the file using a
uudecoder.  Obviously this is no beginners place.  If you wish to try you
must first obtain a UUDecode program and then a parts combiner. 

The following is a list of titles to search for which will help you unpack
these files.

	UUDOALL.ZIP	80K	Combines Part Files
        UUPREP10.ZIP    28K     Combines Part files from the
                                COMP.BINARIES.OS2 newsgroup
	UU_CODES.ZIP	25K	A UUDecoder and UUEncoder
	RXDECODE.ZIP	46K	Another Decoder 

I find that uudoall is a very useful package, in that if combines the parts
plus uudecodes them for you.  The only catch is that the part files have to
be in numeric order. 

10. Some OS/2 FTP, Gopher and WEB Sites. 

I've included a few sites that you can try your Internet Tools. 

FTP sites
	ftp-os2.cdrom.com
	ftp-os2.nmsu.edu
	luga.latrobe.edu.au
	archie.au 
	Gopher sites
	gopher.latrobe.edu.au 

Web Sites
        http://www.wired.com                    Home of the WIRED magazine
        http://life.anu.edu.au/weather.html     Weather & global monitoring
        http://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare.html     Complete Works of
                                                     Shakespeare
        http://www.connect.com.au/              Connect.Com's Page of Web Sites

11. OS/2 NewsGroups

Some of these newsgroups have a turn around of over 300 new messages a day!
It's a lot of reading. All good internet providers should have these
accessible to you to read, if not ask your provider to add these groups to
their feed.

	aus.computers.os2
	bit.listserv.os2-l
	comp.binaries.os2
	comp.os.os2
	comp.os.os2.advocacy
	comp.os.os2.announce
	comp.os.os2.apps
	comp.os.os2.beta
	comp.os.os2.bugs
	comp.os.os2.games
	comp.os.os2.misc
	comp.os.os2.multimedia
	comp.os.os2.networking
	comp.os.os2.networking.misc
	comp.os.os2.networking.tcp-ip
	comp.os.os2.programmer.misc
	comp.os.os2.programmer.oop
	comp.os.os2.programmer.porting
	comp.os.os2.programmer.tools
	comp.os.os2.setup 

12. TCP/IP tools and more definitions.

DOMAIN's - These are very much like STD Area codes in that each country has
a specific Domain code for example Australia's domain code is AU.  Also in
a limited way domains are also applied to various servers, so that system
admin operators can track basically where mail is coming and going from on
big sites.  For instance anyone with an account off Queensland University
has a UQ in their address, which basically means that the user has some
link to the Uni, be it a student of a sub-business.

MTU - This equates to the Maximum Transfer Unit, which can range from
around 256 to 1500 bytes.  This is basically the maximum size of a packet
that your system can send or recieve, anything large is regarded as a slip
transfer error. 

FINGER  - A Internet command that allows you to obtain information about a
user or a site.  Handy for trying to resolve why mail is being returned to
you.

PING - A Internet command that allows you to test the time delay between
you and another system.  Useful to see if delays are the cause of your
problems with seemingly lack of speed. 

The End. 

Stay Tuned to this magazine, because next issue I shall review some of the
newer shareware packages now available, plus perhaps some gossip on OS/2.
By the way a very new package has just been released for beta testing, it's
a performance tuner for OS/2, and can be found at the above FTP and gopher
sites, the filename is PERF31A.ZIP. 
Till next time we meet, "Beam me up Scotty".
BBBBBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
