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Chapter 7: FTP
 
 

7.1  TONS OF FILES

     Hundreds of systems connected to Internet have file libraries, or 
archives, accessible to the public. Much of this consists of free or low-
cost shareware programs for virtually every make of computer.  If you 
want a different communications program for your IBM, or feel like 
playing a new game on your Amiga, you'll be able to get it from the Net. 
     But there are also libraries of documents as well.  If you 
want a copy of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, you can find it on 
the Net.  Copies of historical documents, from the Magna Carta to the 
Declaration of Independence are also yours for the asking, along with a 
translation of a telegram from Lenin ordering the execution of 
rebellious peasants.  You can also find song lyrics, poems, even 
summaries of every "Lost in Space" episode ever made.  You can also find 
extensive files detailing everything you could ever possibly want to know 
about the Net itself.  First you'll see how to get these files; then 
we'll show you where they're kept.
     The commonest way to get these files is through the file transfer 
protocol, or ftp.  As with telnet, not all systems that connect to the 
Net have access to ftp.  However, if your system is one of these, you'll 
be able to get many of these files through e-mail (see the next chapter). 
     Starting ftp is as easy as using telnet. At your host system's command
line, type 
 
          ftp site.name
 
and hit enter, where "site.name" is the address of the ftp site you want 
to reach.  One major difference between telnet and ftp is that it is 
considered bad form to connect to most ftp sites during their business 
hours (generally 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time).  This is because 
transferring files across the network takes up considerable computing 
power, which during the day is likely to be needed for whatever the 
computer's main function is.  There are some ftp sites that are 
accessible to the public 24 hours a day, though.  You'll find these noted 
in the list of ftp sites.


7.2  YOUR FRIEND ARCHIE


     How do you find a file you want, though?
     Until a few years ago, this could be quite the pain -- there was 
no master directory to tell you where a given file might be stored on 
the Net. Who'd want to slog through hundreds of file libraries looking 
for something? 
     Alan Emtage, Bill Heelan and Peter Deutsch, students at McGill 
University in Montreal, asked the same question.  Unlike the weather, 
though, they did something about it.
     They created a database system, called archie, that would 
periodically call up file libraries and basically find out what they had 
available.  
     In turn, anybody could dial into archie, type in a file name, and 
see where on the Net it was available. Archie currently catalogs close to 
1,000 file libraries around the world. 
     Today, there are three ways to ask archie to find a file for you: 
through telnet, "client" Archie program on your own host system or e-
mail.  All three methods let you type in a full or partial file name and 
will tell you where on the Net it's stored. 
 If you have access to telnet, you can telnet to one of the following 
addresses: archie.mcgill.ca; archie.sura.net; archie.unl.edu; 
archie.ans.net; or archie.rutgers.edu.  If asked for a log-in name, type
 
           archie
 
and hit enter.
     When you connect, the key command is prog, which you use in this 
form: 
 
            prog filename
 
followed by enter, where "filename" is the program or file you're 
looking for. If you're unsure of a file's complete name, try typing in 
part of the name. For example, "PKZIP" will work as well as 
"PKZIP204.EXE."  The system does not support DOS or Unix wildcards.  
If you ask archie to look for "PKZIP*," it will tell you it couldn't 
find anything by that name.  One thing to keep in mind is that a file is 
not necessarily the same as a program -- it could also be a document.  
This means you can use archie to search for, say, everything online 
related to the Beetles, as well as computer programs and graphics files.
     A number of Net sites now have their own archie programs that 
take your request for information and pass it onto the nearest archie 
database -- ask your system administrator if she has it online. These 
"client" programs seem to provide information a lot more quickly than the 
actual archie itself!  If it is available, at your host system's command 
line, type 
 
     archie -s filename
 
where filename is the program or document you're looking for, and hit 
enter.  The -s tells the program to ignore case in a file name and lets 
you search for partial matches. You might actually want to type it this 
way: 
 
          archie -s filename|more
 
which will stop the output every screen (handy if there are many sites 
that carry the file you want).  Or you could open a file on your computer 
with your text-logging function. 
      The third way, for people without access to either of the above, is e-
mail.
     Send a message to archie@quiche.cs.mcgill.ca. You can leave the 
subject line blank.  Inside the message, type 
 
          prog filename
 
where filename is the file you're looking for.  You can ask archie to 
look up several programs by putting their names on the same "prog" line, 
like this:
                       
          prog file1 file2 file3
      
     Within a few hours, archie will write back with a list of the 
appropriate sites. 
       In all three cases, if there is a system that has your file, 
you'll get a response that looks something like this:
 
 Host sumex-aim.stanford.edu
 
     Location: /info-mac/comm
            FILE -rw-r--r--     258256  Feb 15 17:07  zterm-09.hqx
     Location: /info-mac/misc
            FILE -rw-r--r--       7490  Sep 12 1991  zterm-sys7-color-icons.hqx
 
 
     Chances are, you will get a number of similar looking responses 
for each program.  The "host" is the system that has the file.  The 
"Location" tells you which directory to look in when you connect to 
that system.  Ignore the funny-looking collections of r's and hyphens 
for now.  After them, come the size of the file or directory listing 
in bytes, the date it was uploaded, and the name of the file.  


7.3  GETTING THE FILES

     Now you want to get that file.
     Assuming your host site does have ftp, you connect in a similar 
fashion to telnet, by typing: 
 
          ftp sumex-aim.stanford.edu
 
(or the name of whichever site you want to reach). Hit enter.  If the 
connection works, you'll see this: 
 
  Connected to sumex-aim.stanford.edu.
  220 SUMEX-AIM FTP server (Version 4.196 Mon Jan 13 13:52:23 PST 1992) ready.
  Name (sumex-aim.stanford.edu:adamg): 
 
     If nothing happens after a minute or so, hit control-C to return 
to your host system's command line.  But if it has worked, type
 
          anonymous
 
and hit enter.  You'll see a lot of references on the Net to 
"anonymous ftp." This is how it gets its name -- you don't really have 
to tell the library site what your name is. The reason is that these 
sites are set up so that anybody can gain access to certain public 
files, while letting people with accounts on the sites to log on and 
access their own personal files.  Next, you'll be asked for your 
password.  As a password, use your e-mail address.  This will then come 
up: 
     
          230 Guest connection accepted. Restrictions apply.
          Remote system type is UNIX.
          Using binary mode to transfer files.
          ftp>
 
 
Now type 
         
          ls
 
and hit enter.  You'll see something awful like this: 
 
          200 PORT command successful.
          150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls.
          total 2636
          -rw-rw-r--  1 0        31           4444 Mar  3 11:34 README.POSTING
          dr-xr-xr-x  2 0        1             512 Nov  8 11:06 bin
          -rw-r--r--  1 0        0        11030960 Apr  2 14:06 core
          dr--r--r--  2 0        1             512 Nov  8 11:06 etc
          drwxrwsr-x  5 13       22            512 Mar 19 12:27 imap
          drwxr-xr-x 25 1016     31            512 Apr  4 02:15 info-mac
          drwxr-x---  2 0        31           1024 Apr  5 15:38 pid
          drwxrwsr-x 13 0        20           1024 Mar 27 14:03 pub
          drwxr-xr-x  2 1077     20            512 Feb  6  1989 tmycin
          226 Transfer complete.
          ftp> 
 
     Ack! Let's decipher this Rosetta Stone.
     First, ls is the ftp command for displaying a directory (you can 
actually use dir as well, but if you're used to MS-DOS, this could lead 
to confusion when you try to use dir on your host system, where it won't 
work, so it's probably better to just remember to always use ls for a 
directory while online).                          
     The very first letter on each line tells you whether the listing is 
for a directory or a file. If the first letter is a ``d,'' or an "l", 
it's a directory. Otherwise, it's a file. 
     The rest of that weird set of letters and dashes consist of "flags" 
that tell the ftp site who can look at, change or delete the file. You 
can safely ignore it. You can also ignore the rest of the line until you 
get to the second number, the one just before the date. This tells you 
how large the file is, in bytes. If the line is for a directory, the 
 number gives you a rough indication of how many items are in that 
directory  -- a directory listing of 512 bytes is relatively small. Next 
comes the date the file or directory was uploaded, followed (finally!) by 
its name. 
     Notice the README.POSTING file up at the top of the directory. Most 
archive sites have a "read me" document, which usually contains some 
basic information about the site, its resources and how to use them. 
Let's get this file, both for the information in it and to see how to 
transfer files from there to here. At the ftp> prompt, type 
 
          get README

 and hit enter. Note that ftp sites are no different from Unix sites in 
general: they are case-sensitive. You'll see something like this: 

  200 PORT command successful. 
  150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for README (4444 bytes). 
  226 Transfer complete. 4444 bytes received in 1.177seconds (3.8 Kbytes/s)
 
And that's it! The file is now located in your home directory on your host 
system, from which you can now download it to your own computer. The 
simple "get" command is the key to transferring a file from an archive 
site to your host system. 
     If the first letter on the line starts with a "d", then that is a 
directory you can enter to look for more files.  If it starts with an 
"r", then it's a file you can get.  The next item of interest is the 
fifth column, which tells you how large the item is in bytes.  That's 
followed by the date and time it was loaded to the archive, followed, 
finally, by its name.   Many sites provide a "README" file that lists 
simple instructions and available files.  Some sites use files named 
"Index" or "INDEX" or something similar.
     If you want to download more than one file at a time (say a series
of documents, use mget instead of get; for example:

         mget *.txt

This will transfer copies of every file ending with .txt in the given
directory.  Before each file is copied, you'll be asked if you're sure
you want it.  Despite this, mget could still save you considerable 
time -- you won't have to type in every single file name. If you want to
save even more time, and are sure you really want ALL of the given files, 
type

          prompt

before you do the mget command. This will turn off the prompt, and all 
the files will be zapped right into your home directory.

        There is one other command to keep in mind.  If you want to get a 
copy of a computer program, type
 
         bin
 
and hit enter.  This tells the ftp site and your host site that you are 
sending a binary file, i.e., a program.  Most ftp sites now use binary 
format as a default, but it's a good idea to do this in case you've 
connected to one of the few that doesn't. 
     To switch to a directory, type 
 
          cd directory-name
 
(substituting the name of the directory you want to access) and hit 
enter. Type 
 
          ls 
 
and hit enter to get the file listing for that particular directory.  
To move back up the directory tree, type 
 
          cd .. 
 
(note the space between the d and the first period) and hit enter.  Or 
you could type 
 
         cdup 
 
and hit enter.  Keep doing this until you get to the directory of 
interest.  Alternately, if you already know the directory path of the 
file you want (from our friend archie), after you connect, you could 
simply type
 
        get directory/subdirectory/filename
 
     On many sites, files meant for public consumption are in the pub 
or public directory; sometimes you'll see an info directory.
     Almost every site has a bin directory, which at first glance 
sounds like a bin in which interesting stuff might be dumped.  But it 
actually stands for "binary" and is simply a place for the system 
administrator to store the programs that run the ftp system. Lost+found 
is another directory that looks interesting but actually never has 
anything of public interest in them.
     Before, you saw how to use archie.  From our example, you can see 
that some system administrators go a little berserk when naming files. 
Fortunately, there's a way for you to rename the file as it's being 
transferred. Using our archie example, you'd type 
 
            get zterm-sys7-color-icons.hqx zterm.hqx
 
and hit enter.  Instead of having to deal constantly with a file called 
zterm-sys7-color-icons.hqx, you'll now have one called, simply, 
zterm.hqx.
    Those last three letters bring up something else: Many program files 
are compressed to save on space and transmission time.  In order to 
actually use them, you'll have to use an un-compress program on them first.


7.4  ODD LETTERS -- DECODING FILE ENDINGS


      There are a wide variety of compression methods in use.  You can 
tell which method was used by the last one to three letters at the end of 
a file. Here are some of the more common ones and what you'll need to un-
compress the files they create (most of these decompression programs can 
be located through archie). 

.txt or .TXT  By itself, this means the file is a document, rather than a 
              program. 

.ps or .PS    A PostScript document (in Adobe's page description 
              language).  You can print this file on any PostScript 
              capable printer, or use a previewer, like GNU project's 
              GhostScript. 

.doc or .DOC  Another common "extension" for documents.  No decompression 
              is needed, unless it is followed by:

.Z            This indicates a Unix compression method. To uncompress, 
              type

                   uncompress filename.Z

              and hit enter at your host system's command line. If the
              file is a compressed text file, you can read it online by
              instead typing

                   zcat filename.txt.Z |more

              u16.zip is an MS-DOS program that will let you download 
              such a file and uncompress it on your own computer. The
              Macintosh equivalent program is called MacCompress (use
              archie to find these).

.zip or .ZIP  These indicate the file has been compressed with a common
              MS-DOS compression program, known as PKZIP (use archie to
              find PKZIP204.EXE).  Many Unix systems will let you un-ZIP
              a file with a program called, well, unzip.

.gz           A Unix version of ZIP.  To uncompress, type

                   gunzip filename.gz

              at your host system's command line.

.zoo or .ZOO  A Unix and MS-DOS compression format.  Use a program called 
              zoo.

.Hqx or .hqx  Mactintosh compression format. Requires the BinHex program.

.shar or      Another Unix format. Use unshar to uncompress.
.Shar

.tar          Another Unix format, often used to compress several related
              files into one large file. Most Unix systems will have a 
              program called tar for "un-tarring" such files.  Often, a 
              "tarred" file will also be compressed with the gz method,
              so you first have to use uncompress and then tar.

.sit or .Sit  A Mactinosh format that requires the StuffIt program.

.ARC          Another MS-DOS format, which requires the use of the ARC
              or ARCE programs.

.LHZ          Another MS-DOS format; requires the use of LHARC.

     A few last words of caution: Check the size of a file before you get 
it. The Net moves data at phenomenal rates of speed.  But that 500,000-
byte file that gets transferred to your host system in a few seconds 
could take more than an hour or two to download to your computer if 
you're using a 2400-baud modem.  Your host system may also have limits on 
the amount of bytes you can store online at any one time.  Also, although 
it is really extremely unlikely you will ever get a file infected with a 
virus, if you plan to do much downloading over the Net, you'd be wise to 
invest in a good anti-viral program, just in case.


7.5  THE KEYBOARD CABAL
 
 
    System administrators are like everybody else -- they try to make 
things easier for themselves.  And when you sit in front of a keyboard 
all day, that can mean trying everything possible to reduce the number 
of keys you actually have to hit each day.
     Unfortunately, that can make it difficult for the rest of us.
     You've already read about bin and lost+found directories. Etc is 
another seemingly interesting directory that turns out to be another 
place to store files used by the ftp site itself.  Again, nothing of any
real interest.
     Then, once you get into the actual file libraries, you'll find that
in many cases, files will have such non-descriptive names as V1.1-
AK.TXT.  The best known example is probably a set of several hundred 
files known as RFCs, which provide the basic technical and 
organizational information on which much of the Internet is built.  
These files can be found on many ftp sites, but always in a form such as 
RFC101.TXT, RFC102.TXT and so on, with no clue whatsoever as to what 
information they contain.
     Fortunately, almost all ftp sites have a "Rosetta Stone" to help 
you decipher these names.  Most will have a file named README (or some 
variant) that gives basic information about the system.  Then, most 
directories will either have a similar README file or will have an index 
that does give brief descriptions of each file.  These are usually the 
first file in a directory and often are in the form 00INDEX.TXT.  Use 
the ftp command to get this file.  You can then scan it online or 
download it to see which files you might be interested in. 
     Another file you will frequently see is called ls-lR.Z.  This contains
a listing of every file on the system, but without any descriptions (the
name comes from the Unix command ls -lR, which gives you a listing of all
the files in all your directories).  The Z at the end means the file has
been compressed, which means you will have to use a Unix un-compress command
before you can read the file.
     And finally, we have those system administrators who almost seem to
delight in making things difficult -- the ones who take full advantage of
Unix's ability to create absurdly long file names.  On some FTP sites, you
will see file names as long as 80 characters or so, full of capital letters,
underscores and every other orthographic device that will make it almost
impossible for you to type the file name correctly when you try to get it.
Your secret weapon here is the mget command.  Just type mget, a space, and
the first five or six letters of the file name, followed by an asterisk, for
example:
 
          mget This_F*
 
The FTP site will ask you if you want to get the file that begins with that 
name. If there are several files that start that way, you might have to 
answer 'n' a few times, but it's still easier than trying to recreate a 
ludicrously long file name.


7.6  SOME INTERESTING FTP SITES
 

     What follows is a list of some interesting ftp sites, arranged by 
category. With hundreds of ftp sites now on the Net, however, this list 
barely scratches the surface of what is available.  Liberal use of archie 
will help you find specific files.                  
     The times listed for each site are in Eastern time and represent 
the periods during which it is considered acceptable to connect. 
 
AMIGA 
 
     ftp.uu.net  Has Amiga programs in the systems/amiga directory. 
     Available 24 hours.

     wuarchive.wustl.edu.  Look in the pub/aminet directory.
     Available 24 hours.

ATARI
 
     atari.archive.umich.edu  Find almost all the Atari files you'll ever 
need, in the atari directory. 
     7 p.m. - 7 a.m.
 
BOOKS 
 
     rtfm.mit.edu   The pub/usenet/rec.arts.books directories has 
reading lists for various authors as well as lists of recommended 
bookstores in different cities.  Unfortunately, this site uses incredibly 
long file names -- so long they may scroll off the end of your screen if 
you are using an MS-DOS or certain other computers.  Even if you want 
just one of the files, it probably makes more sense to use mget than get.  
This way, you will be asked on each file whether you want to get it; 
otherwise you may wind up frustrated because the system will keep telling 
you the file you want doesn't exist (since you may miss the end of its 
name due to the scrolling problem). 
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
                       
     mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu  Project Gutenberg is an effort to translate 
paper texts into electronic form.  Already available are more than 100 
titles, from works by Lewis Carrol to Mark Twain; from "A Tale of Two 
Cities" to "Son of Tarzan."  Look in the /etext/etext92 and 
/etext/etext93 directories.
      6 p.m. - 9 a.m.

COMPUTER ETHICS
 
     ftp.eff.org  The home of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.  Use cd 
to get to the pub directory and then look in the EFF, SJG and CPSR 
directories for documents on the EFF itself and various issues related to 
the Net, ethics and the law.
     Available 24 hours.
 
CONSUMER
 
     rtfm.mit.edu  The pub/usenet/misc.consumers directory has 
documents related to credit.  The pub/usenet/rec.travel.air directory 
will tell you how to deal with airline reservation clerks, find the best 
prices on seats, etc.  See under Books for a caveat in using this ftp 
site.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
 
COOKING
 
     wuarchive.wustl.edu  Look for recipes and recipe directories in the 
usenet/rec.food.cooking/recipes directory. 
 
     gatekeeper.dec.com  Recipes are in the pub/recipes directory.
 
ECONOMICS

     neeedc.umesbs.maine.edu  The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston uses 
this site (yes, there are three 'e's in "neeedc") to house all sorts of 
data on the New England economy.  Many files contain 20 years or more of 
information, usually in forms that are easily adaptable to spreadsheet or 
database files.  Look in the frbb directory.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.

     town.hall.org.  Look in the edgar directory for the beginnings of a 
system to distribute annual reports and other data publicly held 
companies are required to file with the Securities and Exchange 
Commission.  The other/fed directory holds various statistical files from 
the Federal Reserve Board.

FTP
 
     iraun1.ira.uka.de  Run by the computer-science department of the 
University of Karlsruhe in Germany, this site offers lists of anonymous-
FTP sites both internationally (in the anon.ftp.sites directory) and in 
Germany (in anon.ftp.sites.DE). 
     12 p.m. to 2 a.m.
 
     ftp.netcom.com  The pub/profiles directory has lists of ftp sites.
 
GOVERNMENT
 
     ncsuvm.cc.ncsu.edu  The SENATE directory contains bibliographic 
records of U.S. Senate hearings and documents for the past several 
Congresses.  Get the file README.DOS9111, which will explain the cryptic 
file names.  
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
 
     nptn.org  The General Accounting Office is the investigative wing of 
Congress.  The pub/e.texts/gao.reports directory represents an experiment 
by the agency to use ftp to distribute its reports.  
     Available 24 hours.

     info.umd.edu  The info/Government/US/Whitehouse directory has copies
of press releases and other documents from the Clinton administration.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
 
     See also under law.

HISTORY
 
     nptn.org  This site has a large, growing collecting of text files.  
In the pub/e.texts/freedom.shrine directory, you'll find copies of 
important historical documents, from the Magna Carta to the Declaration 
of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation.  
     Available 24 hours.
 
     ra.msstate.edu  Mississippi State maintains an eclectic database of 
historical documents, detailing everything from Attilla's battle strategy 
to songs of soldiers in Vietnam, in the docs/history directory.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
 
     seq1.loc.gov  The Library of Congress has acquired numerous 
documents from the former Soviet government and has translated many of 
them into English.  In the pub/soviet.archive/text.english directory, 
you'll find everything from  telegrams from Lenin ordering the death of
peasants to Khrushhchev's response to Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis.
The README file in the pub/soviet.archive directory provides an
index to the documents.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
 
HONG KONG
 
      nok.lcs.mit.edu  GIF pictures of Hong Kong pop stars, buildings 
and vistas are available in the pub/hongkong/HKPA directory.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
 
INTERNET
 
     ftp.eff.org The pub/Net_info directory has a number of sub-
directories containing various Internet resources guides and information 
files, including the latest online version of the Big Dummy's Guide. 
     Available 24 hours.
 
     nic.ddn.mil The internet-drafts directory contains information about 
Internet, while the scc directory holds network security bulletins. 
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
     
LAW
 
     info.umd.edu  U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1989 to the present 
are stored in the info/Government/US/SupremeCt directory.  Each term has 
a separate directory (for example, term1992).  Get the README and Index 
files to help decipher the case numbers.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
 
     ftp.uu.net  Supreme Court decisions are in the court-opinions 
directory.  You'll want to get the index file, which tells you which file 
numbers go with which file names.  The decisions come in WordPerfect and 
Atex format only. 
     Available 24 hours a day.
 
LIBRARIES
 
     ftp.unt.edu  The library directory contains numerous lists of 
libraries with computerized card catalogs accessible through the Net.  
 
LITERATURE
 
     nptn.org  In the pub/e.texts/gutenberg/etext91 and etext92 
directories, you can get copies of Aesop's Fables, works by Lewis Carroll 
and other works of literature, as well as the Book of Mormon.  
     Available 24 hours.
 
     world.std.com  The obi directory has everything from online fables 
to accounts of Hiroshima survivors.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
 
MACINTOSH 
 
     sumex-aim.stanford.edu  This is the premier site for Macintosh 
software.  After you log in, switch to the info-mac directory, which will 
bring up a long series of sub-directories of virtually every free and 
shareware Mac program you could ever want. 
     9 p.m. - 9 a.m.
 
     ftp.uu.net   You'll find lots of Macintosh programs in the 
systems/mac/simtel20 directory. 
     Available 24 hours a day.
 
MOVIE REVIEWS
 
     lcs.mit.edu  Look in the movie-reviews directory.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.

     world.std.com.  The periodicals/Middlesex-News/movies directory
has reviews written by the staff of the Middlesex News in Framingham, Mass.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.

MS-DOS 
 
     wuarchive.wustl.edu  This carries one of the world's largest 
collections of MS-DOS software. The files are actually copied, or 
"mirrored"  from a computer at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range 
(which uses ftp software that is totally incomprehensible).  It also 
carries large collections of Macintosh, Windows, Atari, Amiga, Unix, OS9, 
CP/M and Apple II software.  Look in the mirrors and systems directories.  
The gif directory contains a large number of GIF graphics images. 
     Accessible 24 hours.
 
     ftp.uu.net   Look for MS-DOS programs and files in the 
systems/msdos/simtel20 directory.          
     Available 24 hours a day.
 
MUSIC
 
     cs.uwp.edu  The pub/music directory has everything from lyrics of 
 contemporary songs to recommended CDs of baroque music. It's a little 
 different - and easier to navigate - than other ftp sites.  File and 
 directory names are on the left, while on the right, you'll find a brief 
 description of the file or directory, like this: 
 
 
SITES              1528  Other music-related FTP archive sites                 
classical/            -  (dir) Classical Buying Guide                          
database/             -  (dir) Music Database program                          
discog/               =  (dir) Discographies                                   
faqs/                 =  (dir) Music Frequently Asked questions files          
folk/                 -  (dir) Folk Music Files and pointers                   
guitar/               =  (dir) Guitar TAB files from ftp.nevada.edu            
info/                 =  (dir) rec.music.info archives                         
interviews/           -  (dir) Interviews with musicians/groups                
lists/                =  (dir) Mailing lists archives                          
lyrics/               =  (dir) Lyrics Archives                                 
misc/                 -  (dir) Misc files that don't fit anywhere else         
pictures/             =  (dir) GIFS, JPEGs, PBMs and more.                     
press/                -  (dir) Press Releases and misc articles                
programs/             -  (dir) Misc music-related programs for various machines
releases/             =  (dir) Upcoming USA release listings                   
sounds/               =  (dir) Short sound samples                             
226 Transfer complete.                                                         
ftp>    
        
     When you switch to a directory, don't include the /.
     7 p.m. - 7 a.m.
 
     potemkin.cs.pdx.edu  The Bob Dylan archive.  Interviews, notes, 
year-by-year accounts of his life and more, in the pub/dylan directory. 
     9 p.m. - 9 a.m.
 
     ftp.nevada.edu  Guitar chords for contemporary songs are in the 
pub/guitar directory, in subdirectories organized by group or artist. 
 
NATIVE AMERICANS

      pines.hsu.edu  Home of IndianNet, this site contains a variety 
of directories and files related to Indians and Eskimos, including 
federal census data, research reports and a tribal profiles database. 
Look in the pub and indian directories.

PETS
 
     rtfm.mit.edu The pub/usenet/rec.pets.dogs and 
pub/usenet.rec.pets.cats directories have documents on the respective 
animals.  See under Books for a caveat in using this ftp site.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
 
PICTURES
 
     wuarchiv.wustl.edu  The graphics/gif directory contains hundreds of 
GIF photographic and drawing images, from cartoons to cars, space images 
to pop stars.  These are arranged in a long series of subdirectories.
 
PHOTOGRAPHY
 
     ftp.nevada.edu  Photolog is an online digest of photography news, in 
the pub/photo directory.
 
RELIGION 
 
     nptn.org  In the pub/e.texts/religion directory, you'll find 
subdirectories for chapters and books of both the Bible and the Koran. 
     Available 24 hours.
 
SEX
 
     rtfm.mit.edu  Look in the pub/usenet/alt.sex and 
pub/usenet/alt.sex.wizards directories for documents related to all 
facets of sex.  See under Books for a caveat in using this ftp site.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
 
SCIENCE FICTION
 
     elbereth.rutgers.edu  In the pub/sfl directory, you'll find plot 
summaries for various science-fiction TV shows, including Star Trek (not 
only the original and Next Generation shows, but the cartoon version as 
well), Lost in Space, Battlestar Galactica, the Twilight Zone, the 
Prisoner and Doctor Who.  There are also lists of various things related 
to science fiction and an online science-fiction fanzine.    
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
 
SHAKESPEARE
 
     atari.archive.umich.edu  The shakespeare directory contains most of 
the Bard's works.  A number of other sites have his works as well, but 
generally as one huge mega-file.  This site breaks them down into various 
categories (comedies, poetry, histories, etc.) so that you can download 
individual plays or sonnets. 
 
SPACE
 
     ames.arc.nasa.gov  Stores text files about space and the history of 
the NASA space program in the pub/SPACE subdirectory.  In the pub/GIF 
and pub/SPACE/GIF directories, you'll find astronomy- and NASA-related 
GIF files, including pictures of planets, satellites and other celestial 
objects.
     9 p.m. - 9 a.m.
 
SPAIN
 
     goya.dit.upm.es  This Spanish site carries an updated list of 
bulletin-board systems in Spain, as well as information about European 
computer networks, in the info/doc/net subdirectory, mostly in Spanish.  
The BBS list is bbs.Z, which means you will have to uncompress it to read 
it.  
     Available 24 hours.                   
 
TV
 
     coe.montana.edu  The pub/TV/Guides directory has histories and other 
information about dozens of TV shows.  Only two anonymous-ftp log-ins are 
allowed at a time, so you might have to try more than once to get in.
     8 p.m. - 8 a.m.
 
     ftp.cs.widener.edu  The pub/simpsons directory has more files than 
 anybody could possibly need about Bart and family.  The pub/strek 
 directory has files about the original and Next Generation shows as well 
 as the movies.
      See also under Science Fiction.
 
TRAVEL
 
     nic.stolaf.edu  Before you take that next overseas trip, you might 
want to see whether the State Department has issued any kind of advisory 
for the countries on your itinerary.  The advisories, which cover 
everything from hurricane damage to civil war, are in the pub/travel-
advisories/advisories directory, arranged by country.
     7 p.m. - 7 a.m.
 
USENET
 
     ftp.uu.net  In the usenet directory, you'll find "frequently asked 
questions" files, copied from rtfm.mit.edu. The communications 
directory holds programs that let MS-DOS users connect directly with UUCP 
sites. In the info directory, you'll find information about ftp and ftp 
sites.  The inet directory contains information about Internet. 
     Available 24 hours.
 
     rtfm.mit.edu  This site contains all available "frequently 
asked questions" files for Usenet newsgroups in the pub/usenet directory.  
See under Books for a caveat in using this ftp site.
     6 p.m. - 6 a.m.
 
VIRUSES 
     
     ftp.unt.edu  The antivirus directory has anti-virus programs for MS-
DOS and Macintosh computers. 
     7 p.m. - 7 a.m.
 
WEATHER
 
     wuarchive.wustl.edu   The /multimedia/images/wx directory contains GIF 
weather images of North America.  Files are updated hourly and take this 
general form: CV100222.  The first two letters tell the type of file: CV 
means it is a visible-light photo taken by a weather satellite.  CI 
images are similar, but use infrared light.  Both these are in black and 
white.  Files that begin with SA are color radar maps of the U.S. that 
show severe weather patterns but also fronts and temperatures in major 
cities.  The numbers indicate the date and time (in GMT - five hours 
ahead of EST) of the image: the first two numbers represent the month, 
the next two the date, the last two the hour. The file WXKEY.GIF explains 
the various symbols in SA files.
 

7.7  ncftp -- NOW YOU TELL ME!

     
     If you're lucky, the people who run your host system or public-
access site have installed a program called ncftp, which takes some of 
the edges off the ftp process.
     For starters, when you use ncftp instead of plain old ftp, you no 
longer have to worry about misspelling "anonymous" when you connect.  The 
program does it for you.  And once you're in, instead of getting line 
after line filled with dashes, x's, r's and d's, you only get listings of 
the files or directories themselves (if you're used to MS-DOS, the 
display you get will be very similar to that produced by the dir/w 
command).  The program even creates a list of the ftp sites you've used 
most recently, so you can pick from that list, instead of trying to 
remember some incredibly complex ftp site name.
     Launching the program, assuming your site has it, is easy.  At the 
command prompt, type

        ncftp sitename

where "sitename" is the site you want to reach (alternately, you could 
type just ncftp and then use its open command).  Once connected, you can 
use the same ftp commands you've become used to, such as ls, get and 
mget.  Entries that end in a / are directories to which you can switch 
with cd; others are files you can get. A couple of useful ncftp commands 
include type, which lets you change the type of file transfer (from ASCII 
to binary for example) and size, which lets you see how large a file is 
before you get it, for example

        size declaration.txt

would tell you how large the declaration.txt file is before you get it.  
When you say "bye" to disconnect from a site, ncftp remembers the last 
directory you were in, so that the next time you connect to the site, you 
are put back into that directory automatically. If you type 

        help

you'll get a list of files you can read to extend the power of the 
program even further.


7.8 PROJECT GUTENBERG -- ELECTRONIC BOOKS

     Project Gutenberg, coordinated by Michael Hart, has a fairly 
ambitious goal: to make more than 10,000 books and other documents 
available electronically by the year 2001.  In 1993, the project uploaded 
an average of four books a month to its ftp sites; in 1994, they hope to 
double the pace.
     Begun in 1971, the project already maintains a "library" of hundreds 
of books and stories, from Aesop's Fables to "Through the Looking Glass" 
available for the taking.  It also has a growing number of current-
affairs documents, such as the CIA's annual "World Factbook" almanac.
     Besides nptn.org, Project Gutenberg texts can be retrieved from 
mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu in the etext directory.


7.9  WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

 
     * You get a "host unavailable" message.  The ftp site is down for 
some reason.  Try again later.
     * You get a "host unknown" message.  Check your spelling of the 
site name.
     * You misspell "anonymous" when logging in and get a message 
telling you a password is required for whatever you typed in.  Type 
something in, hit enter, type bye, hit enter, and try again. Alternately,
try typing "ftp" instead of "anonymous."  It will work on a surprising 
number of sites. Or just use ncftp, if your site has it, and never worry 
about this again.


7.10  FYI
 
     Liberal use of archie will help you find specific files or 
documents.  For information on new or interesting ftp sites, try the 
comp.archives newsgroup on Usenet.  You can also look in the comp.misc, 
comp.sources.wanted or news.answers newsgroups on Usenet for lists of ftp 
sites posted every month by Tom Czarnik and Jon Granrose. 
     The comp.archives newsgroup carries news of new ftp sites and 
interesting new files on existing sites.                                   
     In the comp.virus newsgroup on Usenet, look for postings that list 
ftp sites carrying anti-viral software for Amiga, MS-DOS, Macintosh, 
Atari and other computers. 
     The comp.sys.ibm.pc.digest and comp.sys.mac.digest newsgroups 
provide information about new MS-DOS and Macintosh programs as well as 
answers to questions from users of those computers.






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