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News from:
M V C o m m u n i c a t i o n s , I n c .
P.O. Box 4963
Manchester, NH 03108-4963
(603) 429-2223
April 1993
Note: text copies of all issues of the monthly newsletter can be found
on mv in the public archive; look in /pub/mv/inews. Also note, the
entire public archive is now under the path /pub; it was under
/news2/pub previously.
The modem situation at MV
Up until fairly recently, we provided all modem access to MV via
a bank of Telebit Worldblazer modems. The Worldblazer can accommodate
a range of protocols, including 1200/2400 baud, 9600/14400 baud using
V.32/V.32bis, and 14400/23000 baud using Telebit's TurboPEP protocols.
We've just added another 6 phone lines to keep ahead of the
demand and to accomodate our interactive users. Rather than keep
going with the Telebit Worldblazers, which are a bit of overkill for
all users, we've placed V.32/V.32bis modems on the new lines, and
moved these lines to the front of the hunt group.
With this arrangement, anyone who wants a 1200/2400 baud or
V.32/V.32bis connection can simply dial the head of the hunt group and
be assured of getting a modem that supports V.32/V.32bis protocols,
whether it be the ZyXEL modems at the front of the group, or the
Worldblazers at the end. If you need a PEP connection (Telebit's pro-
tocol), you can call the number at the head of the Worldblazer group,
and be assured of getting a PEP connection.
Please use the appropriate number. It behooves you (and is good
for us) to use the number as far to the front of the hunt group as you
can. That way you'll have the highest chance of getting a free modem,
and we'll be able to utilize our modem pool to best advantage.
And the numbers are:
603-424-7428 1200/2400 V.32/V.32bis
603-429-1735 1200/2400 V.32/V.32bis PEP
Modem Plug
As an aside, our new modems are ZyXEL model 1496E. These modems
MV Communications, Inc. April 1993
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incorporate V.32/V.32bis, V.42/V.42bis, with FAX and voice digitizing
capabilities. We got ours through Absol-puter in Hudson NH. This is
by preference not a large dealership, but they are willing to make
these modems available to the MV community. Reach them at 603-88-
ABSOL (ask for Rob Chesler), or email to rob@chesler.nashua.nh.us.
About Online Access
We're just wrapping up the test period for online Internet
access. With online access, users can log into our systems and have
accounts on an Internet machine without having to be a system adminis-
trator. We've attracted a large community of test users, and we thank
them for their support.
With an online account, being live on the Internet is easy. All
you do is dial up our system and log in. Once on, there's a universe
of over a million systems live on the net with you. You can find
files available via ftp, explore many informational services through
the GOPHER navigator system, telnet to other sites, play multi-user
games, and engage in real-time conversations with people around the
world.
MV receives a full feed of all major Usenet news hierarchies and
many of the non-major ones as well. Further, we provide to our online
customers access to ClariNet News, which is an online newspaper con-
sisting of UPI feeds, business reports, technical information, feature
columns by Dave Barry and others, local news, and so forth.
Telecommunications Conference
On April 5, we attended the second annual NH Conference on
Telecommunications, sponsored by the NH Public Utilities Commission
and NH Department of Resources and Economic Development, the NH Office
of the Consumer Advocate, and Business NH Magazine. This was a day-
long affair intended to bring to light some of the issues of communi-
cations in the state. The morning session featured a number of tech-
nologists and technology proponents: Mitch Kapor gave an inspiring
speech about the future of ISDN over copper wires to the home (ISDN is
a digital telephony system which can provide a home subscriber with up
to 128KB of digital bandwidth per connection). An actual ISDN video-
conferencing demonstration between Durham, NH and California was put
on by James Jacobson, and although this was fascinating and promising,
I felt just a little bit the way Marconi's spectators must have felt.
There is tremendous room for improvement, and few people can predict
where this will lead. Liz Rivet of UNH spoke about the NH Networking
pilot project, in which MV Communications is a participant. Dirk Reu-
menapp of the Manchester Union Leader gave a very interesting talk
about global communication and his business. He made the rather
pointed observation that he could use MV Communication's GOPHER ser-
vice and end up reading the upcoming town meeting schedule for a town
somewhere in Australia, but he couldn't find similar information about
things in New Hampshire.
MV Communications, Inc. April 1993
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The afternoon session was more politically oriented, and many
people spoke about ways in which the blossoming computer communica-
tions industry can and ought to be controlled and regulated. It was,
after all, a Public Utilities Commission show; nevertheless the atmo-
sphere of overwhelming interest in government intervention - not to
mention the number of advocates brought in from around the country to
drive the control agenda home - was a bit thick.
WIRED magazine
If you haven't already, check out a magazine called WIRED, pub-
lished by Wired USA, 544 Second Street, San Francisco CA 94107; (415)
904-0660; email subscriptions@wired.com. WIRED has recently put out
their second issue - the format (and often the writing style) is loud
and almost painful, but the content is quite interesting. The target
is digitial media: specifically and especially computer communication
and information. There are feature articles on (for instance) com-
puter privacy, government vs. private interests, gee-whiz technology
profiles, and Internet celebrities.
Our late invoices
With everything that's going on at MV, we've run rather far
behind on our invoicing (and newsletter) schedule. We hope to try to
reverse this trend and bring the schedule closer to the usage period
over the next 6 months or so.
MV Communications, Inc. April 1993