Then develop solutions for that today.

Why do I bring this up?

Many “mobility products” today tend to address present day needs. We tend to take the desktop paradigm, and build products around it. We take present-day situations, and then try to invent a better mousetrap.

From my perspective, that is wrong. The desktop is a paradigm beaten to death, and if you look closely, it has never attained the kind of traction that the walkman or TV did. And the next billion people (and they are already here – we call them the “iPod Generation”) will not be interested in such an archaic approach to dealing with information, communication and entertainment (ICE).

And those billion people are our customers of tomorrow.

To understand what I am talking about, let’s consider the concept of mobile games.

Most people would understand this to be “games on the mobile”. I.e. standard games (like quake, or Doom or just plain old chess or even tic-tac-toe).

That is addressing the old world, the existing desktop users, where everything happens within the confines of the desktop or (by extension through the Internet) in the virtual world.

That’s not addressing the next billion people.

However, have a look at this.

Go ahead, click the play button on the video.

You are watching someone play a game on a mobile device, but with a startling difference – he is interacting with the real world.

That is a very simple, but effective example of taking into account what the world of mobility will be like for people in the future – even a year from now.

We have to stop thinking about these short-term, “let’s do this for today” kind of “innovations”, and start thinking ahead.

Things we can assume about devices in the future (and I am talking about the future that is 12 months away – could be less):

1. Devices with full colour screens
2. Devices with higher screen resolutions
3. Devices with far more memory
4. Devices with far more storage
5. “Always on” connectivity
6. Widespread coverage
7. Low bandwidth costs
8. Fairly high network speeds
9. Better CPU performance (does not mean “faster”)
10. Users who are not tied to PCs

If you take all of the above into account, what kind of application would you build for people who live in that kind of environment? What would they want, what would they need (and remember “want” and “need” are two different things).

I watched endless discussions about “social networks” over time. I didn’t comment, because disagreed with the notion of the existing “social networks” being the next big market that mobile computing should address. Social networks like MySpace are a “today” phenomenon. They are fairly closed systems that leverage their captive audiences and won’t open up to outsiders. Some of them are opening up (e.g. FaceBook) by offering APIs for third party applications, but in the end the environment is still tightly controlled by the people running that particular network.

The real social networks that will be created in the future will not be controlled by commercial entities like MySpace, Hi5 or Facebook – they will be created by users.

The actual IM network providers (MSN, Yahoo, AOL, etc.) will be less relevant. They will facilitate, but they won’t control. We will see explosive growth of Organic User-Driven Networks (OUDNs) and content, and they will not be controlled by any single large entity.

Google has known this for ages, and that is why they chose not to go proprietary, but used a standard, XMPP based messaging system.

AOL has already rung the bell – adopting OpenID is a clear sign that they are going to start falling into line with Google’s plans, and Google in turn is making deeper inroads into the AOL control mechanics, and it would surprise no one if one day, the world wakes up to an AOL owned by Google. MS and Yahoo are retaliating by combining forces.

So you have Google+AOL+ICQ on one side, and MSN+Yahoo on the other.

Who wins will be decided not by the might of either camp, but whom the OUDNs side with.

And given that these OUDNs already use open standards like XMPP, guess who is going to win?

Success will come not to those who control the most users, but to those who facilitate and enable the most users.

The future, as I have always maintained, is open.

And our business is with the future. “Today” is history.

In a way, there are already products out there that address this future scenario. MunduIM (a product by the company I work for) has Jabber/XMPP support, which allows it to connect to most of these OUDNs. And MunduRadio provides access to almost limitless, user-created audio content.

What we need to do now is think outside the box.

How can we use these technologies to enable users to do things that they can’t do today? Things no one has even thought of? What other technologies will become feasible, given the specs of future devices and networks I listed above?

Streaming video is a given. And that probably means that we will have thousands of user-created Internet TV stations that a user can tune into. What video protocol/codec will make it? Do we assume today’s jerky, 160 pixel wide videos, constrained by both device performance and available bandwidth? Or do we realise that in the future, these limitations won’t exist?

What about plain old Instant Messaging itself? Do we really believe that IM will only be used to communicate with other users? Other humans? Or will we accept that it is possible that in the future, we may want to interact not only with other humans, but services? machines? Think that is farfetched? Try adding mama_pendse to your yahoo messenger and interact with it.

Think of unusual applications and situations. How would our technologies work there?

Two keywords that will play a major role:

1. Location
2. Presence

Given these two factors, an unbelievable range of possibilities begins to open up. We should be focusing on these possibilities.

So how about a round of reckless “imagineering” here?

Can you think of a short description of an idea for a mobile product that, based on information about user location and presence, can provide him/her a facility that can’t be availed of today?

Don’t think regular stuff like targeted advertising. That’s boring. Think of a scene in a movie like “Total Recall”. What would Arnie do with a mobile device like that?

Remember – every idea is worth discussing – no matter how small or silly *you* may think it to be – maybe some of the ideas can be combined into a completely new product!

Take the 10 points I listed above into account – these are not wild predictions – but are already becoming reality, so can be safely factored in.

None of the ideas need to be well-formed, with a business plan behind them. Let your imagination run wild. The more far-fetched, the better.

Now you are imagineering.

Given the fact that Linux is only a second priority for most vendors when it comes to driver support (especially for consumer items), wouldn’t it have made sense to check whether the item you are about to purchase is supported under Linux before you spend your money?

I have used digital cameras, scanners, PDAs, printers, network cards, modems and what not for years. I use brandname stuff, cheapo stuff, brand new stuff, age old stuff….

I have *never* faced a situation where a piece of equipment I had bought was not supported under Linux, and for a damn good reason – I make Linux compatibility a make or break decision at the time of purchase.

This may sound 1337, but it isn’t. It is simple prudent buying. It doesn’t cost me any more or less – if item A is supported under Linux, and its competitor isn’t, the choice is simple.

In terms of effort, time and money, the research usually costs me 5 minutes of internet time, or an email to a mailing list, but usually a simple

http://www.google.com/search?q=linux+"item_of_interest"

is all it takes to ensure that I do not get into trouble with an equipment purchase.For example, when I was contemplating buying a Kodak DC290 digital camera, I ran

http://www.google.com/search?q=linux+"kodak dc290"

As you can see (if you click the link), I instantly got a confirmation that this camera was supported under Linux and that I would have no problems with it.

If only people would be as careful about spending money on equipment worth thousands of bucks as they are about buying vegetables for a fraction of that amount!

It would make this world a much better place, and would once and for all kill the lame “Linux has limited support for hardware” refrain that people keep chanting.

When I ran my BBS, I was constantly trying to make people stop downloading files, and getting them to start messaging in the forums.

Today, with the Internet becoming the world’s biggest BBS, and with countless mailing lists, web forums and other modes of mass communication, I find that just about everyone likes to stay in “lurk” mode – i.e. read-only.

Then, when a community dies for lack of participation, they look for all sorts of reasons.

Excuses there can be plenty, but there can be only one truth:

If you don’t participate, the community dies.

The thing that applies to mailing lists also applies to things like User Group meetings and other community related activities. Most people are just happy to take what is offered, but if you ask them to give (in the form of participation), you are met with stone-walled silence.These days, it is even becoming increasingly difficult to make people attend community meetings! Those ever-enthu students “grow up” to become “busy adults” and just don’t find it important enough to be part of the community.I call such people hypocrites, because they will be there to partake in the action, but they won’t make the action happen.

The worst kind is the leech. Such people proclaim themselves part of a community, but won’t even read/attend, forget about post/present! For example, someone will call himself part of the Linux community, but will neither use nor recommend the use of Linux, knows basically nothing about it, and only shows up at big events, when he wants to be treated as a “senior member”.

Another kind is the “pseudo gurus” – these are guys who say “but I know all this stuff, it is so boring to participate”. If these guys are so good, why aren’t they on the other side of the microphone, teaching others?

Simple – because they just don’t care. As long as they can take, they are there. If they are asked to give (even in terms of their presence,), they are history.

Bah!

Let me tell you guys (yes, usually guys, rarely girls) something – you are pathetic, and the less we see/hear of you guys, the better.

What we need in any community is people who actively participate, who make the time to help out in the growth of the community, and who care.

What we do not need is people who turn the whole community concept into a joke.

For me, it is a major rush to attend a community meeting or participate in a mailing list, and seeing faces (or reading poster’s names) that I *know* are genuinely busy people, but who care enough to pitch in with their presence and participation, encouraging others to do the same. Seeing them encourages *me* to do more, because for me, there is no bigger joy than working as part of a team that works well together.

Since one of the reasons for this site is for it to be a single place where one can find all my old articles, I am moving it here. –ac

I have been quite vocal with my reservations about India’s “techno slavery” approach to IT business, and I definitely haven’t made any friends at NASSCOM that way.

Sure, the tech slowdown in the US *has* been a rude awakening for Indian IT companies, but I bet that we haven’t yet seen the worst of it.

Many IT Companies have relied purely on software export to the USA, and they are in for a miserable ride, because they have painted themselves into a corner.

Should the US market suddenly begin shutting down on them (as could very possibly be the case right now), they will be left with no alternate markets, no alternate sources of revenue, not other option but to start pink-slipping their talented workforce to reduce expenses.

If that isn’t shortsighted, tell me what is.

An analogy, if you please – much of the Indian software industry is all about leaves and branches. Sadly, you also need strong roots for a tree to survive the winds of change.

With the primary market (the USA) in doldrums, it is time for the industry to strengthen their roots in more local markets – not just India, but Asia, since Asia will without doubt be a far bigger market with more lasting challenges and opportunities than found in the US.

The current policies that the Government is dishing out make it far more attractive to work for other people than for one’s own.

I am old enough to remember an India where software companies were actively persuing local markets. I watched the Wipros and the TCSs, the Knoxwares and the SRGs, the big guys and the small ones – all chasing the holy grail of “Indian products, Indian markets, International Quality” with earnestness, determination and a lot of innovation.

I watched all these efforts disappear like puffs of smoke in a gale as the export-oriented policies began appearing.

The current policies have killed the Indian software industry.

Don’t laugh – think about it. By catering exclusively to American clients (who will never acknowledge the Indian roots of their products/services when marketing them), you are part of the American software industry – an industry that caters to a market that (despite globalisation) suffers from a chronic case of “Not Made Here Syndrome”.

Take away the carrots that make it more attractive to cater to American markets than Indian markets, or at least create a level playing field – create policies that reward catering to local markets in the same way the industry is currently rewarded for bringing in export dollars.

Understand the need for balance, and for keeping more than one iron in the fire. Don’t make the “Think Global” mantra an excuse to ignore (and erode) your local markets.

As you are about to witness (and possibly painfully experience) – there is no place like home (markets).

First and foremost – a new interface – I decided to dump my old homebrew stuff and switch to WordPress. This will allow for comments, some additional stuff, and make my management job easier, so that I can concentrate on the writing.

A note about comment moderation: while this site allows (and encourages) comments, they are moderated, and comments will not appear until one of the site admins clears it. If you feel that this violates your personal rights, note that you don’t have any here, so please leave all N.O.I.S.E. at the doorstep.

If you disagree with something I wrote, try and post a comment that is non-abusive, factual, and shows a certain level of intelligence. Criticism is cool, abusive or “you are wrong because I am right” type comments are not.

Even if you do everything right, your comment may not make it to the light of day, which could be for reasons ranging from technical issues to my simply not liking you.

New stuff should be appearing here, soon!

However, in recent times, Indian companies have begun changing their attitude. Not willingly, one would assume. The FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) factor continues to dominate, and along with that now come the horror stories of companies that tried and failed. Well, not exactly failed, but not successful.

Much of this springs from the fact that most companies have absolutely no clue on what is required of them when one says “get on the Internet”. Ask around within the company, and you will see many different interpretations of “being connected”. Management tries to assimilate and digest these interpretations into something they can understand and deploy.

In this installment of COMversations, I will try and clear up a few issues that I keep running into when I deal with our corporate clients. I will do so by addressing the various interpretations of “Corporate Internet access”.

“The Web is the Internet”

The World Wide Web (referred to as the WWW or “the Web”) is not the Internet. It is just one of its many “layers”, and while it does play a significant role in the Internet�s growth and corporate usage, it has pretty little to offer in terms of day to day communication requirements of a company.

Unfortunately, many companies interpret “being connected to the Internet” as “everyone can surf”. This has some rather alarming implications for management. It implies that many of the employees will waste their time aimlessly surfing around on company time. It implies that the company has to invest in pretty heavy duty “pipes” (that is leased lines to the Internet) which cost the earth.

Security of the company�s local network can be compromised through external access.

A reality check is required here. However much your employees may clamour for it�Web access and the ability to surf from their desks is not a serious requirement. Few people have the ability to do focussed Web-based research, and unfortunately, this is a facility that is more often than not going to be misused.

One e-mail account for the company is enough

Oddly enough, most companies in India assume that having a single e-mail account for the firm is more than sufficient�after all, one has only one fax, right?

Wrong.

E-mail is not fax. It is as personal as a telephone extension on your desk. Try getting by with a single phone in your office, and you will see what I mean. Unless you have e-mail addresses for each key-person in your company, you will lose all benefits of having e-mail at all.

This is because of the way e-mail works. One expects a single person to read the message one sends via e-mail�the owner of the e-mail address. Because of this, one tends to assume confidentiality and will be more open in such a message than one would be in, say, a fax message, which is likely to be read by many people.

However, if your e-mail address looks something like yourcompany@giasdl01. vsnl.net.in, then it is fairly certain that this is a common address, shared by a number of people, and hence you can forget about getting any sensitive or crucial information via this medium.

A lot of you will be pointing your fingers at the high cost of having e-mail for everyone in your company. “How many VSNL accounts do you think we can take?” and the mind-boggling logistics “you expect all my people to dial into VSNL every hour or so to pick up their mail?” But relax, I know what I am talking about. Getting a domain (yourcompany.com) is easy as falling off a log these days. And once your have that and a little bit of mail-space on a server somewhere, you can use solutions such as good old Linux. (Yes, the same one that came free of cost on the May 1998 PCQ CD) to set up an internal mail server that exchanges mail with the outsider. And you can have hundreds or thousands of e-mail accounts�all for free. Each user in your company will have his or her own address (user@yourcompany.com). And an additional bonus�you can now have internal e-mail as well, which is a real productivity booster!

“Gotta have a Website!”

OK, so you would like to have your own Website. You would like to advertise your products, and have zillions of orders pouring in from the 70+ million people who frequent the Net these days.

Reality check: Most Websites do not earn you any money or snag any orders.

Most Websites are basically online brochures, and at the most offer information that is already available elsewhere. The business of designing and maintaining dynamic Websites that attract people is a difficult one, and unless you have the resources and the willingness to support such an activity, you would be better off not trying�it is easy to alienate the very people you are trying to attract.

If you resign yourself to that fact, you can put up a few well-designed Web pages. Spend some money and get a good job done. Don�t ask someone in your office to learn HTML and expect them to be able to put together a professional looking set of pages! Treat your Web pages like your corporate brochure�they are designed by professionals who know their job.

And try and update the pages whenever you have something new to offer, such as a new product.

Let them know!

One of the biggest crimes we have seen is that of “info-hide”. People take all the trouble of getting e-mail for everyone, and a Website, and they don�t let anyone know!

Once you have e-mail for everyone, make sure that people know about it�every visiting card and letterhead should carry this information to make sure that people know about it and use this facility.

Ditto for your Website. This is especially important if you advertise having your Web address (Universal Resource Locator) featured in an advertisement. It�s almost a guarantee that anyone reading the ad will look at the Website soon for more information. One of the most effective ways of using an URL in an advertisement was by a well known company a few years back�they had a doublespread ad in a well known business publication, which had only their URL printed in huge, bold letters and nothing else. Irresistible�everyone who read that fired up their browser just to find out what this was all about!

Winding down

As we have seen, “being on the Internet” is not such a big deal after all�it is easy to set up, and costs pittance. So why not go out and do it? You already have most of the know-how (past issues of PC Quest have detailed just about everything you need to know, and more is coming up). All it now takes is your green signal, and in a short while you will be able to drawl (in your best accent).

“Sure, we are on the Internet. Are you?”

Cheerio!

A little background

Linux needs no introduction anymore, not after PC Quest March ’96. However, let me reiterate a few points here:

1. Linux comes to you “Internet Ready”. All the required tools are built in and ready to be used. All you need is to set it up, change a few parameters here and there, and get up and going.
2. For space reasons, we couldn’t put all of the Linux Slackware CD onto the PC Quest CD, which means that a few things were left out. One of them is the NCSA HTTPD web server, used by virtually every Linux web server in the world. This has now been rectified – you can download it from PC Quest (011-6221734) or CiX (080) 3341137, as well as from the Internet (of course).
3. You can set up a Telnet/FTP/Web/E-Mail server with no other software than what we supplied you, and, provided you have a TCP/IP account (PPP/SLIP), you can get your server up and running and accessible virtually instantaneously, making this a perfect solution for a small to medium sized business.

That out of the way, let’s get the show on the road.

Making Linux Net-ready

Nothing to it. If you have installed Linux according to my instructions in the March issue (if you missed it, check the article on my web pages http://pobox.com/~achitnis), and installed TCP/IP along with it (remember, I asked you to do that), then you are almost set. Just to make sure, log in as root and run the command ping localhost which should give you a stream of ping results (stop them with ^C).Run the command netconfig. This will ask you a few questions (you may have gone through this before, but let’s do it again), answer them as follows:

1. When asked for Hostname, enter a name of your choice. Remember, unless you actually register your hostname, this name has no meaning. For example – my machine is known as cybercom. Remember to stay in lower-case.
2. You will be asked about your domain. I use iisc.ernet.in, you would use giasxx01.vsnl.net.in (where “xx” is your city code).
3. When asked about “Loopback only”, answer NO.
4. You will be asked for an IP address. You do not have a real address at this time, so use 192.168.1.1.
5. At the question of Gateway, enter the same address as above.
6. Next you will be asked for a Netmask – enter 255.255.255.0.
7. You will now be asked for a Name Server – enter 202.54.1.30 if you are on VSNL, or 144.16.11.1 if you are on ERnet.

That’s it for the moment. One word of warning – if you have created entries in the file /etc/hosts, backup this file before you run netconfig, because the file will be deleted.Shut down Linux and reboot, then check whether you can ping your host by name (for example, I would run ping cybercom.iisc.ernet.in). If you get back ping results, you are ready to move.

Now use your communication program (minicom) to connect to your TCP/IP dialup number. Log in, and at the router prompt (e.g. giasro04>) type “ppp” and press . Make sure that your get a message telling you what the remote IP address is and what your address is. The values themselves are not important, since they may change with every call. I just want you to be sure that you get such a message. After you get it, you can hang up, and proceed with the installation.

Now change to the /etc directory, and create the following script file. You can use VI for this if you are comfortable with it, else use the “joe” editor, which is pretty much WordStar-like.

You have to change a few settings here. One of them is your COM port (by default, it it set to “cua02″, change it to “cua0″ (cua-zero) for COM1 and “cua1″ for COM2. Unless you have a 16550 serial port, change the 38400 to 19200.

Change the phone number in the right place to the TCP/IP dialup number for your area, and also change the username and password.

Save this file as /etc/ppp.dip. You can also pick up this file from http://ece.iisc.ernet.in/monster/library.

The Dialup script

#!/usr/sbin/dip

main:

get $mtu 1500

# Ip number of the slip router

# Used for the point to point type connection

# Set the desired serial port and speed.

# Remember that Com1 is cua0 and Com2 is cua1

port cua1

speed 38400

parity N

databits 8

stopbits 1

# Reset the modem and terminal line.

flush

send rnrn

# Initialization for the modem

send ATZr

wait OK 2

send AT&c1&d2&n0x1s10=200s7=90r

wait OK 2

if $errlvl != 0 goto error

# Dial our PPP server from local phone

# Change xxxxxxx to your local dialup number

send atdtxxxxxxxr

wait CONNECT 90

if $errlvl != 0 goto error

login:

# We are connected.  Login to the system.

wait sername: 10

if $errlvl != 0 goto error

# REPLACE uuuuuuuu with your login name.

send uuuuuuuur

wait assword: 20

if $errlvl != 0 goto error

# REPLACE pppppppp with your password.

send ppppppppr

# Some VSNL sites need this...

send pppr

# Now we wait for the assigned IP addresses.

# First comes the remote IP address (of the router)

wait is 10

get $rmtip remote

if $errlvl != 0 goto error

# and now we get our IP address....

wait is 10

get $locip remote

if $errlvl != 0 goto error

done:

# That's it! Now let's make sure that IP packets are sent
by default

# to this new connection (which is called ppp0, by the
way)

default

# The following let's you know what's happening

print PPP to $remote with address $local

print Run ping $remote to check the connection.

# And now switch into PPP mode and start communicating

mode PPP

goto exit

error:

print PPP to $remote failed.

exit:

# End of script

OK, now that we have the script installed, all you have to do is run it with the “dip” program, which you do by running the commanddip /etc/ppp.dip

If all goes well, you should get a message that you are connected and what your IP addresses are. It will also ask you to run the “ping” command with the server IP address to make sure that you are indeed connected. Doing so should give you a stream of ping results – you can cancel this with ^C.

If you do not get ping results, you may need to run this command:

route add -net default dev ppp0

before things begin working.

Checking out your IP connection

Once you have the IP connection up and running, you can try a few things. The first one you could try is to use the “telnet” command. If you are connected to VSNL, try the commandtelnet giasXX01.vsnl.net.in

where XX is your city code (“dl” for Delhi, “bm” for Bombay, etc.). In a few seconds, you shouldbe connected and will be asked for your login name. Enter your login name and password, and you will be in your VSNL Shell account.

If this does not happen, you may have goofed with the DNS (Domain Name Server) configuration. Use your editor to edit the file /etc/resolv.conf, and make sure that your proper DNS addresses are show there. They should look something like this:

domain vsnl.net.in

nameserver 202.54.1.30

nameserver 202.54.1.18

If this is not the case, edit the file until it looks like the example above. Save the file, then try the telnet command again.

Once you have things working, try an FTP (like “ftp sunsite.unc.edu”), this should also work.

Now for something more thrilling – if you have another phone line, call up a friend who as a Internet account, and ask him to telnet to your IP address (that’s what is reported to you when you connected). Make sure you have created an account for your friend – use the “adduser” command for this. He will receive a login prompt, where he gives the user id and password you have given him.

That’s it! He is logged into your system!

In the same fashion, he can also FTP to your system to send and receive files, and he can also “talk” to you (use the “talk” command for this.

You can find out who is logged in and doing what with the “w” command.

Do disconnect the PPP connection, run the command “dip -k”. Make sure that everyone is logged off before you do this!

Logging off

Right, now that we know how to create an IP connection to your Internet provider, we need to look at more things, like how to access the World Wide Web, how to send and receive E-Mail, how to set up a Web Server of your own, how to set up an FTP site, etc.That’s the subject of discussion over the next few months, so stay tuned!

Cheerio!

Such was the case with the February episode of COMversations. As the magazine went to print, VSNL decided to change its Internet operations dramatically – at least in Bombay. By the time you read this, the changes will probably have appeared in other cities as well.

My apologies to those who got affected by this.

Bug Fixes

In last month’s COMversations, I showed a way of getting to read newsgroups via VSNL’s shell accounts. Since then, the site I mentioned (luzskru.cpcnet.com) has apparantly started rejecting connects from VSNL. So use the alternative site shts.seed.net.tw instead. The rest of the procedure remains the same.

Those users who are on the Bombay VSNL server cannot delete their files because VSNL decided that its users are unworthy of the “rm” command used to do this. The truth is that VSNL has simply renamed the command to “mrr” – don’t ask me why. Anyway, to delete a file, type “mrr filename”.

Doing Business via VSNL

I receive calls almost everyday from people who wish to get their businesses onto the Internet. Almost all of them are looking at VSNL’s Gateway Internet Access Services (GIAS) as the platform to achieving this.

Well, I have bad news for you – it is simply not possible to do any serious business via the GIAS – at least not in its present form. The problem is that it basically offers you connectivity to the Internet in a very limited form. I like to refer to these services as “toys” – and with very good reason. They allow you to “play around” on the Internet, but when it comes to doing serious business, they are just plain useless.

The problem is, of course, that while you can see things on the Internet using VSNL’s services, people can’t see you. The most common way these days to make people aware of your existance is through World Wide Web Homepages, but VSNL has made no such provision for its users – not even for the ones paying through their noses for TCP/IP accounts.

However, not everything is lost. There are ways by which you can advertise your presence, by contracting with “almost free” services abroad (it will be a long time before we see such services here in India).

Getting WWW pages (almost) for free

One such place is WWW.TRIPOD.COM. This service allows you to put up upto 100K of webpages for free! Just use your browser (like Lynx) to connect to www.tripod.com, and follow instructions. Be aware though that you have just a single page at your disposal, and that you are limited to text-based stuff (though text-enhancements such as boldface, italics and various “headline” styles are available to you).

You need to know how to build an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) page, though. This is actually quite easy. I suggest that you pick up a copy of “HTML for Dummies” (published by Pustak Mahal) from your local bookstore. Most people will be productive in a few minutes. To test your pages locally, you will need a web browser (such as Netscape) which you can download from the web (try home.netscape.com). Once you have things in shape, get online to www.homeless.com and paste in your page – that’s all there is to it.

Getting more Internet Services…

There are several “freenet” services available on the Internet that will give you shell accounts that you can use much more intelligently than VSNL’s toys. One of them is ARBORNET.ORG. Use Telnet to get there, and follow the instructions. Once you have created yourself an account, you will be able to do much more than with VSNL’s services.

Using a services such as Arbornet has several advantages, but one really nice one is that you can use it as a permanent mail address. All you have to do is to create a file named “.forward” in the home directory, that contains a single line of text – your forwarding e-mail address.

For example, supposing your current “real” e-mail address is XYZ@GIASDL01.VSNL.NET.IN, you put this single line of text into that file (a simple “echo xyz@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in>.forward” is enough to do this). Now, any mail received at Arbornet will be forwarded to your “real” e-mail address. If you change your Internet Service Provider (ISP) tomorrow, all you have to do is to change the contents of the .forward file, and mail will begin going to your new address. Now, all you have to do is to publicise your email address with reference to Arbornet, and need never need to worry again about losing your mail. If at any time you lose access to your primary Internet account, you simply use another account to telnet to Arbornet – all your mail messages are also stored as copies over there!

Another similar service is pobox.com. POBOX is just a mail-forwarding service, and is free for a limited time (after that, you have to pay a ridiculously small amount). It also has a few other great features, including domain registration (they can register a domain name such as MYCOMPANY.COM for you), so that all mail addressed to “user@mycompany.com” is automatically forwarded to an e-mail address of your choice! Very professional, and very cheap! Our editor, PKR, has been using this service for some time and is all smiles. Use your web browser and connect to pobox.com to check out more details.

An alternate Indian Internet provider – ERnet

Recently, the Indian Government decided that VSNL wasn’t going to be the only Internet provider in India. This throws up some interesting possibilities, and one became immediately apparent when ERnet, India’s first “real” presence on the Internet, announced that it was no longer going to restrict itself to Educational institutions only.

ERnet has been around since 1988, and offers much more effective services to its clients. With restrictions on commercial services lifted, ERNet can now offers a much wider range of effective business-oriented services, including web services, UUCP-based mail accounts (considered to be the primary business requirement when it comes to the Internet) and more. They also offer VSAT based services to those locations that are out of reach of regular telephone networks.

ERNet is not cheap, but if you are a business house serious about getting online, check them out. Having been around for so long, they have much more experience in what they are doing (in fact, even VSNL is heavily dependant on ERnet for some of their Internet activities!)

Send a message to info@doe.ernet.in for more details about ERnet. This is an automated message service that will respond with an introductory message giving you some useful information about ERnet and its services, as well as pointers towards other sources of information. You can also check out their web pages at http://mahavir.doe.ernet.in.

Logout

OK, that’s it for this time. A word of thanks to all the readers who send me e-mail pointing me towards interesting web sites, and sharing tips and tricks they have come across. Keep them coming!!

Many of you have written asking where they can get more tips and tricks. The answer is, of course, via the PCQO BBS (+91-11-6221734) and my own CiX BBS (+91-80-3341137) – that’s where all the savvy Internet travellers hang out sharing their secrets. Give it a try!

Cheerio!

Modem troubleshooting

Q: My modem keeps returning “No Dialtone” when dialling, even though I can hear the dialtone.

A: A very common problem. Most modems are designed to detect American-style dial tones. Unfortunately, here in India there is no real standard, and most modems simply do not detect the dial tone at all! To fix this, change your modem’s initialisation string so that it includes X1 (X-one) instead of the X2 or X4 you may find there. It would also be a good idea to add the X1 command to the dialling prefix , so that says “ATX1DT” (if you use tone dialling) or “ATX1DP” (for pulse dialling) instead of the more usual “ATDT” or “ATDP”.

Q: My modem dials fine, but as soon as it hears the first ring at the other side, it disconnects with a “BUSY” message! What’s going on?

A: Probably the next most common problem I come across. The answer is that your modem recognises the Indian ring-back signal as an American BUSY tome, and disconnects. If you have set your modem as shown above, this will not happen, however, if your modem does recognise Indian dialtones, change the Initialisation and dialling strings to include X2 instead of X1 or X4. This problem is also the scourge of most online services (such as BBSs or Internet Service Providers) – someone dials in and immediately disconnects, while the service’s modem tries for upto 90 seconds to handshake with a non-existing modem! This can easily be fixed by the service provider – set your modem to answer after two rings instead of one (ATS0=2).

Q: I have a high speed modem, but it keeps disconnecting or freezing every now and then.

A: The better the modem quality, the less likely it is that this will happen. Cheap “Glue ‘n’ Go” modems tend to exhibit this on a regular basis. The answer is naturally to buy a good modem (where “good” is not defined as “cheap/economical/affordable”). However, if you have already bought the modem, try reducing the speed of the modem from its default 28800/14400 bps to 9600 or even 4800 bps. If the modem still cannot hold onto the line or keeps retraining (that’s the “freezing” part), then I am afraid all you can do is buy another modem. This is why PC Quest keeps insisting that you buy a modem only after trying it out in real-life conditions from your site.

Q: My modem disconnects every 5 minutes – on the dot!

A: The DoT beeps you on the line once every 5 minutes. This causes the modem to disconnect. Try setting your modem to ATS10=200&W – this may fix it. Good modems will retrain at that moment and resume the connection, bad modems will disconnect no matter what you do. By the way – be careful not to set the S10 register to 255 – this causes the modem never to hangup! You may think that this is exactly what you want, but remember that the remote modem will have given up after a max of 20 seconds anyway, so you are uselessly keeping the line open. Also note that your modem must have re-training enabled – some modems have this turned off by default (usually through the AT%E0 command – it should be AT%E1).

Q: How do I know whether my internal modem has disconnected the line properly?

A: The only way you can be sure is to try to dial again immediately after disconnecting, or, even better, pull the phone line plug out of the modem. Internal modems are notorious for this – some don’t hang up even though the connection has been terminated. This is why we keep stressing that an external modem is better than an internal modem.

Q: My modem dials fine, connects to the remote service, gives me a “CONNECT” message and immediately disconnects.

A: Your modem is a non-error correcting type – it does not have MNP or V.42 error correction – and the remote service has set its modems not to allow non-error correcting connects. This is very common with most service providers. The only solution you have is to buy a modem with error-correction in hardware.

Q: My modem is rated for 57600 bps, but when I transfer a file, I get throughputs of only 1500-1600 bytes per second! Why am I not getting the rated 57600 bytes per second?

A: First of all – “bps” stands for “bits per second”, not “bytes per second”. In asynchronous communication, every 8-bit byte requires two additional bits to be transferred, so you end up with 10 bits per byte. Therefore, 14400 bps actually means (14400/10)=1440 bytes per second. Next, there is no dialup modem rated at 57600 bps – this figure refers not to the modem-to-modem connect speed but to the modem-to-PC connect speed. Modems are rated at 14400 or 28800 bps. This is known as the “DCE” (Data communication Equipment) speed. The “57600 bps” is the “DTE” (Data Terminal Equipment) speed, which is typically set to 2-4 times higher than the DCE speed to derive the benefits of modem data compression, if and when applicable. The transfer speeds you report (1500-1600 bytes per second) indicate that your modem is a 14400 bps modem, and the transfer speed is quite acceptable.

Q: My modem power supply keeps blowing up, and the vendor blames it on my electrical environment, and demands a service fee everytime he has to fix the power supply.

A: There have been instances where certain modem manufacturer’s power supplies have blown out consistently. One thing you must understand is that in virtually all cases, the modem power supply is just a transformer block – any rectification is done inside the modem. If the power supply blows up, it is almost certainly a design failure, for which you cannot be blamed. If your modem vendor attempts to charge you for such repairs, you are being taken for a ride, and can take the vendor to court. The modem power supply is covered by the modem warranty, and you are not liable for repair/replacement charges in case the unit malfunctions.

Communication Software Troubleshooting

Q: My communication software does not work with my modem.

A: Modems are “black boxes” that do not care what communication software you are using. Communication software cannot control the quality of the modem connection – that is a hardware and phone line related issue. If you say that your software does not work with your modem, it is probably only a case of setting the software to suit the modem. If you cannot achieve this, simply change the software. No modem vendor can dictate what kind of software you use with his modem.

Q: I get a lot of CRC errors while transferring files

A: If you are using a highspeed modem, you are almost certainly seeing a problem with flow control. Modern communication no longer uses software XON/XOFF (^S/^Q) kind of flow control, but uses something known as “Hardware Flow Control” (RTS/CTS). You must set your software to use hardware flow control. Another issue is that of your serial port – if you do not have a 16550A based serial port, you cannot set your terminal (DTE) speed greater than 19200, no matter what your modem vendor or other “experts” may say. Set your terminal speed to 19200 bps and see if that improves things. If you are working with a slow machine (say a 386 or a slow 486) and are working under Windows, it is likely that you will see problems even with terminal speeds of 19200. Get out of Windows and use a DOS based program such as Telix or Procomm Plus instead.

Q: I cannot transfer files using Procomm

A: Procomm version 2.4.x or earlier do not have Zmodem – the default transfer protocol used by virtually all services these days. Get a communication program that supports Zmodem.

Q: I use Hyperterm under Windows 95, but I cannot resume crashed transfer even though I use Zmodem to download the file.

Unfortunately, the Hyperterm program supplied with Windows 95 does not suppport crash recovery. An update is available over the internet at http://www.hilgraeve.com/htpe.html. This update also fixes a whole lot of other problems.

Q: When I start a download, the status panel comes up and the transfer immediately crashes.

A: Check your default download path. If this points to a non-existent directory, you will observe this problem. The easiest way to fix it is to blank out the default download path completely and try again.

Q: I am unable to download/upload files from VSNL’s GIAS using Zmodem

A: VSNL, in its infinite wisdom, uses damaged versions of the sz (send Zmodem) and rz (receive Zmodem) program. There is very little you can do about it. A method know to work sometimes is to invoke the sz program with the following parameters : sz -e -l 1024 -L 1024 filename. Similarly, you can invoke the rz command like this : rz -e -b

Q: When I connect to an online service, I get all sorts of junk characters on my screen.

A: You have almost certainly not enabled the VT100 terminal emulation mode required to connect to VSNL, or the ANSI-BBS mode required for most BBSs. Enable it and the problem should go away.

Q: When I connect in TCP/IP mode to the Internet using Windows 95, I am able to work for a long time, but then everything stops working, even though the connection is alive and there are no retrains.

A: Microsoft recently admitted that there is a memory leak problem in the Windows 95 kernel that would cause TCP/IP connections to stop responding if you have been having very dense TCP/IP traffic that opens and closes a lot of sockets. A fix is available from www.microsoft.com.

Q: I have a TCP/IP account, and I also have Netscape, but I cannot ‘surf the Net”.

A: You also need to install TCP/IP software before you can use Netscape. Examples are the Windows 95 TCP/IP support, Trumpet Winsock, etc.

Q: When I connect in TCP/IP mode, Netscape keeps coming back with “Host not found”.

A: Your DNS settings are wrong. If you are connected to VSNL, the settings should be 202.54.1.30 and 202.54.1.18. Make sure that your DNS is set to these addresses and not to 144.16.1.1 and 144.16.1.100 that VSNL used to use earlier.

Whew!

That’s it for this month. Space is at a premium for columns like mine. Before I sign off, here is a WWW address that you should find useful in determining what your connection problems are:

http://web.aimnet.com/~jnavas/modem/faq.html

This is John Navas’ Modem FAQ – an excellent resource for people needing to know more about modems, especially high speed ones. He also debunks a lot of modem myths, and has a lot of useful links to other communication-related resources. Check it out!

By the way, here is a little “in-your-face” for all those people who kept saying “why buy a V.34 28.8K modem – there will never be 28.8K services in India”. Well, almost every BBS in the country now sports a 28,800 bps modem, and as we go to press, VSNL has set up 28,800 bps modems in Delhi and Calcutta, with the other cities to follow in quick succession.

With that, the era of those troublesome 14,400 bps modems finally comes to an end. And as for those old 2400 bps modems . . . the less said the better!

Cheerio!

One of the most frustrating exercises these days is finding something useful on the World Wide Web. Not because there is so little, but because there is just too much. And not all of it is very useful.

We have heard stories of people who say that the Internet is a waste of time – these are probably people who blindly dive in, aimlessly floundering around this ocean of information, rarely finding what they are looking for.

Just like the game of chess or MineSweeper (a vastly underrated game that comes with Windows 3.x and Windows 95), searching for information requires both strategy and a reasonable amount of logic. Just as wildly stabbing at squares in MineSweeper very quickly gets you killed, blindly “surfing the Web” gets you about as much useful information as watching Doordarshan News.

Thankfully, there are several easily applied methods you can use to quickly find what you are looking for. They can broadly be classified into three headings: Strategy, Search Logic and Shopping List.

Strategy

Probably the first thing you should do is carefully note down just what you are looking for. This simple step is probably the most commonly skipped one. Too many people just dive in and start hunting, knowing only vaguely what they are looking for.

Sit down and carefully examine the objective:

a. Is the information you are looking for about a specific product?

If the answer is yes, then there is a good chance that you will find this information on the product manufacturer’s web site – that is, if the manufacturer has a web site. Most reputed companies do, so it is highly likely that going to WWW.COMPANYNAME.COM (where “Companyname” is naturally the name of the manufacturer) will immediately get you on the right track. For example, if you are looking for information about a Microsoft product, then www.microsoft.com is a very good place to start.

However, the manufacturer’s site may not be the best place to get the information you are seeking. Often, popular products are supported on third-party sites. For example, the best Windows 95 support site is www.windows95.com – an independent site that houses excellent information about Windows 95.

How do you find such third-party sites? Often, the manufacturer will have a list of related sites (that support their product) available on their web servers. After all, it is in their own best interests to do so.

If neither of these two approaches gets you anywhere, then you can try plan B:

b.Are you looking for more generic information?

In this case, you will have to make use of Search Engines – Web sites that are specifically meant to help you find things, based on parameters you supply.

Some of these sites are more Index Based – i.e., you get a list of indices, from which you select the item that best fits what you are looking for. This leads you to other indices, which get more and more specific until you find a list of information that is exactly (or very close to) what you are looking for. The most popular of such Index Based sites is www.yahoo.com – definitely the best place to start any search.

Other search engines are Keyword Based – you specify a few keywords that collectively describe what you are looking for, and the engines will kick out a list of addresses that seem to match your requirements. Some of these search engines are www.altavista.digital.com and www.lycos.com. Of these, www.altavista.digital.com seems to be the most comprehensive one, but these things change on a daily basis.

The third kind of search engine is the Concept Based one – here, you describe a concept rather than supply keywords, and the search engine will dig out not only addresses that matych the terms you have supplied directly, but will also show you addresses that may be related to the subject. A good example of such a site is www.excite.com – its lets you do both keyword and concept based searches.

Finally, you have the Gateway Based search engines. These aren’t search engines at all – they are just front ends to other search engines. A good example of this is www.search.com.

Search Logic

OK, now that we know where to search, let’s focus on the how to search.

Here is a classic mistake people make while searching for information:

You are looking for information about fashion. So what do you do? You go to www.altavista.digital.com, and, in the keywords field, enter the word fashion and click on the Search button.

Seconds later, AltaVista returns with some 60,000 descriptions and addresses.

Happy? Initially, yes. But then you begin to realise that these 60,000 “hits” (as they are known) are almost completely useless to you – there are just too many, and not all of them point to information that is useful to you. In fact, almost all of them are useless!

Does the above example look familiar? Some people, after experiencing this, go back to traditional ways of searching for information, expounding the theory that the World Wide Web is useless.

But what exactly went wrong over here? Is the web really useless? Or is it really the fault of your search method that is to blame?

Sit back for a moment, and consider what you are really looking for. Were you really looking for every reference there is about fashion, or were you looking for something more specific, such as “Men’s Fashion”? Then why not say so?

So go ahead, and revise the search. This time enter men’s fashion instead of just fashion. Quickly, AltaVista returns a much smaller list. Happy now?

No? You checked some of these links, and found that they either contain “men’s” or “fashion”, but very few contain are really about men’s fashion!

Well, you just discovered that AltaVista has treated your search parameters as separate words. It has located all pages that have the word “men’s” and “fashion” in them, but necessarily together or in context.

What you need to do is tell the search engine that you are looking for the term “men’s fashion”, not the individual words. You do this by enclosing the term or phrase in quotation marks, like this :

“men’s fashion”

Another pointer – always enter search terms completely in lower case. The search engine will take this as a instruction to search irrespective of case. If you use capitalisation, the search engine will find only those words that are capitalised exactly as you have specified.

Now see what AltaVista returns – pure gold! Virtually every link displayed is relevant to your query, and you quickly find what you are looking for. Many of the links you now investigate also have links to other pages, which seem interesting, and you are tempted to follow them to see what is there….

Its time for the Shopping List

Shopping List

When you are searching for information on the web, you are likely to get distracted very fast, which leads to extended “web surfing” sessions which become less and less productive, though wildly entertaining.

This is OK if you are doing this in your spare time, and have nothing better to do. But if you are searching for business related information that needs to be applied once you find it, things are different. Your employers (or even you yourself) aren’t going to be too happy if you spend enormous amounts of time online. After all, the web is supposed to be a tool, not an end in itself! The first few minutes of searching can be highly productive, but as time goes by, the productiveness begins to sink as you start following links that have little to do with your original quest.

That is why you should write down very clearly just what you are looking for – do this even before you go online. And once you have found it, put a tick mark against your list of objectives. Once every item is ticked, disconnect!

This is not a new concept. People have used this principle very effectively for ages! If you go out shopping (especially in one of these new “have-it-all” supermarkets) without a clear shopping list, you might end up “browsing the shelves”, picking up things that might interest you. In no time at all, you’ll have spent more money (or, in the case of the web, time) than you had originally planned to. This can have devastating effects on your household budget. Or your employer’s confidence in the web being useful.

For example, let’s say that your objective was to find a list of 20 fashion houses abroad dealing with men’s fashion. You want to contact them in order to explore the possibility of selling your fashion products to them. In order to contact them, you need to know who they are, and what their e-mail addresses are.

So your “shopping list” might look something like this:

1. locate 20 fashion houses dealing with men’s fashion

2. get their e-mail addresses and other contact information

Now, as you accomplish each objective, put a tick mark against each point on the shopping list. Once all of them are ticked, note down the results and disconnect.

Follow this often enough, and you’ll find that the web suddenly appears as a cost and time effective tool that you and your employers will never have to criticise as being a waste of time.

Winding down

That’s it for this month. As always, I request you to keep your comments and queries flowing in. I cannot promise that I will reply to all of them, but they will help shape this column into what you want it to be.

Cheerio!

Sidebar: Accessing Search Engines

There are two ways by which you can access search engines:

1. If you have a Shell account, select the Lynx option. When the screen has settled down, press “g” and at the prompt, enter the URL (Universal Resource Locator) or the search engine, e.g. http://www.altavista.digital.com
2. If you have a TCP/IP account, fire up your World Wide Web browser (such as Netscape, Microsoft Internet Explorer, etc.), and type the URL into the Location field.

Rather than giving you a long list of search engines that you can access, I will point you to C|Net’s www.search.com, which is a front end for most of the popular search engines. Remember that not every search engine yields the same results – experiment a bit until you find one that suits your purposes. Some search engines are more specific in content than others. WWW.SEARCH.COM has a list of such specific engines available, too, so it might make sense to use those rather than some generic engine.