(fwd) Netcom adds access in Denver area

Cyphertentacles and Extropiates,

Here's a convenient list of the latest Netcom sites, which span the U.S.

I've been happily using it (well, they changed to a new emacs
yesterday and now my autowrap doesn't work....I hate having to spend a
couple of hours on such a trivial matter) for a year and a half and I
conservatively estimate I've influenced at least 30 people to sign up
for it....too bad I don't get any usage credits for it.

The best things about it: flat monthly fee ($17.50), unlimited connect
time, full range of services (much better than most universities have,
folks tell me), and--best of all--your Netcom account won't change
when you change jobs! And posting with Netcom presumably won't run the
risk of angering your employer.

I'm thrilled that Netcom is expanding so rapidly. 

--Tim



Newsgroups: netcom.general,co.general,ba.internet,alt.internet.access.wanted
From: glee@netcom.com (Glee Harrah Cady)
Subject: Netcom adds access in Denver area
Distribution: netcom,usa
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 17:22:36 GMT



NETCOM On-line Communication Services, Incorporated is pleased to announce
the expansion of the NETCOM backbone into the Denver, CO metropolitan
area.  To reach the service, using a VT100 terminal emulator dial
303-758-0101 with your modem set to 8,1,N, and hardware flow control. 
Denver's new Point of Presence (POP) joins our nationwide backbone in
supporting a full range of network services including: 


      o  Internet Connections (T1 & 56kb, dedicated and dialup) 
      o  News/Mail feeds with Domain service
      o  Business Dial-up access (news / mail / ftp / telnet / shell)
      o  Host dial access (International and National News, news / mail / ftp / telnet / shell)
      o  Personal Network (SLIP or PPP) Connections (PNC) 
      o  FrameConnect Internet Services

NETCOM can be your gateway to economical global communications.  A
connection to the NETCOM state-of-the-art network will deliver
connectivity at very affordable prices.  NETCOM offers Internet
connections, news feeds, electronic mail, local access points throughout
the United States, source archives, telecommunications consulting,
discounts on purchases of communication equipment, and other services. 
 
NETCOM offers a guest account to provide more information about its
services. To access the guest account via your modem and personal
computer, dial a local access number from the list below.  After you
connect, at the Login: prompt, type "guest".  You need not type in a
password.  Remember, you must use lower case letters. If you prefer, you
can also log in via telnet to netcom.netcom.com or to the IP address of
192.100.81.100.  Here are a few of the local access 1200/2400/9600
V.32/V.42 numbers: 

	206-547-5992		Seattle 

	214-753-0044		Dallas

	310-842-8835		Los Angeles 

	303-758-0101		Denver		

	404-303-9765		Atlanta      

	408-241-9760		San Jose     

	408-459-9851		Santa Cruz  

	415-328-9940		Palo Alto 

	415-985-5650		San Francisco     

	503-626-6833		Portland         

	510-426-6610		Pleasanton       

	510-865-9004		Alameda          

	617-237-8600		Boston           

	619-234-0524		San Diego        

	703-255-5951		Washington DC   

	714-708-3800		Irvine          

	818-585-3400		Pasadena         

	916-965-1371		Sacramento  
 


                 VOICE:        (408) 554-8649
                   FAX:        (408) 241-9145
  Local Access Numbers:        (800) 488-2558

_____________________________________________________________________________
- info@netcom.com (408) 554-8649  NETCOM On-line Communication Services, Inc.

> 
> Cyphertentacles and Extropiates,
> 
> Here's a convenient list of the latest Netcom sites, which span the U.S.
> 
> I've been happily using it (well, they changed to a new emacs
> yesterday and now my autowrap doesn't work....I hate having to spend a
> couple of hours on such a trivial matter) for a year and a half and I
> conservatively estimate I've influenced at least 30 people to sign up
> for it....too bad I don't get any usage credits for it.
> 
> The best things about it: flat monthly fee ($17.50), unlimited connect
> time, full range of services (much better than most universities have,
> folks tell me), and--best of all--your Netcom account won't change
> when you change jobs! And posting with Netcom presumably won't run the
> risk of angering your employer.
> 
> I'm thrilled that Netcom is expanding so rapidly. 
> 
	I don't want to bash netcom here.. I have an account and I'm
*quite* happy with it. (The accounts I have at my university are very
nice, but when 20 people have root, there's *no* security.)

	I have doubts, however, about how good a thing it is to have
*one* public access provider with such a wide net. It *is* a great
thing that now a netcom account doesn't mean that much about where I'm
located, so further privacy is available through that indirection. (Of
course, where I'm located is available via finger, but I provide that
information myself.)

	The problem I fear is a centralization of the net. If netcom
is the major provider for the entire country, then there's much more
risk of "network-disaster" if netcom dies for some reason. (Not
Imminent Death of the Net, but if, say, 20% of all users of the
internet who use a commercial provider use netcom, then a death of
netcom would be a serious blow to the net-population.)

	There's some aesthetic beauty, I think, in localized network
providers, but I can't root out a rational basis for that one.

	The fact, however, that I can be in any major city and *still*
have access to my netcom account with a local (or rather cheap) phone
call, is a *very* good thing, however. I *have* heard, though, that
the POPs outside the bay area only have 56K connections to the netcom
computers.. (From ping times to these sites, a friend of mine who runs
an *excellent* public access network site in Chicago, estimated these
things.) Has anyone who used both the Bay Area POPs and long-distance
POPs noticed a difference? File transfers?

	(Those in Chicago looking for network access, should look into
MCSNet-- Personally I prefer the level of service there to netcom, but
I've been with the guy for multiple years, so there's a level of bias
in there. [And I *think* there's a reference credit on MCSnet.. for
every person I get to subscribe for 3 months I think I get 2 weeks or
something like that.] 312-248-0900.. He will soon have a T1 and T1
POPs all over the Chicago area.)

As someone who has gotten some pretty crusty mail for posting 
issues related to the social and cultural aspects of encryption  -- "stay 
on the subject! this place is about encryption, not politics!" -- may I 
ask -- very politely, of course  -- what these plugs for netcom are 
doing here? I'm using a different provider, and am very happy with them. 
But should I be plugging them (or dinging them) on this list?

Arthur Chandler writes:

>   As someone who has gotten some pretty crusty mail for posting 
> issues related to the social and cultural aspects of encryption  -- "stay 
> on the subject! this place is about encryption, not politics!" -- may I 
> ask -- very politely, of course  -- what these plugs for netcom are 
> doing here? I'm using a different provider, and am very happy with them. 
> But should I be plugging them (or dinging them) on this list? 

As you all may have noticed, I discuss political issues here on the
List when I think the topic is appropriate. I notice others do as
well.

Yes, some folks complain when non-technical stuff comes up, when the
discussion moves away from Mersenne primes and thermite bombs. Yes,
the mantra of "Cypherpunks write code" is oft-repeated.

Of course, I notice that very few of us are writing any code these
days. Some of the remailer wizards are still revising their code, and
a few C-punks are trying to implement DC-Nets in code. But the vast
majority of the 500+ folks on this List are either not writing crypto
code, or are keeping silent about it.

The intent of the "Cypherpunks write code" line, if I can venture a
motivation (it was of course Eric's line), is that we are more
interested in seeing the Brave New Crypto World happen than in just
jawboning about export laws, the Zimmmermann case, and whether
libertarians are right and socialists are wrong.

Some of us are socialists, some are anarcho-capitalists, some of us
are Trotskyites, and so on. So what else is new?

The kind of political rancor we have largely been successful in
avoiding is the traditional libertarian vs. everyone else debate that
afflicts so many other groups. I am pleasantly surprised by this.

Crypto has massive implications, for so many areas: privacy, taxation,
national borders, data havens, export laws, redistribution of income,
and on and on.

Cypherpunks should write code, if they can, but in any case they ought
to have some idea of where they're going.

--Tim May


-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
Note: I put time and money into writing this posting. I hope you enjoy it.

But the vast majority of the 500+ folks on this List are either not
   writing crypto code, or are keeping silent about it.

There are undoubtedly a fair number of the latter; probably better
than 50% of the cypherpunks subscribers I know around here (including
myself) get paid to (among other things) work on software related to
network security through cryptography.

Random Rant (preaching to the choir, but..):

The same day that I spent far too many hours attempting to get our
DES-using products in synch with what we believe is a correct
interpretation of the export regulations, I saw a post in sci.crypt
from someone in Italy announcing that he had a copy of my HP48SX DES
implementation (which is available for anonymous FTP from
soda.berkeley.edu; disclaimer: it does ECB encrypt mode only, that's
all I needed).

					- Bill