TOOLS

I remember getting my first issue of Internet Prospector in 1994. What a resource -- a newsletter delivered by e-mail that provided Web sites and Internet tips to make my job much easier. I sent some Web site suggestions to the editors and, next thing I knew, I joined the editorial staff in September 1995. Though I never have met some of the editors in person, working with this group of researchers has been, and will always remain, the highlight of my development career.

The Tools column evolved from the estimable and amazing Martha Murphy's Access column. Back then, we were still accessing some Web sites via gopher and telnet (huh???)! Martha covered topics like gopher, unzip, FTP and search tools. I first edited an issue in January 1996 and we reviewed Web guides and sites covering e-mail how-tos, HTML and Web site design and the future of the Internet. Surprisingly, some of those sites are still in existence -- and some of them have successfully evolved. Here's my Internet Prospector Tools version of "Where are they now?"

CONTENTS:

• The Internet Tourbus
• Roadmap
• BCK2SKOL
• Zen and the Art of the Internet
• WW FAQ
• The Netiquette Home Page
• John December's Internet Tools
• John Perry Barlow Library
• Whole Earth Privacy Toolkit

THE INTERNET TOURBUS

"Why surf when you can ride the bus?" Patrick Douglas Crispen and Bob Rankin developed this site during the medieval ages of Net development to help riders understand and use the Internet. The site has kept pace with today's technology and Web uses. Now, according to its authors, you can use their site to "Learn how to avoid the pitfalls of the Web, master the search engines, debunk urban legends and more."

http://www.tourbus.com/

For a historical perspective, check out their archives back to 1999 (http://www.tourbus.com/archives2.htm), but beware of squirrels.

ROADMAP

For a truly historical perspective, visit Patrick Douglas Crispen's original Roadmap to the Internet series. Learn about gopher, FTP, Veronica and other mythological Internet creatures. Don't get lost in the mists of time!

http://www.beonthenet.com/mapindex.html

BCK2SKOL

Ellen Chamberlain provided Net lessons of a more serious nature, but of similar content to Crispen's Roadmap. Find out how research oldsters learned their trade.

http://www.sc.edu/bck2skol/fall/fall.html

ZEN AND THE ART OF THE INTERNET

Brendan Kehoe published this on the Web in 1992! That was when books like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance were still en vogue. Newer versions are in book form. How antiquated.

http://www.cs.indiana.edu/docproject/zen/zen-1.0_toc.html

WWW FAQ

Thomas Boutell has kept up with the times answering our Net questions. You still can see his historic FAQ (http://www.unimelb.edu.au/public/www-faq/) or visit his New WWW FAQ page at

http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/

THE NETIQUETTE HOME PAGE

As the Emily Post of the Internet, Arlene H. Rinaldi offered tips like "Do not include very large graphic images in your html documents" and "Check E-mail daily and remain within your limited disk quota." Politeness always pays, so a lot of her advice is still valid.

http://wise.fau.edu/netiquette/netiquette.html

JOHN DECEMBER'S INTERNET TOOLS

Visit the 1997 version at http://www.december.com/net/tools/index.html

JOHN PERRY BARLOW LIBRARY

In 1990, John Perry Barlow, former Grateful Dead lyricist, and Mitchell Kapor founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) at http://www.eff.org/, "an organization which promotes freedom of expression in digital media."

http://www.eff.org/Misc/Publications/John_Perry_Barlow/

That year, Barlow was the first to apply sci-fi author William Gibson's term to the Internet. His 1996 essay, "One Man's Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" can be found at:

http://www.eff.org/~barlow/Declaration-Final.html

WHOLE EARTH PRIVACY TOOLKIT

EFF also maintained the Privacy Toolkit, a series of resources to help the naive avoid privacy pirates on the Web. You can still find the original article by Robert Luhn (http://www.well.com:70/0/WER/privacy.toolkit). See EFF's updated privacy articles and resources at

http://www.eff.org/privnow/

Chris Mildner

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