From jim.mcnelly@gcbb.granite.mn.org Tue Feb 15 17:02:49 1994 Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 10:57:00 +0600 From: Jim Mcnelly To: LONDON@sunsite.unc.edu Subject: ResourceNet and GardenNet Subject: ResourceNet and GardenNet This message was originally addressed to Leo Elliott [76440.1416@COMPUSERVE.COM] and a carbon copy was sent to you. ---------------------------------------- This message was from JIM MCNELLY to all originally in conference rec.gardens on GRANITE (Granite Cities Information Ser and was forwarded to you by JIM MCNELLY ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- G>I hope to catch the attention of Jim McNelly, The Compost Man with this >post. Jim, could you please tell us more about your plans concerning this >ResourceNet and GardenNet that I've heard rumors about? Quite a few of >the old $P Garden BB members are now on GEnie (including moi) and I'd be >happy to convey your comments in that direction. BTW, my GEnie e-mail >address is g.williams42@genie.geis.com. Hi Garry, I was planning on making an announcement soon, but your inquiry nudged the glacier a bit. After nearly three years of visiting on various networks talking about the environment, composting, and household ecology, I and others have made many virtual friends who have tried with difficulty to keep in touch with each other. As we have kept in touch, it increasingly seems that Internet can be an E-mail linking thread between many different public BBSs and commercial networks. At the same time, it has become apparent that many people are having difficulty either accessing Internet, using it, or paying for their access. After dropping Compu$erve and $Prodigy, I have been hanging out in the local BBS conferences and in UseNet, such as here on rec.gardens. In private e-mail, it was suggested that maybe I and other garden and environmental posters join forces and create our own BBS and Network dedicated to Gardening and Sustainable Agriculture/Community issues. The local BBS where I access various networks, Granite Information Service, has a Sysop who is also an avid gardener and she and I have created two networks, GardenNet and ReSourceNet. We first acquired our own Internet domain, granite.mn.org which subscribers to our network can share as their own e-mail address. Secondly we translated the process of subscribing to mailing lists a "conference" process rather than an E-mail process. We have over 3,000 conferences we now carry! Joining is and unjoining is just a click of the mouse. Know of a conference or list we don't carry? We will add it. Then we translated Interneteeze into common BBS language using inexpensive "off-line" mail readers. Our gateway is what I call an "off-ramp" on the Data Super Highway. So our goal was to make Internet and other national networks accessible for the common computer user who is having difficulties with unix and its commands. So Granite Info Services provides E-mail, FTP via E-mail, and other Internet services that most users want. But it is all available using easy and well supported "off-line" readers. Once we worked out the technicalities, which took more than six months, we then knew that to provide a central clearinghouse would require many gardening and environmentally progressive persons to join up and form our own "networks". GardenNet was formed with the householder in mind and we plan on inviting our favorite experts from all the garden networks to answer questions and post their favorite garden discussions back to GardenNet. We want it to be the "Best of all the Garden Conferences" for the person who does not have the access or the time to subscribe to multiple networks. We are also creating an archive of garden software, files, and frequently asked questions for downloading. If all goes well, our new credit card door can be used for ordering books, catalogues, supplies, and other resources. I am also in discussion with several periodicals regarding posting their magazines as text files for browsing, subscribing, and reading off line. For catalogs that sell on line, we can also provide instant customer service through their e-mail and conferences. Not to mention the wealth of experience from garden gurus across the networks. ReSourceNet is for professionals such as myself in the waste management, community planning, agriculture, contracting, and regulatory fields. It will "bundle" lists and conferences like GardenNet for easy Internet access, but it will also carry several technical magazines and newsletters for electronic reading. It will help many professionals and businesses access E-mail without having to create expensive networks. This is all made possible by the use of conference and file compression software that reduces the volume of data by over 60% into what are called "QWK" packets which can be uncompressed by the offline reader. With a high speed modem, 14,400 or 28,800, log on time can be reduced to a matter of a few minutes. Which can be inexpensive even making daily, automated phone calls at night. The cost of the phone bill should be under $10 per month using this technique. My $Prodigy bill was running over $50 per month and was about to go up even higher when I dropped out. Ouch! We are looking for a base rate of $12 per month for full access to GardenNet and $20 for ReSourceNet. We have also entered into a licensing agreement with Sparky Herring, author of 1stReader communications and off-line reader so that we can offer a custom configured registered software package for only $25. I think that this "off ramp" format will help to keep the various gardening experts in touch and keep the cost down. We will offer free subscriptions to the best experts, even paying them for some participation as the system grows. So that's the story about GardenNet and ReSourceNet which are just now coming on line, although Granite Information Service, our host, has been operating since 1987. So for more information, write via e-mail, call the numbers in my signature to log on for free 21 day access, or write me snail mail at: Mr Compost~~~ PO Box 7444 Saint Cloud, MN 56302 Jim McNelly~~~ Granite Information Service 612-654-8372-HST 656-0678 v.32bis jim.mcnelly@granite.mn.org --- * February 15th - Insufficient Funds? Where is a bank WITH sufficient Funds cc: Thea Hardy [HARDYT@CSOS.ORST.EDU] Michael Million [MM24681@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU] Byron Belitsos [71055.3435@COMPUSERVE.COM] Peg Seremjian [SEREMJIA@CS.UWP.EDU] Frank Shields [FRANKE@CRUZIO.SANTA-CRUZ.CA.US] ENV-LINK+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU Scott Foerster [FOERSTER@ACCESS.DIGEX.NET] Dan Massey [massey@world.std.com] Lawrence London [LONDON@SUNSITE.UNC.EDU] Tom Richard [TLR2@CORNELL.EDU] Lee Fox [LFOX01@MAIL.MORE.NET]