News From the CWIS/Gopher Hole

By Doug Bateman, CWIS Coordinator (dbateman@unt.edu)

This column covers features and resources available through the University s Gopher Campus Wide Information System (CWIS). Gopher is available on various UNT host computers including the VAX, Sol, and Jove. It is also available in the General Access Labs and on various Novell file servers around campus.

New Kid on the Block

I seem to be fulfilling my own ideal of manifest destiny in regards to my employment with the Computing Center. In the beginning, I was a half-time, student employee at the Help desk where I was primarily working one-on-one with people doing battle with their personal computers. Now I am involved in helping UNT establish a place for itself in the miasma of the Internet, as well as helping all of you connect with the world. Ain t America grand!

In case anyone missed it, I d like to call your attention to the new name under the title of this column. My predecessor, Mark Thacker, has moved on to (allegedly) greener pastures as the resident Internet guru for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. I have recently been promoted into his position so I d like to take an opportunity in this issue s column to introduce myself. But rather than risk boring you right away, I m going to save the introduction for later.

So, Where Are the Pointers?

Might as well stop reading now if all you were looking for was a list of pointers to World Wide Web (WWW) or Gopher sites. You won t find them in this column this time, mainly because I have recently modified UNT s WWW welcome page by adding a link to a document that contains over 2,000 WWW sites organized into over 50 categories by major subject focus. Since I can t reproduce all of that information here, I d feel a little foolish listing only a handful of sites here when there are thousands just a click away.

Don t be too disappointed, however. I ll have some for next time. And for those of you who do not know me very well yet, let me tell you that I often have a rather obtuse way of looking at the world, so I have a penchant for collecting the more offbeat, out of the ordinary, locations.

For example, care to spy on the office of the Director of the Center for Innovative Computer Applications (CICA) at Indiana University? Just travel to http://www.cica.indiana.edu/htbin/camera where one of the graphics programmers rigged a small video camera and trained it on the Director as a joke. A screen capture program updates an inline graphic periodically. (The director knows about it now and considers it an innovative application so has left it on, though it now points towards the door.)

Change is a Good Thing

Here s a word of warning to foreshadow the changes that lie ahead in the structure and electronic delivery of information from UNT s computing resources. Just about everyone who moves into a new job looks around at the way things used to be done and figures he or she can do better. Well, I m no different in that regard so I hope you are prepared to see some subtle and not-so-subtle changes in the coming months.

I look at my job as being more of a facilitator than an instigator. (I think that s where the Coordinator in my job title comes from.) So, when it comes to making information available via Gopher, WAIS, World Wide Web, or whatever, I intend to do my utmost to provide the best, most modern and efficient means for you the student, the research assistant, the administrative assistant, the department head, the director, the dean, and yes even the Chancellor to make the information you deem important available to all.

Certainly, I can t generate all of that information myself (even if I wanted to), so I am relying on all of you to call my attention to what is needed and to contribute.

What s Ahead

Since it was only a couple of weeks ago that we all went through the process of making resolutions for the new year, I thought I d share some of the things I see happening this year in my particular area (first let me dust off my crystal ball):

It won t be much longer before everyone at UNT will have the capability of creating and serving up their own personal WWW home page. This is high on my list for the coming year.

UNT will finally offer SLIP/PPP access to students, making it possible for you to make use of the latest and greatest graphical tools for exploring the Internet from your home, e.g. NetScape, Chameleon, etc. In (greatly) simplified terms, SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) and PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) are the preferred means of fooling your computer into thinking it is directly connected to the Internet.

Every college and department on campus will have its own place on UNT s web server. We ll see information listed such as descriptions of degree programs, faculty bios, courses offered, and current research being conducted within the department. (Another hot item for me.)

True on-line registration! I can see UNT augmenting its current telephone registration process by offering the capability of pointing your favorite web browser to the right page and filling out a registration form from the comfort of your own home.

(I really should insert a disclaimer here, lest anyone get the impression that I actually have the power or authority to see that all of these things come to pass. These are just my opinions and/or hopes, folks.)

What s New

After prognosticating about what I hope to see happen on campus, let me tell you about a couple of things that are already in place. You can now find portions of the undergraduate and graduate catalogs, as well as the complete Spring 95 Schedule of Classes, on UNT s Gopher and WWW servers. This is really an exciting time we are traveling through as far as access to information is concerned.

Speaking of Short Courses

I can t let the opportunity pass to tout the Computing Center Short Courses that are being offered this semester. Please, please, please check them out and sign up. You ll find some very good courses being offered regarding the Internet, and even a trial course on Basic HTML (HyperText Markup Language) in anticipation of students creating their own WWW home pages. Look in the back of this issue for registration information, or come to the Support Services office in ISB 119, or look for on-line registration for these course on UNT s Gopher and WWW servers. Don t miss this opportunity!

Personal Commercial Time

So, who or what am I? First, the reason I feel this necessary: I personally find it discomforting to be reading something that is supposed to be authoritative without knowing something about the background of the author. Here s my story...

My first exposure to computers came in an honors mathematics class in my senior year of high school. Now, this wouldn t be very interesting at all of I didn t let you know that I graduated high school in 1968! Yes, I have been involved with computers longer than many of you reading this have been alive. [sigh] That s just one of the many crosses I have to bear.

I was lured from my first foray into higher education by my first professional job: programmer/systems analyst for a commercial firm. I have the dubious honor of having started my professional career as an RPG programmer on IBM System 360 mainframes. Punched card decks and all!

I have dabbled in contract programming, systems programming on time-sharing systems (hot items in the early 70 s), independent consulting, retail sales of hardware and software, educational sales rep for Apple and IBM dealers, and even a stint in very esoteric research and development work under government contract.

My computer involvement took a decade-long nose-dive thanks to Uncle Sam and the US Army, but I survived and didn t lose too much of my flower-child of the 60 s outlook. While I didn t make it to the original Woodstock, there were plenty of other rock festivals I did make it too. (My hearing hasn t been the same since!)

My first personal computer was a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model III with a single floppy drive, no hard drive, and a whopping 32Kb of memory. Actually, that was more memory than the first IBM mainframe I worked on had! I graduated to a rock-solid Kaypro II CP/M system, which I still have by the way. And then it s been one IBM-compatible and/or Apple Macintosh after another since.

Computers are my avocation as well as vocation, much to the chagrin of my teenage daughter. But I like them. They re my friends. [woa!]

That s enough of that and this is as good a place to stop as any. Look for more ramblings in the next issue and keep tuning in to the UNT Gopher and World Wide Web-you never know what you might find.

Previous Article Next Article

If you have problems or questions about this server, please contact me as soon as possible. You can send mail to the following address: