you could type cdup and hit enter. Keep doing this until you get to the directory of interest. Alternately, if you already know the directory path of the file you want (from our friend archie), after you connect, you could simply type get directory/subdirectory/filename On many sites, files meant for public consumption are in the pub or public directory; sometimes you'll see an info directory. Almost every site has a bin directory, which at first glance sounds like a bin in which interesting stuff might be dumped. But it actually stands for "binary" and is simply a place for the system administrator to store the programs that run the ftp system. Lost+found is another directory that looks interesting but actually never has anything of public interest in them. Before, you saw how to use archie. From our example, you can see that some system administrators go a little berserk when naming files. Fortunately, there's a way for you to rename the file as it's being transferred. Using our archie example, you'd type get zterm-sys7-color-icons.hqx zterm.hqx and hit enter. Instead of having to deal constantly with a file called zterm-sys7-color-icons.hqx, you'll now have one called, simply, zterm.hqx. Those last three letters bring up something else: Many program files are compressed to save on space and transmission time. In order to actually use them, you'll have to use an un-compress program on them first. 7.4 ODD LETTERS -- DECODING FILE ENDINGS There are a wide variety of compression methods in use. You can tell which method was used by the last one to three letters at the end of a file. Here are some of the more common ones and what you'll need to un- compress the files they create (most of these decompression programs can be located through archie). .txt or .TXT By itself, this means the file is a document, rather than a program. .ps or .PS A PostScript document (in Adobe's page description language). You can print this file on any PostScript capable printer, or use a previewer, like GNU project's GhostScript. .doc or .DOC Another common "extension" for documents. No decompression is needed, unless it is followed by: .Z This indicates a Unix compression method. To uncompress, type uncompress filename.Z and hit enter at your host system's command line. If the file is a compressed text file, you can read it online by instead typing zcat filename.txt.Z |more u16.zip is an MS-DOS program that will let you download such a file and uncompress it on your own computer. The Macintosh equivalent program is called MacCompress (use archie to find these). .zip or .ZIP These indicate the file has been compressed with a common MS-DOS compression program, known as PKZIP (use archie to find PKZIP204.EXE). Many Unix systems will let you un-ZIP a file with a program called, well, unzip. .gz A Unix version of ZIP. To uncompress, type gunzip filename.gz at your host system's command line. .zoo or .ZOO A Unix and MS-DOS compression format. Use a program called zoo to uncompress .Hqx or .hqx Mactintosh compression format. Requires the BinHex program. .shar or Another Unix format. Use unshar to uncompress. .Shar .tar Another Unix format, often used to compress several related files into one large file. Most Unix systems will have a program called tar for "un-tarring" such files. Often, a "tarred" file will also be compressed with the gz method, so you first have to use uncompress and then tar. .sit or .Sit A Mactinosh format that requires the StuffIt program. .ARC Another MS-DOS format, which requires the use of the ARC or ARCE programs. .LHZ Another MS-DOS format; requires the use of LHARC. A few last words of caution: Check the size of a file before you get it. The Net moves data at phenomenal rates of speed. But that 500,000-byte file that gets transferred to your host system in a few seconds could take more than an hour or two to download to your computer if you're using a 2400-baud modem. Your host system may also have limits on the amount of bytes you can store online at any one time. Also, although it is really extremely unlikely you will ever get a file infected with a virus, if you plan to do much downloading over the Net, you'd be wise to invest in a good anti-viral program, just in case. 7.5 THE KEYBOARD CABAL System administrators are like everybody else -- they try to make things easier for themselves. And when you sit in front of a keyboard all day, that can mean trying everything possible to reduce the number of keys you actually have to hit each day. Unfortunately, that can make it difficult for the rest of us. You've already read about bin and lost+found directories. Etc is another seemingly interesting directory that turns out to be another place to store files used by the ftp site itself. Again, nothing of any real interest. Then, once you get into the actual file libraries, you'll find that in many cases, files will have such non-descriptive names as V1.1-AK.TXT. The best known example is probably a set of several hundred files known as RFCs, which provide the basic technical and organizational information on which much of the Internet is built. These files can be found on many ftp sites, but always in a form such as RFC101.TXT, RFC102.TXT and so on, with no clue whatsoever as to what information they contain. Fortunately, almost all ftp sites have a "Rosetta Stone" to help you decipher these names. Most will have a file named README (or some variant) that gives basic information about the system. Then, most directories will either have a similar README file or will have an index that does give brief descriptions of each file. These are usually the first file in a directory and often are in the form 00INDEX.TXT. Use the ftp command to get this file. You can then scan it online or download it to see which files you might be interested in. Another file you will frequently see is called ls-lR.Z. This contains a listing of every file on the system, but without any descriptions (the name comes from the Unix command ls -lR, which gives you a listing of all the files in all your directories). The Z at the end means the file has been compressed, which means you will have to use a Unix un-compress command before you can read the file. And finally, we have those system administrators who almost seem to delight in making things difficult -- the ones who take full advantage of Unix's ability to create absurdly long file names. On some FTP sites, you will see file names as long as 80 characters or so, full of capital letters, underscores and every other orthographic device that will make it almost impossible for you to type the file name correctly when you try to get it. Your secret weapon here is the mget command. Just type mget, a space, and the first five or six letters of the file name, followed by an asterisk, for example: mget This_F* The FTP site will ask you if you want to get the file that begins with that name. If there are several files that start that way, you might have to answer 'n' a few times, but it's still easier than trying to recreate a ludicrously long file name. 7.6 SOME INTERESTING FTP SITES What follows is a list of some interesting ftp sites, arranged by category. With hundreds of ftp sites now on the Net, however, this list barely scratches the surface of what is available. Liberal use of archie will help you find specific files. The times listed for each site are in Eastern time and represent the periods during which it is considered acceptable to connect. AMIGA ftp.uu.net Has Amiga programs in the systems/amiga directory. Available 24 hours. wuarchive.wustl.edu. Look in the pub/aminet directory. Available 24 hours. ATARI atari.archive.umich.edu Find almost all the Atari files you'll ever need, in the atari directory. 7 p.m. - 7 a.m. BOOKS rtfm.mit.edu The pub/usenet/rec.arts.books directories has reading lists for various authors as well as lists of recommended bookstores in different cities. Unfortunately, this site uses incredibly long file names -- so long they may scroll off the end of your screen if you are using an MS-DOS or certain other computers. Even if you want just one of the files, it probably makes more sense to use mget than get. This way, you will be asked on each file whether you want to get it; otherwise you may wind up frustrated because the system will keep telling you the file you want doesn't exist (since you may miss the end of its name due to the scrolling problem). 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu Project Gutenberg is an effort to translate paper texts into electronic form. Already available are more than 100 titles, from works by Lewis Carrol to Mark Twain; from "A Tale of Two Cities" to "Son of Tarzan." Look in the /etext/etext92 and /etext/etext93 directories. 6 p.m. - 9 a.m. COMPUTER ETHICS ftp.eff.org The home of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Use cd to get to the pub directory and then look in the EFF, SJG and CPSR directories for documents on the EFF itself and various issues related to the Net, ethics and the law. Available 24 hours. CONSUMER rtfm.mit.edu The pub/usenet/misc.consumers directory has documents related to credit. The pub/usenet/rec.travel.air directory will tell you how to deal with airline reservation clerks, find the best prices on seats, etc. See under Books for a caveat in using this ftp site. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. COOKING wuarchive.wustl.edu Look for recipes and recipe directories in the usenet/rec.food.cooking/recipes directory. gatekeeper.dec.com Recipes are in the pub/recipes directory. ECONOMICS neeedc.umesbs.maine.edu The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston uses this site (yes, there are three 'e's in "neeedc") to house all sorts of data on the New England economy. Many files contain 20 years or more of information, usually in forms that are easily adaptable to spreadsheet or database files. Look in the frbb directory. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. town.hall.org. Look in the edgar directory for the beginnings of a system to distribute annual reports and other data publicly held companies are required to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The other/fed directory holds various statistical files from the Federal Reserve Board. FTP iraun1.ira.uka.de Run by the computer-science department of the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, this site offers lists of anonymous- FTP sites both internationally (in the anon.ftp.sites directory) and in Germany (in anon.ftp.sites.DE). 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. ftp.netcom.com The pub/profiles directory has lists of ftp sites. GOVERNMENT ncsuvm.cc.ncsu.edu The SENATE directory contains bibliographic records of U.S. Senate hearings and documents for the past several Congresses. Get the file README.DOS9111, which will explain the cryptic file names. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. nptn.org The General Accounting Office is the investigative wing of Congress. The pub/e.texts/gao.reports directory represents an experiment by the agency to use ftp to distribute its reports. Available 24 hours. info.umd.edu The info/Government/US/Whitehouse directory has copies of press releases and other documents from the Clinton administration. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. leginfo.public.ca.gov This is a repository of legislative calendars, bills and other information related to state government in California. Available 24 hours. whitehouse.gov Look for copies of presidential position papers, transcripts of press conferences and related information here. Available 24 hours. See also under law. HISTORY nptn.org This site has a large, growing collecting of text files. In the pub/e.texts/freedom.shrine directory, you'll find copies of important historical documents, from the Magna Carta to the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation. Available 24 hours. ra.msstate.edu Mississippi State maintains an eclectic database of historical documents, detailing everything from Attilla's battle strategy to songs of soldiers in Vietnam, in the docs/history directory. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. seq1.loc.gov The Library of Congress has acquired numerous documents from the former Soviet government and has translated many of them into English. In the pub/soviet.archive/text.english directory, you'll find everything from telegrams from Lenin ordering the death of peasants to Khrushchev's response to Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis. The README file in the pub/soviet.archive directory provides an index to the documents. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. HONG KONG nok.lcs.mit.edu GIF pictures of Hong Kong pop stars, buildings and vistas are available in the pub/hongkong/HKPA directory. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. INTERNET ftp.eff.org The pub/Net_info directory has a number of sub- directories containing various Internet resources guides and information files, including the latest online version of EFF's Guide to the Internet. Available 24 hours. nic.ddn.mil The internet-drafts directory contains information about Internet, while the scc directory holds network security bulletins. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. LAW info.umd.edu U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1989 to the present are stored in the info/Government/US/SupremeCt directory. Each term has a separate directory (for example, term1992). Get the README and Index files to help decipher the case numbers. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. ftp.uu.net Supreme Court decisions are in the court-opinions directory. You'll want to get the index file, which tells you which file numbers go with which file names. The decisions come in WordPerfect and Atex format only. Available 24 hours a day. LIBRARIES ftp.unt.edu The library directory contains numerous lists of libraries with computerized card catalogs accessible through the Net. LITERATURE nptn.org In the pub/e.texts/gutenberg/etext91 and etext92 directories, you can get copies of Aesop's Fables, works by Lewis Carroll and other works of literature, as well as the Book of Mormon. Available 24 hours. world.std.com The obi directory has everything from online fables to accounts of Hiroshima survivors. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. MACINTOSH sumex-aim.stanford.edu This is the premier site for Macintosh software. After you log in, switch to the info-mac directory, which will bring up a long series of sub-directories of virtually every free and shareware Mac program you could ever want. 9 p.m. - 9 a.m. ftp.uu.net You'll find lots of Macintosh programs in the systems/mac/simtel20 directory. Available 24 hours a day. MOVIE REVIEWS lcs.mit.edu Look in the movie-reviews directory. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. MS-DOS wuarchive.wustl.edu This carries one of the world's largest collections of MS-DOS software. The files are actually copied, or "mirrored" from a computer at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range (which uses ftp software that is totally incomprehensible). It also carries large collections of Macintosh, Windows, Atari, Amiga, Unix, OS9, CP/M and Apple II software. Look in the mirrors and systems directories. The gif directory contains a large number of GIF graphics images. Accessible 24 hours. ftp.uu.net Look for MS-DOS programs and files in the systems/msdos/simtel20 directory. Available 24 hours a day. MUSIC cs.uwp.edu The pub/music directory has everything from lyrics of contemporary songs to recommended CDs of baroque music. It's a little different - and easier to navigate - than other ftp sites. File and directory names are on the left, while on the right, you'll find a brief description of the file or directory. potemkin.cs.pdx.edu The Bob Dylan archive. Interviews, notes, year-by-year accounts of his life and more, in the pub/dylan directory. 9 p.m. - 9 a.m. ftp.nevada.edu Guitar chords for contemporary songs are in the pub/guitar directory, in subdirectories organized by group or artist. NATIVE AMERICANS pines.hsu.edu Home of IndianNet, this site contains a variety of directories and files related to Indians and Eskimos, including federal census data, research reports and a tribal profiles database. Look in the pub and indian directories. PETS rtfm.mit.edu The pub/usenet/rec.pets.dogs and pub/usenet.rec.pets.cats directories have documents on the respective animals. See under Books for a caveat in using this ftp site. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. PICTURES wuarchiv.wustl.edu The graphics/gif directory contains hundreds of GIF photographic and drawing images, from cartoons to cars, space images to pop stars. These are arranged in a long series of subdirectories. PHOTOGRAPHY ftp.nevada.edu Photolog is an online digest of photography news, in the pub/photo directory. RELIGION nptn.org In the pub/e.texts/religion directory, you'll find subdirectories for chapters and books of both the Bible and the Koran. Available 24 hours. SCIENCE FICTION elbereth.rutgers.edu In the pub/sfl directory, you'll find plot summaries for various science-fiction TV shows, including Star Trek (not only the original and Next Generation shows, but the cartoon version as well), Lost in Space, Battlestar Galactica, the Twilight Zone, the Prisoner and Doctor Who. There are also lists of various things related to science fiction and an online science-fiction fanzine. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. SEX rtfm.mit.edu Look in the pub/usenet/alt.sex and pub/usenet/alt.sex.wizards directories for documents related to all facets of sex. See under Books for a caveat in using this ftp site. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. SHAKESPEARE atari.archive.umich.edu The shakespeare directory contains most of the Bard's works. A number of other sites have his works as well, but generally as one huge mega-file. This site breaks them down into various categories (comedies, poetry, histories, etc.) so that you can download individual plays or sonnets. SPACE ames.arc.nasa.gov Stores text files about space and the history of the NASA space program in the pub/SPACE subdirectory. In the pub/GIF and pub/SPACE/GIF directories, you'll find astronomy- and NASA-related GIF files, including pictures of planets, satellites and other celestial objects. 9 p.m. - 9 a.m. TV coe.montana.edu The pub/TV/Guides directory has histories and other information about dozens of TV shows. Only two anonymous-ftp log-ins are allowed at a time, so you might have to try more than once to get in. 8 p.m. - 8 a.m. ftp.cs.widener.edu The pub/simpsons directory has more files than anybody could possibly need about Bart and family. The pub/strek directory has files about the original and Next Generation shows as well as the movies. See also under Science Fiction. TRAVEL nic.stolaf.edu Before you take that next overseas trip, you might want to see whether the State Department has issued any kind of advisory for the countries on your itinerary. The advisories, which cover everything from hurricane damage to civil war, are in the pub/travel- advisories/advisories directory, arranged by country. 7 p.m. - 7 a.m. USENET