Operated by the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., this
automated data service provides database access to information
ranging from current navigational satellite positioning, astronomical
data, and software utilities. A wide variety of databases can be
searched and instructions for file transfer are given. Telnet to
tycho.usno.navy.mil and log in as ads.
"My consciousness suddenly switched locations, for the first time in
my life, from the vicinity of my head and body to a point about
twenty feet away from where I normally see the world." Howard
Rheingold, Virtual Reality p255
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Various Tools
New and interesting ways to use the Internet are being dreamed up
every day. As they gain wide-spread use, some methods become
near-standard (or actual written standard) tools for Internet users to
take advantage of. A few are detailed here; there are undoubtedly
others, and new ideas spring up all the time. An active user of the
Internet will discover most of the more common ones in time. Usually,
these services are free. Commercial Services for applications
that are commercially available over the Internet.
Usenet is often used to announce a new service or capability on
the Internet. In particular, the groups comp.archives and
comp.protocols.tcp-ip are good places to look. Information
will drift into other areas as word spreads. Usenet News for
information on reading news.