From bobrankin@mhv.netWed Jan 31 20:34:59 1996
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 01:46:27 -0500
From: Bob Rankin
Reply to: TOURBUS-REQUEST@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
To: Multiple recipients of list TOURBUS
Subject: TOURBUS - 23 Jan 1996 - Shareware.Com
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TODAY'S TOURBUS SITE : Shareware.Com
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESS: http://www.shareware.com
So you finally figured out what MPEG stands for... And you succeeded
in downloading a 1.2MB MPEG movie file. Now what the heck do you DO
with it? "Simple, you need an MPEG player." Oh, never mind.
You've probably been in a situation where you needed a particular piece
of software, but had no idea how to find it in the dark recesses of
cyberspace. And actually *buying* a piece of software these days just
seems so utterly barbaric with all the freeware and shareware online.
I can just see George Foreman shouting "I'm not gonna pay a lot for this
MPEG player!". Easy champ... we'll find it for ya.
Taking Your Hits
----------------
Archie may turn up hundreds of "hits" that lead nowhere, and a search
at Webcrawler et al is likely to net you more or less the same result -
endless pointing and clicking in an ever-widening spiral of links.
Enter Shareware.Com - a software search engine that specializes in helping
you find the object of your desiring. This site doesn't actually store any
software, but they do have a database of 160,000 shareware/freeware packages,
demos, fixes, patches, and upgrades from dozens of software archives and
computer vendor sites on the Internet.
Hey, let's pop in and see if we can dredge up something that'll help us
roll that film. Fire up the old web browser and head for
http://www.shareware.com
If you can make your way past all the c|net ads and logos, you'll see the
SEARCH function. Let's select MS-Windows3.x as the category and enter
"MPEG" and "player" in the search fields. Hey, it worked!
There's vmpeg12a.zip / VMPEG V1.2a Windows MPEG player / Dec 1994 / 151 K
just begging you to download him. (Well maybe it's more of a plaintive
look than actual downright begging, but just click on it anyway pal.)
The download pages at Shareware.Com are pretty nifty because they not only
tell you the best FTP site to use, they also give you estimated download
times for various modem speeds.
Can You Turn That Down?
-----------------------
Hmmm, the pulsating yellow background on the search screen is enough to
melt your eyeballs, but there are some other goodies here.
The BROWSE feature lets you see what files are the most popular in terms
of how many people have download them, and which are new arrivals. So if
you've got FTP anxiety - that nagging feeling that some really cool program
just got uploaded somewhere - this is just the ticket.
If you've really got it bad, try subscribing to Shareware Dispatch, the
weekly email newsletter offered at the Shareware.Com site.
Here's your homework: Find the source code for a program that generates
random letter stereograms. See you next time!
+---------> LEARN ABOUT... --------------------------------------------+
| "Social/Psychological Aspects of Clothing" & earn 3 college credits. |
| If you have a computer and a modem, or one connected to the Net, you |
| can take courses from Univ. of Wisconsin-Stout on America Online. |
+-------------> E-mail: conted@uwstout.edu or Call: 715-232-2693 ------+
Oh, and don't forget you can do all this web and FTP stuff by e-mail!
Find out how by getting my free guide "Accessing The Internet By E-Mail".
Version 5.21 is hot off the press with lots of new info. Just send
e-mail ...
To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (for US, Canada & South America)
Enter only this line in the BODY of the note:
send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email
To: mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk (for Europe, Asia, etc.)
Enter only this line in the BODY of the note:
send lis-iis e-access-inet.txt
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TOURBUS - (c) Copyright 1995, Patrick Crispen and Bob Rankin
All rights reserved. Redistribution is allowed only with permission.
Send this copy to 3 friends and tell them to get on the Bus!
