Just mention his name in one of the uk.* newsgroups... !
$ @ Incidentally, if I understood it right the BBC are (via Pipex),
$ @ providing dial-up Internet access to the Great British Public
$ @ for ca. 5 UKP/month via their "Networking Club"(!)
$
$ Not quite *grin* Read what they are providing on:
$
$ http://www.bbcnc.org.uk/ep/1.html
$
$ Its a bit less than that from the sounds of things *grin* And they seem
$ to be insisting that you use their modem software :) Mind you if it is
$ #5 a month I wonder what that will do to Daemon et als pricing? A UK net
$ providers Pricewar?
Hmm... I see what you mean, doesn't sound _too_ bad though!
The Bulletin Board System (BBS) has been supplied by specialised software
developers based in London. It runs on Sun SPARC clones and is connected to
the PIPEX network backbone by a 1 Megabit/ps leased line. Club members will
be able to connect to the BBS initially through a standard Zmodem protocol.
If they then wish to connect to the Internet they will be able to download
TCP/IP software from the BBS to run on their own computers. Having
downloaded the TCP/IP stack they can then connect to the Internet or the
BBS as they wish. IP address allocation will be dynamic in order to
conserve IP addresses. Passwords will be supplied to Club members when they
join the BBCNC.
E-mail will be possible from the BBS. In addition, freeware and shareware
software for other Internet activities such as ftp, telnet, gopher, WWW
searches will also be available from the BBS software archive.
And not forgetting...
Why does the BBS go members only on 11th May? That's the day we begin
offering Internet access to the public in the UK. We are creating special
software for the PC, Apple Macintosh and Acorn Archimedes which will
provide a graphical interface for the Bulletin Board. This will be
included in our starter kit, along with a manual and copy of the Club's
newsletter.
If people in the UK decide to join the Club, this starter kit will cost
#25.00 for the PC and Mac packages, and #35.00 for the Acorn. New members
will then be given a password, and will pay #12.00 per month with no
additional on-line charges. All prices quoted here are exclusive of the
British sales tax, VAT, which is currently 17.5%.
By dialing in to new points of presence around the country, members will
be able to connect initially to the BBS. To connect to the Internet,
members will be able to review help information on-line and download the
relevant software, including TCP/IP stacks.
(OK, 12 quid a month! :-)
$ So yeah, okay a bit of good might prevail. Im still worried about the
$ attitude that they are giving about the WWW :)
Agreed - hopefully they will do an in-depth feature on the Web later,
and square things up a bit. I'll e-mail them now and suggest it!
Ciao,
Martin