Telnet

Suppose, however, that the program isn't transferable. Suppose it is a program on the remote system you only want to use, not download. What then?

Then you use Telnet.

Telnet is the closest we may come today to being in two places at once, because Telnet allows you to sit in front of your computer and run another -- miles, even thousands of miles away -- as if you were sitting at the remote keyboard.

UNIX:

If you are working in your Unix shell account, you can enter:

telnet

This will give you a telnet> prompt. Enter:

open

and the program will ask what site you want to visit. Enter the address and away you go.

[TIP: You don't even have to go to that much trouble if you don't want to. Try entering just:

telnet theaddress

This is usually enough to launch the program and go directly to the address you have given, bypassing the "open" command.]

SLIP/PPP:

The SLIP/PPP versions of Telnet -- EWAN, Trumpet Telnet, WinQVT, and others -- are all pretty similar. They are used after the initial SLIP/PPP connection has been made (though Mac Telnet applications ca n be used to call up the dialer, as can some Windows95 programs). Once connected, the user clicks on the Telnet icon.

The program asks for a destination address. This can be given either as a numeric address:

152.52.2.7 (the server my Unix account is on. It's private, by the way, so don't try to get on this one.)

or by name:

culine.colorado.edu 863

That's a public sports line with NFL schedules available. That "863" in the address is necessary; it's a port number. Not a physical port like your serial or parallel ports, but a means of identifying to the remote computer which program you wish to ac cess and run.

There is a also a location -- Iowa Electronic Markets -- where you can actually trade futures in the 1996 Presidential Election! Try Telnetting to:

iem.biz.uiowa.edu
-- login: newuser
-- password: newuser

The login and password for publicly accessible Telnet sites are generally given with the information on the site. They are much like anonymous and your.email.address in FTP.

Interested in the weather? Try:

downwind.sprl.umich.edu 3000

Notice that last address didn't have a login or password associated with it. Some sites are so open to the public they require no login or password. If it does require one and you don't know what it is, try guest.

If you'd like to know more about NASA's history and projects, try:

spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov

There are lists of Telnet sites available throughout the Internet, or try some of the ones in the links below.

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