The ABRF Education Committee has set up an email-based information exchange. This is a simple form of communication that is easily accessible to people who use either internet or email. The ABRF has an email address (see below), which holds a "mailing list" consisting of email addresses of interested members. Using ABRF email, it will be possible to distribute urgent ABRF information and to: - Ask if anyone else in the group has experienced a particular technical problem, and how it was solved. - Alert the membership to a bad lot of reagents, or other manufacturing problems. - Report a novel side-reaction which you observed. When a message or question is sent to the ABRF address, the host computer ("listserver") then sends the message to everyone on the mailing list. Any responses to the query are returned to the ABRF address, and then distributed to everyone. Thus, this is not a classic bulletin board for browsing, or posting questions and answers. There is no need to log on to a bulletin board. No special software/training is involved, if you already email. If a question is posted on a classical bulletin board, and the person who knows the answer does not log on, there will never be a response. However, with the email server, everyone will receive the message and the responses. Since it requires minimal effort to email, there is more likelihood of a response. Potentially, this is a way to get expert help from a large pool of the membership. How to Join: To join, send a message to abrf-request@aecom.yu.edu. Your email address will be tested, and then added to the mailing list. Then, to ask a question or send a bulletin, simply email it to the following address: abrf@aecom.yu.edu. The email information exchange will be most useful if a large part of our membership subscribes, giving us a rich source of expertise. There is no fee. The mailing list is currently unedited, that is, all messages received go directly out to the membership. We envision it will continue this way. However, if anyone abuses the system, his/her address will be removed and the messages rebuffed. All messages would then be edited before being distributed.
Purpose: To facilitate communication among ABRF members regarding scientific problems or information associated with core facility operations, a GOPHER site (or a gopher-hole) has been established (courtesy of the Biopolymer Analysis Laboratory at the U. of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth). Gopher is a software (freeware for academics from U. Minnesota) that allows people with access to Internet to retrieve information on remote computers without the need for a password. This also means these files are read-only. Gopher is not like the mail server described in the preceding article. Only information relevant to the stated purpose will be posted, as is, and the operator assumes no responsibility for the contents, correctness, etc. of the messages. At this time only clear-text (ASCII) files have been posted. Graphic-image-files or formatted-files may be posted later, and require down-loading and unpacking of files with the accessory software. Please forward your information, comments and suggestions to: umit@jove.acs.unt.edu How to Tunnel: If you have access to internet - either directly, through a mainframe, or dial-up service - you can reach a gopher-hole. The exact details of connecting depend on the software running on your (host) machine. Please contact your system administrator for details. However, all software allows you to enter the name of the gopher-hole you would like to reach. Most of them also have "bookmark" files for permanent storage of gopher addresses. To reach the ABRF information direct your software to: biogopher.hsc.unt.edu. Depending on your software, you may need to specify "port=70" (again, syntax may change). This is NOT a Gopher+server! Macintosh users with TurboGopher (version 1.7 or 1.8) can select "Another Gopher" from the "File" menu and enter this information under "Server Name" and "Server Port", respectively. If you are successful, you will see a menu (biogopher.hsc.unt.edu). As you navigate to the "ABRF" folder/directory or into sub-folders/directories, the menu will change accordingly. Navigation is easy on icon driven systems: double-clicking opens the folder/directory of interest. Closing a particular window usually takes you back one level above. On main frames it may be necessary to navigate with the arrow keys and make the selection with the enter key. To close folders, control-Z or a similar command may be required (check your software syntax).
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