EcoLinking #10
WorldLink- Internet Access  that Works
by Don Rittner


Everyone  wants to be on the Internet today, but finding an affordable and
reliable connection is not always easy.  A new Internet service called
WorldLink could be the answer.

WorldLink gives you a familiar point and click front end to the Internet
using either a Mac or DOS based computer.  You simply call one of thousands
of access lines (in over five countries) to log on,  saving you long distance
charges.  

InterCon offers two flavors -  WorldLink-Email and WorldLink-Basic.

The email version gives you off-line and batch reading and creation of email.
 This allows you to compose your text and the software sends it, picks up any
mail waiting, and then logs off, saving online time.  There is a flat rate of
$19.00 per month (2400 bps) with no limited usage charges.  For 9600 bps
access, it's $29 per month. There may be a charge for the WorldLink software
kit.

The Basic service gives you email features,  FTP -(file transferring
capabilities), and Usenet news -- thousands of conferences on a variety of
subjects from Art to Zoology. There is a monthly fee of $29 for 2400 bps
access, $39 for 9600 bps. You are allowed 50 megabytes per month and an
additional charge of $1 per meg if you exceed the fifty.  There are no Telnet
capabilities at the present time.

For those who do not have a local access point, InterCon will have a 800
number for a small fee. 

Your email address is in the form, youraccount@worldlink.com. 
 
Most of WorldLink's features are used off-line before you make a connection.
Mail messages and file transfer requests are queued on your computer until
you connect with WorldLink. When WorldLink connects to the network, all
outgoing mail messages are sent out, new mail is downloaded to your computer,
new file requests are transmitted, processed file requests are downloaded to
your computer, and WorldLink transmits any special configuration items such
as mail forwarding and carbon copy addresses.

File Transfer

WorldLink Basic provides the means for accessing files on "anonymous FTP"
servers anywhere on the Internet. ASCII text and binary files located at an
anonymous FTP site can be downloaded to your computer by batching a transfer
request which will be processed by the WorldLink server and transferred to
your computer during the next connection.  Making a request is as simple as
typing the name of the FTP server along with the location of the file you
want returned.


Usenet
         
Usenet is a public series of conferences called  newsgroups carried primarily
over UNIX-based computers. There are 6000 newsgroups and growing.
         
Usenet reaches thousands of readers on about 55,000 hosts spanning five
continents. Usenet users access the network on all kinds of equipment, from
small PCs at home to supercomputers at large universities, commercial online
services, research organizations, and even corporations. Although Usenet
newsgroups are primarily distributed over computers that use the UNIX
operating system, Usenet has gateways to Internet, BITNET, FidoNet, and other
networks.
         
WorldLink users  have the ability to subscribe to Usenet newsgroups that
interest them. Subscribers then post messages called articles and replies all
of which are circulated to all other members of that particular newsgroup.

We will discuss Usenet in more detail in a later column.
        
There's More!
Finally you can even use WorldLink for Paging and mobile communications.  If
you have a radio modem you can use RAM Mobile Data Radio Packet Network,
Mobitex.  Or you can forward your email to a personal pager that accepts
alpha-numeric text.  The WorldLink manual explains how in more detail.

While Telnet ability is the only feature lacking at the present, WorldLink is
an affordable and easy to use service if you want to become part of the
Internet community.

To subscribe to WorldLink contact InterCon at 1 703 709 9890 or through
Internet mail at info@intercon.com.  Send me email at AFLDonr@aol.com.