The GEnie Net

[MTARR@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU]

X-VMS-News: eagle.wesleyan.edu rec.music.gaffa:9058

Hi!

> From: larry@csccat.cs.COM (Larry Spence)
> Subject:Re: Genie Conference
 
> (preliminary stuff deleted)  Was there anything worth paying Genie fees for? 
> I'll admit to being spoiled -- I can't see paying for the kind of chit-chat 
> that I can get on Usenet/Internet for free... anyone else's opinions on 
> Genie or the other commercial services (re: music info)?

Well, I'm on GEnie, mostly because me entire family is, and $4.95/month for
Basic Services is a heluva lot cheaper than AT&T from Connecticut to Florida!
But as a net, it's not too bad.  Granted, it's only similarity to the Internet
and such is that you need a modem or something to hook up to it... the people
on it, and their modes of thinking and acting are a *lot* different. That has
to do with the way the system is set up.

>From 6AM-6PM on weekdays, GEnie costs $18/hr.  That's when the businesses are
hooked up on it. After 6PM (and all day on weekends and holidays), Basic
Services are $4.95/month, and everything else (= RTConferences, GEnie Germany,
GEnie Japan, etc.) are $6.00/hr.  This means that everyone is logged on at
pretty much the same time, and in pretty much the same places.  

The most popular BB on the net is the Science Fiction Round Table (SFRT).  The 
SFRT is peopled by many members of the Science Fiction Writers of America 
(SFWA), since for the past few years SFWAns have been offered free-flags 
(which stops next month, although those with them already get to keep them).  
Each BB is subdivided into categories, such as Horror, The Craft Of Writing, 
The Authors, etc.  Within the categories are topics: for example, in The 
Authors I-III you find topics on Andre Norton and her works, Marion Zimmer 
Bradley, Tad Williams, Judith Tarr, Joe Haldeman, and zillions of others.  
Within these topics anything having to do with that person and their writing is
discussed- and in many cases the authors themselves are on the net, so it's a 
good way to get to know an author and find out what their deal is, etc.!

The Music BB is smaller than the SFRT, but it's there.  KaTe can be found under
"Album Rock", along with Pink Floyd and that ilk.  (Ron Hill can tell you all
more about that- that's his baby, I think... :)  There are also BB's for
Computing, Hobbies, other forms of Entertainment, and such.  

People post on the topics constantly- it's more like a mailing list than a
newsgroup, so if you post a reply to something someone said five minutes ago,
you often find that three other people replied to the same thing before your
message got there.  The whole atmosphere is thus more verbal than the Internet
newsgroups and mailing lists, and flame wars are rampant (although the Sysops
try their damndest to police around and avoid them).  Staying on-topic is
required, or else the Sysop steps in and tells you to quit it.

The system is of course much more formally run than Internet and Usenet- but,
unlike other commercial nets (like Prodigy), you don't get inundated with ads
and a lot of junk.  I'll admit the commands and such are ridiculously
complicated (you shouldn't need a huge handbook to figure out how the hell to
log on and odwnload your mail), but there are enough local access numbers that
there's a good chance it'll be a local call, and if you stick to Basic
Services, the cost isn't much at all.

So that's what I know about GEnie.  I haven't been on in a month, since UPS
destroyed my computer (it's being fixed- I log on to the VAX from campus), but
I'm actually looking forward to going back.  As you can tell, I just stick to
the SFRT and the Music BB (especially the topics on female vocalists and Kate). 
Anybody else know more about the other BBs?

And while I've mentioned it: DON'T SEND ANYTHING OF VALUE THROUGH UPS.  I
learned the hard way- don't press your luck!!!!! :)

================================================================================
Meredith Tarr			"Oh yes I know I'm always falling,
mtarr@eagle.wesleyan.edu	 Gazing at hazy goldfish in your swimming eyes"
Wesleyan University						-Kate Bush
================================================================================