Interesting People mailing list archives
The Internet Mall: Shopping the Information Highway [18 Feb, 94]
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 09:39:26 -0500
THE INTERNET MALL Shopping on the Information Highway A monthly list of commercial services available via Internet Maintained by Dave Taylor <taylor () netcom com> [issue #2, 18 February, 1994] Organized by floors: First Floor: Media, Second Floor: Personal Items, Third Floor: Computer Hardware and Software, Fourth Floor: Services. FIRST FLOOR: MEDIA Books Looking for some Shakespeare or Dickens? You'll find the online version of Book Stacks Unlimited, of Cleveland, Ohio a great addition to the Internet shopping mall. To connect: telnet books.com Future Fantasy, a bookstore of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery and Horror, is now on the net. You can browse their catalog and place orders through Mosaic. Use the URL: http://www.commerce.digital.com/palo-alto/FutureFantasy/home.html United Techbook Company of Longmont Colorado offers an online book service that encompasses over a million titles. You can connect, search for titles, and order books by using the command 'telnet utcbooks.com' with the account 'utc' (the password is also 'utc'). There are a number of specialty bookstores available through the Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link: type 'gopher gopher.well.sf.ca.us' and choose 'commercial services' to find FringeWare, Extreme Books (catalog also available via email at 'catalog () mailer extremebooks com') and Nebula Books, an online science fiction bookstore in Canada. Infinity Link Network Services offers an online catalog of CDs, video tapes, books, and laserdisks, all by connecting via telnet to columbia.ilc.com - log in as 'cas' at the prompt. Alternatively, use gopher by typing 'gopher columbia.ilc.com' Annex: Technical and Computer Books Softpro Books is a small computer bookstore with shops in both Boston and Denver and an online catalog of over 1000 titles. SoftPro is also available on the world.std.com gopher server (choose "Shops of the World"). You can also contact them through email: softpro () world std com O'Reilly & Associates, publishers of a wide variety of high quality books on Unix and Internet topics offer their books directly through the Internet. Point your gopher to 'ora.com' (e.g., 'gopher ora.com') or telnet to ora.com with the login 'gopher'. High Mountain Press Direct offers books on Unix, CAD, desktop publishing and geographic information systems topics. You can request catalogs and order titles by sending mail to 'info () bookstore hmp com' Artech House, a technical book and software publisher, offers hundreds of different technical titles - and some software and video tapes - via the Internet. Connect to 'gopher world.std.com' and choose 'Shops of the World'. One of the larger technical bookstores accessible online is Quantum Books, of Cambridge, Massachusetts with 20,000 titles on-hand and a database of 65,000 titles. The focus is primarily computer science, math and physics. Contact them by gopher: look in 'Shops of the World' after connecting with 'gopher world.std.com'. If you're in Canada and you're interested in computer books and other technical books, Roswell Computer Bookstore of Halifax, Nova Scotia has a catalog of over 7000 books available online. Use 'gopher' and connect to 'nstn.ns.ca' and choose items 8 and 4 to see what they have. Silicon Valley is a logical place to find a great technical and computer bookstore, but through the Internet, you can also get to Computer Literacy Bookstore by electronic mail: send a message to info () clbooks com to learn more about this service. Music and Video Infinity Link Network Services offers a catalog of video tapes, laserdisks, CDs and books accessible by connecting via telnet to columbia.ilc.com - log in as 'cas' at the prompt. Alternatively, point your gopher there with 'gopher columbia.ilc.com' With an online catalog of over 80,000 titles, the Compact Disc Connection is perhaps the best of the current bunch if you're looking for some specific music. To visit this store, telnet holonet.net and log in as 'cdc' at the prompt. SECOND FLOOR: Personal Items Sunglasses, Shavers and More! catalog available through the Internet, though users interested in the Braun, Bausch & Lomb, Corning, Forchner and Victornox products will have to settle electronic mail only at this point: send a message to 'sunglass () clark net' for a catalog. Okay, so you can get flowers, music, and books through the Internet, but what about that really special, unusual item you'd like to give your significant other? JT Toys offers an electronic adult toystore accessible via gopher: connect to world.std.com and look in 'Shops of the World'. THIRD FLOOR: Computer Hardware and Software Software If you're a scientific type, you've probably already bumped into the book "Numerical Recipes: The Art of Scientific Computing", but did you know that all the source code shown in that book is available to buy online in both C and FORTRAN? Connect with 'gopher cfata4.harvard.edu'. The Programmer's Shop is a ten-year-old company offering a wide selection of programming tools, with a catalog of thousands of different products. Also included in the list are applications, utilities, hardware, and more. Connect with them by 'gopher world.std.com' and choosing 'Shops of the World', or through email to progshop () world std com If you're looking for the BSDI version of Berkeley Unix for your computer system, you can contact the BSDI company directly via electronic mail for information and catalogs. Use Mosaic and connect to www.bsdi.com or try 'gopher gopher.bsdi.com' Annex: CDROMs Software junkies already know about Walnut Creek CDROM: it publishes over forty different collections of public domain and shareware software CDROM disks ranging from X Window sources to Mac and PC programs. You can see their catalog by using 'finger info () cdrom com' and order by sending mail to 'orders () cdrom com'. CD Publishing Corp makes available a variety of different CDROM disks containing archival copies of Usenet, networking software for PC computers, and more. Gopher to gopher.cdpublishing.com for more information. Hardware Interested in a new PC that runs a version of UNIX? Then you'll want to check with Fintronic Linux Systems, a company that offers a wide range of PC systems with Linux, a free Unix-like operating system, pre-installed. Obtain their catalog by 'finger linux-sales () fintronic com' FOURTH FLOOR: Services Government Service Contracts and Documents Looking for sales and pricing information on products available through GSA contracts, indefinite delivery contracts, and open market? This is a great place to check: telnet netmark.com and use 'netmark' as a login name. Document Center is a hard copy document delivery service specializing in government and industry specifications and standards. info () doccenter com or gopher doccenter.com, choose "Document Center" or, if you're using Mosaic: http://www.service.com/doccenter/home.html Florist If you're perennially late with flowers and other gifts for your significant other, you'll be delighted to know that there's now a a florist on the Internet. Grant's Florist and Greenhouse can be reached through Mosaic (hhtp://florist.com:1080) or gopher; use 'gopher florist.com'. Credit Checks With all these electronic transactions flying back and forth, it was only a matter of time before a company came along to offer credit reporting services through the net too. Infotech Information Technologies of Charlotte, North Carolina now offer individual and business credit reports, Dunn & Bradstreet information, a social security locator service, arrest and conviction records and a whole lot more. Contact them via email at 'infotech () fx net' Commercial Email Address Tracking Service If you've ever tried to send mail to someone just to have it bounce, you might be interested in this professionally maintained, easily searched commercial database of email users. To learn more about this service, send mail to 'sled () drebes com' with the subject "info". Small Business Incorporation Running a small business and ready to incorporate? You don't even have to leave your terminal if you contact The Company Corporation, the largest on-line incorporation service in the world. Connect to them with 'gopher doccenter.com', Mosaic http://incorporate.com/tcc/home.html or email: corp () incorporate com Transcripts Transcripts of various programs can be ordered directly throught the Internet by connecting with Journal Graphics. To see their catalog, use 'telnet pac.carl.org', account PAC. Choose 'Information Databases'. **** Notes on the Internet Shopping Mall **** This listing is maintained by Dave Taylor, who is responsible for the specific prose in each listing. If you disagree with anything stated, have good or bad experiences with any of these services, or, most importantly, have additional services to add to this list, please send me electronic mail: taylor () netcom com. Please note that I am in no way able to guarantee the legitimacy of any service listed herein and am in no way liable for any good or bad experiences you might have. Caveat emptor! The criteria for being on this list are that the services must be available on the Internet, must have products that they sell and must be able to be ordered through the net directly, either by gopher, wais, www, mosaic, or email. Excluded from this list are Internet service providers themselves and contract technical support from companies. This list is available through a variety of mechanisms: type 'finger taylor () netcom com' for more the most recent information. *****************
Current thread:
- The Internet Mall: Shopping the Information Highway [18 Feb, 94] David Farber (Feb 23)