Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 19:55:40 -0400
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected] (Leslie Jones)
Subject: AOL FAQ for Non-Members

Answers to questions that non-members often ask about AOL. Includes info
about emailing AOL members, exchanging files with AOL members, and finding
an AOL member's email address.

              America Online FAQ for Non-Members


                         by Les Jones
                       [email protected]


                          May 9,1995



    For use in a word processor, display in 9 point Monaco
       or 10 point Courier with rulers set to 6 inches.



-------
Purpose
-------

This file answers frequently asked questions (FAQs) that non-America
Online members on Usenet ask about America Online. Other FAQs which
are intended for AOL members are described at the end of this FAQ.


----------------------------------
Posting frequency and availability
----------------------------------

The FAQ is posted monthly to alt.online-service.america-online and
alt.internet.services. The FAQ will soon be available on
news.answers, alt.answers, and via FTP from rtfm.mit.edu.

The FAQ is also available via FTP from usit.net in the directory
pub/lesjones .


-----------------
Table of Contents
-----------------

Internet Questions

  How do I address Internet mail to AOL?
  How can I find a friend's email address on AOL?
  How can I exchange files with a friend on AOL?
  Is there a general email address for contacting AOL?
  What Internet services does AOL offer?
  What's the address for AOL's FTP mirrors?
  What's the address for AOL's Web page?
  Can I finger AOL members, and vice versa?
  Can I connect to AOL through the Internet?
  Can I Telnet to AOL?
  How can I report email and Usenet spams?
  Does AOL censor Usenet newsgroups?

Joining AOL

  Does AOL offer membership outside the US and Canada?
  How much does AOL cost?
  What do I need to join?
  Where can I get the software and a certificate number?
  Is there a local access number in my area?
  How can I contact AOL if I'm not a member?

Other AOL FAQs

  Where to find them
  AOL FAQ for Macintosh
  AOL Binaries FAQ
  Contacting the author
  Beta testers and contributors
  Copyright Notice and Disclaimer



------------------
Internet Questions
------------------



--------------------------------------
How do I address Internet mail to AOL?
--------------------------------------

America Online's domain name is "aol.com". If a member's screen name
(AKA user ID) is Dark Rider, email should be addressed to
[email protected]. Any spaces in the person's screen name should=
be
removed.


------------------------------------------------
How can I find a friend's email address on AOL?
------------------------------------------------

The best way to find anyone's email address is to call them and ask.
If you have that option, use it.

If you don't have that option, send email to [email protected].
Include as much information as possible. At a minimum, include your
friend's real name and city and state address. AOL will search for
your friend's name in the member's directory. The directory is a
voluntary listing. If your friend didn't choose to create a member
profile, they won't be in the directory, so AOL will not be able=
to
find them.

If you have an AOL account, use keyword "directory" to search the
member directory.


----------------------------------------------
How can I exchange files with a friend on AOL?
----------------------------------------------

AOL members can retrieve files via FTP. If you have a private FTP
site, post the file there, and have your friend download it via FTP.
AOL members can access your site by using keyword "ftp", following
the prompts, clicking the Other Sites button, and entering the name
of your FTP site. By default, they will be logged in as an anonymous
user. However, by selecting the "Ask for login name and password"
checkbox, they can use a username and password for security. AOL=
does
not yet support uploading files to FTP sites.

The other method is to encode the file into text, and send it in=
an
electronic mail message. Uuencoding and (for Macintosh users)
binhexing are the two most popular methods of encoding binary files
into text.

America Online mail messages are limited to about 28 kilobytes. If
you email a message larger than 28 K, AOL's mail gateway will
automatically break the file into 28 K messages. Your friend on AOL
will need to download the pieces, reassemble them, and decode them
back into binary format.

If your friend on AOL is sending you a file, they will need to
convert it to text and copy and paste sub-28 K pieces into separate
email messages. Most uuencoding programs can automatically generate
pieces of a fixed size.


----------------------------------------------------
Is there a general email address for contacting AOL?
----------------------------------------------------

No. However, AOL follows Internet conventions by providing the
following addresses: [email protected], [email protected], and
[email protected]. Use these addresses for questions and problems
relating to email, Usenet newsgroups, and mailing lists,
respectively.


--------------------------------------
What Internet services does AOL offer?
--------------------------------------

AOL currently offers Internet mail, Usenet newsgroups, Gopher,
Veronica, WAIS, and FTP.=20

World Wide Web access is expected by the end of second quarter, 1995.
Telnet has been announced, but the release date continues to slip.
Sources tell me that IRC and MUDs are quietly under development,=
but
are not expected any time soon.


-----------------------------------------
What's the address for AOL's FTP mirrors?
-----------------------------------------

mirrors.aol.com

AOL maintains mirrors of several popular FTP sites to reduce the=
load
on those sites. As a public service, AOL has made the mirrors
accessible to everyone on the Internet. The current list of sites=
at
mirrors.aol.com is as follows:

ftp.cica.indiana.edu:/pub
sumex-aim.stanford.edu:/info-mac
rtfm.mit.edu:/pub
mac.archive.umich.edu
ftp.nevada.edu:/pub/guitar


--------------------------------------
What's the address for AOL's Web page?
--------------------------------------

http://www.blue.aol.com


-----------------------------------------
Can I finger AOL members, and vice versa?
-----------------------------------------

No.


------------------------------------------
Can I connect to AOL through the Internet?
------------------------------------------

Yes. AOL version 2.5 for Macintosh and 2.0 for Windows both allow=
TCP
connections from the Internet. Both require a TCP connection, either
direct, or via SLIP or PPP.


--------------------
Can I Telnet to AOL?
--------------------

No. AOL does not offer command line access of any kind, so Telnet=
is
impossible.


----------------------------------------
How can I report email and Usenet spams?
----------------------------------------

Send email to [email protected]. David "the spam stops here"
O'Donnell is the postmaster, newsmaster, and listmaster for AOL.=
=20

Before emailing the postmaster, you may want to check the
news.admin.net-abuse.announce newsgroup. David O'Donnell publishes=
a
report every day or two of known abuses from AOL.=20

AOL has terms of service (TOS) that apply to Usenet newsgroups. The
TOS guidelines are available via FTP at ftp://ftp.aol.com/pub/usenet/

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