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WEBSIGHTINGS
by Matthew McKenna
Assistant Editor
With a little help from the Net
Electronic assistance from newsgroups,
mailing lists
Long-time machinist Bob Tonkins knows how
to mine the Internet for nuggets of information.
When Tonkins isn't scavenging the Net, he builds a machine shop made
out of used parts and writes a book about his ambitious project.
From his Chico, CA, home, Tonkins looks to build an amalgam of a lathe/mill/drill,
a machine similar to the three-in-one mill. He hopes to add more features
and capacity to the traditional design of the machine. All of this is done
with a small lathe, a drill press, discarded metal, and the help of the
Internet.
Tonkins is piecing together his machine shop giving priority to economizing
resources. "I have found that, if one really wants to economize, materials
acquisition is perhaps the longest and steepest curve of creation,"
he says.
"Newsgroups turned out to be the open sesame for me," adds
Tonkins. "They have thousands of discussion groups on every conceivable
topic. The Internet provides opportunities for barter and sale. It also
provides a forum for me to promote my upcoming book, The Junk Yard Machine
Shop (tentative title)."
Tonkins has been on the Internet since 1991. Besides using it for goods
transfer, Tonkins has also used the Internet for intellect transfer.
From a person in Russia, Tonkins learned of ways to acquire exotic aluminum
at bargain prices. From Sweden, he received an insight into threading. From
all around the United States, Tonkins was privvy to many stories of those
"shade tree manufacturers" that were also building their own machines.
Usenet and mailing lists
Newsgroups are a part of the Internet called Usenet. Usenet consists
of discussion and special-interest groups ranging from national politics
to left-handed carbide cutters. Usenet is an open forum.
Mailing lists serve the same purpose as newsgroups, but are conducted
over email. One subscribes to mailing lists by sending a specially worded
message to the List Server, a computer that runs the mailing list.
Both newsgroups and mailing lists accomplish the same goal of providing
information to interested parties. But there is one huge difference--privacy.
Mailing lists maintain better privacy, but unless one has an advanced email
program that sorts incoming mail, one can receive hundreds of emails a day
regarding the mailing list.
On the other hand, once a person is on Usenet, a public forum, that person
becomes the target of marketing via unwanted email. The individual can avoid
the cannonade of marketing messages by not revealing their main email address,
but rather setting up a free, Web-based email account on Yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com, HotBot http://members.hotbot.com, Hotmail
http://www.hotmail.com, or
various other free email Web sites. Since Usenet is public, it is a good
place to solicit jobs, especially in this workforce crunch.
One of the most popular Usenet Web sites is DejaNews http://www.dejanews.com.
DejaNews provides a forum for newsgroups. One must register to participate
in newsgroups, but not to browse messages. Besides being easy to use, DejaNews
automatically offers free Web-based email, thwarting the schemes of guerrilla
marketers. Also, one can start their own newsgroup.
Usenet can also be accessed by various other search engines and Web sites.
Some manufacturing-related newsgroups include:
- sci.engr.manufacturing
- rec.crafts.metalworking
- sci.engr.mech
- alt.machines.cnc
- alt.manufacturing.misc
- alt.business.import-export
Coincidentally, Metlfax first learned of Tonkins' ambitious project
over the Usenet on the sci.engr.manufacturing forum. He is in the midst
of his project and has not yet found a publisher for his book. The machinist,
with 22 years experience, plans to finish the machine shop and book within
the next year.
[metlfax/incl/99mfx.htm]
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