Date:         Fri, 30 Jun 95 15:32:15 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Richard <rapalmer@unity.ncsu.edu>
Subject:      NEATO Article-here it is

Well gang, here it is, for your enjoyment. Hopefully this will appear in
the next OLD BUS REVIEW, the NEATO newsletter

              Buses on the Internet

   One of the reasons I love my '67 Standard Bus is because the
 technology that makes it go is so simple. Having peered under the hood
 of many of the newer vehicles on the road, including VW's, the mess of
 hoses and wires is mind boggling. All the major functions are now
 computer controlled. Because of this engine-computer phobia, and certain
 evil computer class teachers, I used to avoid computers at all costs.
    However, about a year or so ago, a friend was telling me of all these
 nifty news groups on the internet, which were available free of charge
 on my university computer system. He spoke of groups for everything
 imnaginable, from music, to cooking, to various automobiles. This of
 course sent me delving deep into the computer network news reader, where
 I finally found what I was looking for, a group called Rec.autos.vw. I
 subscribed to this, and found myself receiving perhaps 100 or so
 messages a day, but was disappointed to discover that around 75% of
 these articles, or posts, were about Jettas, Golfs, and other vehicles
 with radiators. 
     After days of reading about leaking head gaskets, air conditioning,
 and the like, I stumbled across someone posting the address for a group
 specifically about Type II's. This was more like it, I thought, and
 subscribed. Unlike a newsgroup, this was a mailing list, where members
 mail a post to a central computer server, which distributes it to all
 the members. The list was called Vanagon, but included all generations
 of buses. As a "newbie", I gingerly posted a few questions I had, and
 was amazed at the almost instant  replies I got, from very knowledgable
 folks. I was indeed impressed, as their suggestions worked! 
      As time wore on, I began to get a feel for this group. I read many
 different groups for various subjects, but none had the same comraderie
 as this one. Along with the Threads, or continuing discussions on the
 same subject, on serious technical matters, there were also
 light-hearted discussions on sillier aspects. Fridays are also funny
 days, as people post bus-related poetry, jokes, and tease each other
 over which generations of bus are better. I really grew to like this
 place.
      I came to find that the list was started by Gerry Skerbitz, a
 Vanagon owner,at the prodding of Joel Walker, another vanagon owner over
 1000 miles across the country. Started in April, 1994, it grew from 2 to
 over 350 members in the first year, and now at only 14 months is around
 400. As a near-charter member, I have watched many personalities come
 out on the list. There are several members who regularly post articles.
 There's a fellow in California, who keeps us up to date as he is
 restoring his '56 Kombi. There are quite a few Eurovan owners, who
 constantly defend the honor of their vehicles as being "real" buses. Every
 Friday, Joel Walker posts a "who's-who" of the list, breaking down
 membership by state and country. There are list members in Europe, Australia,
 and South Africa, each of who offers a different view of how the VW scene
 is across the world. The memberships are also shown by year of bus; this
 week there are 62 splits, 143 late models, 173 Vanagons, 13 Eurovans,
 and the rest are those either in the "wanabus" category, or those who
 have not announced what year they drive. Also posted with the weekly
 stats is the address for the FAQ, or file of Frequently Asked Questions,
 and several peoples' web sites.
      Yes, the World Wide Web, the final frontier. Soon, I became comfortable
 enough with my computer skills to attempt "surfing" around the web,
 which is sort of like an
 electronic library that lets you view "pages" as set up by people or
 large groups. These pages have a certain address, and once you get to
 that address through your web-browser, you can read articles, see
 amazingly clear pictures, hear sounds, and even watch brief movies, all
 scanned into the computer. I soon found web pages on everything from
 Westfalia tents, to neat bus pictures, to one fellow's complete photo
 documentation of his Sunroof Deluxe major rust repair and restoration. 
 There are websites set up by VW dealers, on new models, and you can
 also find sites dealing with different kinds of gasoline. These pages
 all have links to other similar and related pages, so once you get
 started, it's easy to sit for hours looking around. If you are
 interested in almost any subject, chances are someone has set up a web
 page about it.
      Through the computer, I have "met" and corresponded with many
 people across the country, and world, with similar interests as myself.
 Not only can I send daily e-mail (electronic mail) to my family and
 friends at other universities, but I can talk buses with people in
 California, and the midwest. Through the Vanagon list, I was able to
 sell my '67 Westfalia, have people offer me places to stay on long
 roadtrips, meet someone who will hopefully be trading a nice single cab
 for my Deluxe, and all this from the air-conditioned comfort of the
 computer lab. Once I got past the initial computer-phobia, and learned
 how to find my way around, (which is actually fairly easy) I have now
 been fully sucked deep into the world of computers, and even deeper into the
 world of Buses. If any of you have internet access, then I heartily
 recommend using it to the fullest. If not, just go out and spend a
 thousand or so dollars on a good computer with a modem, and subscribe to
 an online service. You'll be glad you did! 
      Enjoy your Bus every day, and take advantage of this new
 technology which allows you to enjoy the company of others like yourself
 as well. For those of you already online, here are some website
 addresses, as well as information on how to join the Vanagon newsgroup
 (the best one on the internet!) Feel free to write me at
 rapalmer@unity.ncsu.edu

FAQ and info available from:
 gopher site: halfdan.med.umn.edu:/Miscellaneous/Vanagon
 ftp site:    lenti.med.umn.edu:/pub/vanagon
 URL: gopher://halfdan.med.umn.edu:70/11/Miscellaneous/Vanagon
WWW/HTTP info available from:
 http://www.teleport.com/~des/vw
 http://www.automatrix.com/~skip/volkswagen
 http://www.polaris.net/~jclark/vwstuff.html
 http://www.alldata.tsb.com/
 http://iraf.noao.edu/~lytle/lytle.html
 http://query5.lycos.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/pursuit?vanagon
 http://www.chaco.com/~coyote/vw.html

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