Msg: 2624 *Conference*

06-02-92 19:26:11

From: RICHARD NEHRBASS

To : LEX JENKINS

Subj: REPLY TO MSG #2590 (CONFUSERVE)

      I've been on CI$ for a couple of years now, and signed up for GEnie about
a year ago. It's designed for people who know little about computers, so it is
time consuming for an experienced user to wade through a menu hierarchy. I
don't spend nearly enough time on CI$, nor do I have the inclination to learn
it well enough to use command mode(no menus at all), so the trick is to learn
other shortcuts.
      Ctrl-C, the break key, you probably know already, but two others I know
about are ctrl-O and ctrl-P. Ctrl-O stops the flow of information, so if you
get in a long file and want to get out of it, just hit ctrl-O. Ctrl-P is a
system interrupt that takes you directly to a "!" prompt. I make extensive use
of this, letting enough of a menu scroll to refresh my memory, hit ctrl-P, and
without waiting for CI$, type in my command. This saves me a LOT of time!
      GEnie, at least to me, is slower than CI$, but hey it's cheaper. In my
opinion, they complement each other; I can spend a long time on GEnie without
fear of running up huge connect time bills, while Compuserve is useful because
of it's vastly larger number of users and it's extensive database.
      I believe we are on the edge of a new frontier in data communications and
it's really exciting to watch new developments. Have fun, and I hope this
helps.
   
              RICH