Dear Jan, George, and LSTOWN-L Folks,
>Once upon a time,
You left out, "in a distant galaxy"
>Once upon a time, I remember that there used to be
>a server to which one could telnet and get the real
>identity of someone using an email account.
You might be remembering 'FINGER.' Most
implementations of FINGER in *private* (dot.com)
networks have been at the option of the user, to
allow privacy.
There was a day, before SPAM reared it ugly head,
when finger was *commonly* implemented at *.edu,
and many other sites.
Some implementations of FINGER look a little like
telnet (or DOS / UNIX command line), so, to me, it
is conceivable that you're remembering FINGER.
FINGER is a great tool if you just want to get the
information out, and don't care about security,
tracking, cookies, and making money. There was
a day when you could finger a soda cooler to be
sure there was cold pop, or finger an "earthquake"
server for the latest worldwide read-out. But, very
sadly, I don't think there are many FINGER sites
anymore.
If you have a FINGER client, you can use it to
find out what I said about myself in 1996 here:
finger [log in to unmask]
Today, IP address tracing is your best bet, as Don
has already mentioned.
Pax,
Ballew Kinnaman <[log in to unmask]> 206/463-2322
Discussion list owner:
Allergy ---> http://www.Immune.Com/allergy/index.html
Arthritis ---> http://www.Emissary.Net/arthritis/index.html
PCHealth ---> http://www.Emissary.Net/pchealth/index.html
Latex Allergy ---> http://www.Immune.Com/rubber/index.html
Thyroid ---> http://www.Emissary.Net/thyroid/index.html
|