AIP Makes Back Issues of FYI Available on Archives

As a service to our readers, the American Institute of Physics has set up an archive for back issues of FYI. It can be accessed either via a gopher program, or through anonymous file transfer protocol (ftp), the standard Internet method for transferring files. The archive currently contains FYIs from the beginning of 1993 through the most recent issue. Instructions are provided below:

For those readers with access to a gopher, use your gopher program to connect to “pinet.aip.org,” and you will see the FYI archives as menu choice #3:

3. AIPINFO - Access FYI Archives

For those readers unable to use a gopher, ftp to “pinet.aip.org” (your starting point depends on your individual computer system. If unfamiliar with how to invoke ftp, ask your system administrator.)

When asked for your name; enter “anonymous":

Name <pinet.aip.org:your.Internet.address>: anonymous

The system will confirm your login as a guest, and ask for a password. Enter your Internet address (e.g., johndoe@zzz.org ) as the password:

Password : johndoe@zzz.org

At the prompt, change the directory to archives/fyi by typing “cd archives/fyi":

ftp>cd archives/fyi

Then change the directory to the year you are interested in. For example:

ftp>cd 1994

To list the filenames available, type “ls” or “dir":

ftp>ls

To simply view an FYI issue on your screen, use the command: “get fyixx.nnn |more”, where xx is the last two digits of the year, and nnn is the issue number. (Warning: Internet filenames are case-sensitive.) For example:

ftp>get fyi94.53 |more

To scroll it on your screen, use instead “get fyixx.nnn -":

ftp>get fyi94.53 -

To transfer the issue to your home directory, use the command: “get fyixx.nnn”. This will automatically place the file in your home directory. For example:

ftp>get fyi94.53

The ftp session can be terminated at any time by typing “quit” at a prompt.

NOTE: AIP has recently implemented a listserver to automate our email list (see FYI#41- that’s fyi94.41 in the archives- for instructions.) If you use AIP’s listserver to add or delete your email address from our FYI distribution list, remember that your message needs to be sent to the address “listserv@aip.org ”, NOT the address from which the FYIs originate (fyi@aip.org ).