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Does America Online really have full Internet access?  One major             
part of the Internet it does not offer directly is Telnet, now               
that it can run 3rd party programs with WINSOCK.DLL, telnet is               
a possibility.  You simply connect to America Online, and run                
your favorite telnet application that supports WINSOCK, then                 
your ready to go.  You can also use Netscape's Navigator for                 
America Online and many other Internet applications which you                
might find useful.  Here is a brief explaination of telnet:                  
                                                                             
Telnet is an application that lets you connect to another computer           
without hanging up your modem and dialing again. You're using the            
connection you've already established with your local provider, in           
this case America Online, to jump to a computer at another site,             
so there are no long distance charges to pay.                                
                                                                             
Bulletin boards, online stores, and multi-user games are just some           
of the things you can tap into using telnet. We've provided some             
sites in the telnet area list box, and you can find more sites by            
searching Gopher or the Web.                                                 
                                                                             
To call another computer, you need the computer's domain name and,           
in some cases, the port number. Open a connection with your telnet           
application and type in the address (and port number). Most of the           
sites you'll telnet to run on a Unix platform. Be prepared to use            
line commands instead of your mouse when you log in. In most cases,          
you'll find an easy-to-use interface and help files. If you get stuck        
in a connection, type Control-] and hit return (you can also try             
using the ~ key). If you see a prompt that looks like this:                  
                                                                             
telnet>                                                                      
                                                                             
type "close" to close the connection.                                        
                                                                             
If you're having trouble using your backspace key, try typing                
                                                                             
stty erase <hit the backspace key>                                           
                                                                             
Nearly every site you telnet to will ask you to establish an account.        
Most sites also ask for your real name and e-mail address--some              
even ask for your home address and phone number. Most of the time            
administrators keep this information private--they keep personal             
information about their users for security reasons only.                     
                                                                             
Telnet connections can be slow sometimes. If there is a lot of "lag"         
between the time you type a command and the computer responds, you           
might want to try the site at another time--when the server isn't            
as busy. Most machines will drop your connection if you stay idle            
too long, so if you're reading a long document you'll want to hit            
a key once in a while to stay logged in.                                     
                                                                             
If you're having problems with the way text appears when you log             
into another computer, read the documentation that came with your            
telnet program. You can configure your terminal settings so that             
your text will be displayed properly.                                        
                                                                             
For more information, type in the keyword "TELNET" in America Online.        

