2/24/91 *** 8:00:01 PM Opening "AED022491" for recording. AFA Bard : Chat Log: February 24, 1991 Topic: US-Soviet Bridge Project Guest: RR Joe1 AFL Gayle : OK. Since we have an interested group, let's get started. If you are on an RR Joe1 : I guess it is time for me to install the sound CDA hooper, eh? AFC Tooter: Welcome from the frozen north, Joe. AFL Gayle : Apple // computer, do an Open Apple Toggle and pull down the HotShot to see the schedule for the rest of the week and our topic for tonight. Since Joe always has lots of exciting information, I'll skip the macros tonight to give him more time to talk. OK. No protocol here. Just wait Joe to answer a question before you throw too many more at him. Welcome, Joe! :) First question.. How do they access the Bering Bridge to the Soviet Union RR Joe1 : Good Evening, or if you are in Alaska, Good afternoon. AFL Gayle : has already been asked. How about taking that, Joe, and then introducing the project briefly. Then the questions can fly. :) RR Joe1 : So, translated is, what is the Bering Bridge, eh, Gayle? AFL Gayle : Correct, Joe. :) BCS Frank : Joe, appreciate all you're doing, including coming here. RR Joe1 : I live in Nome Alaska which is just a few miles from the Soviet Union, and in particular, the Soviet Far North town of Provideniya. This town is in the Magadan Oblast [ district ] and has an Alascom micro JimV34 : Hello all:) RR Joe1 : Two summers ago our cub scout pack went to Provideniya to meet with their Pixies : hello. RR Joe1 : children. At that time I arranged to return with (Hi Jim and Pixies) a month to spare, teaching computers and English. We went in September (of 89) and stayed one month. We taught at all the local schools there (including in Uriliki, the "suburb" of sorts. We took an Apple //GS donated by an Anchorage firm, a video camera, IBM Selectric, etc. 800 lbs of goodies, Pixies : what exactly is Bering bridge? RR Joe1 : and had a fantastic month. Now, I manage "SamsNet", or the Soviet American School Network, and that includes interfacing with AO on The Bering Bridge. Pixies : <- was in the Soviet union a couple of years ago and loved it!! RR Joe1 : We receive disks and paper mail from Provideniya, and all across the USSR DougB5 : anything from Leningrad, perchance? :) RR Joe1 : and upload, and receive mail from the USA and send across. The data is loaded Pixies : rr, can anyone access Samsnet. RR Joe1 : on 3.5 disks and sent across on airplane. They have modems now (and a //c) but RR Joe1 : no printer (yet , eh Mary EZ?). I have not gotten them to use the Modem yet. RR Joe1 : So, basically what I manage is projects, protocol, and people. It is not MaryEz : We're working on it!:) DougB5 : I was part of my school's exchange program to Leningrad last year. It was a DougB5 : blast. We brought with us an (UGH!) IBM PS/2 model 20. They were (needless) DougB5 : oops I mean (needless to say) confused by it RR Joe1 : going on now thanks to AO across the US and USSR, as far away as Moscow. AFL Gayle : (The interface is here online, Pixies. Joe will explain in a minute. Hang on.) Pixies : ok.. RR Joe1 : For example : The computer in Provideniya and the//c have no printers. I have been offered by Mary EZ to help start a communication program between the two schools, where by we will have an exchange of letters and mail. Our first goal is to get a printer. I wrote to the Provideniya school about her offer, and sent a letter by her, over there. They have gathered some items to send to her class from the Soviet Union, to auction to help pay for the printer. There will be lots of learning going on for all, and communication will be for a real project, not just Hi, how ya' doin', but a real end goal, which will serve to bind the two schools in a very practical way. And that is just the start. How can I help other schools? I can find schools, help with protocol (with the Soviets it is a never ending source of trouble) So, Pixie, what do you want? MaryEz : Our Student Council may take on the project so the entire school will be involved. (524 kids) Pixies : well i was just wondering how i can get involved.. I'm leaving in Sept. for RR Joe1 : Mary, that is wonderful. Pixies : a year in Germany courtesy of Rotary int'l but IÕm a Soviet buff.. RR Joe1 : Wait till you see the two boxes. Pixies : :: flag's hanging over the bed and Lenin picture on the wall..:: AFC Tooter: What other equipment would they want after they got a printer? RR Joe1 : Pixie, there are a number of ways you can start. AFA Bard : (Welcome Frank!) AFC Frank : Hi there, Bard! RR Joe1 : First of all, I would encourage you to look over the Bering Bridge files. There are letters from students who would like replies - and have not gotten Pixies : BTW, for any teachers out there..TELL all your students about Rotary Int'l RR Joe1 : any some of them, most of them. Have your students write back. There are s Pixies : its the BEST program!! RR Joe1 : specific names and addresses. Put your letters up online and I download and AFA Bard : Welcome OXR.. we're discussing the US-Soviet Bering Bridge project with RR Joe1-project administrator RR Joe1 : send across. that is the fastest. Also, there are sound files of learning OXR : Thank you the Russian alphabet done by Busy Bill in HS format. There are sound files by Igor, they are in labeled in English and the words are in Russian, prime for learning Russian, and making stacks. They have HS over there thanks to Roger Wagner free sending them. Make stacks of your area, your sounds in English. Up load them for all and I will send across. We received some Pixies : when i went over, we went to a soviet school and it was amazing. Pixies : very intimidating walking into a classroom and seeing "Study as Lenin Studied" Pixies : over the door.. RR Joe1 : crayon pictures half done, our Nome students will finish them and return, and we will be done the same with stories. There is no limit to what you can do. AFL Gayle : Joe, we'll give your fingers a break while I tell people how to find the RR Joe1 : Why, we just had 15 music school students from age 8 to 16 playing concerts her here in Nome, and we recorded the concert. Want a copy? Send me a 90 min. cassette tape and SSAE, self stamped addressed Envelope, and I will send you Pixies : well, IÕve got to go.. goodnight..IÕll look into the Bering bridge area.. RR Joe1 : a copy of the concert. They were very good. AFL Gayle : Bering Bridge online here. Use keyword AED to get to here. (You got that far already. :) Then select Special Interest Groups. Then The Education Connection. Then the Bering Bridge. There you will find a Let's Discuss board to post your messages and the library full of goodies that Joe's already told you about. Back to you, Joe, or anyone who wants to ask more questions. :) RR Joe1 : I am open DougB5 : Yes, does anyone here speak Russian? BCS Frank : Nifty goodies too. The Russian Stacks are real sock knockers! RR Joe1 : I am learning. MaryEz : Joe, what was the response of the Soviet kids at the on line chat we had Tuesday? AFC Frank : Tolko dovolno. DougB5 : Yes, the Cyrillic stack by Bill Davis is cool! RR Joe1 : Well, to update folks, we had a live chat at the AFL Gayle : (Speak it into your HyperStudio mike when you have time, Frank D. ;) RR Joe1 : Grade School with the sixth grade class and the Music School Students. AFC Frank : :) RR Joe1 : It was mixed reviews up here. RR Joe1 : Some of the students were into it. Many were not. There were a lot of reasons AFA Bard : Welcome Pest! RR Joe1 : for this. We have a new state of the art school, with 110 GSs and 40 Macs, Pest II : 'lo all BCS Frank : How would that work? .... Tolko dovolno ? RR Joe1 : carpet in the halls, plants,etc. the kids from across the water were just blown away by the school, and Nome in general. And it is hard for them AFA Bard : Welcome to AED, Debra Ann!Paste would exceed field capacity.Paste would exceed field capacity. RR Joe1 : to focus on some more practical task like responding to a TV screen via a Debra annP: Hi, Thank you. RR Joe1 : translator asking questions that they can not comprehend. Not comprehend due to the whole experience being so overwhelming. Debra annP: I just happened to stumble in. This was not where I was headed. Bye BCS Frank : All the more reason for the bridge. RR Joe1 : So, it is process, learning how the other half lives. Yes, the bridge is so important, especially our patience in dealing with them Screen RR Joe1 : for instance, they have had a a modem for 15 months and never even hooked it AFA Bard : Welcome Eric! (DSI Rep 3!) Pest II : There seem to be strange similarities between this and some programs here in NY DSI Rep 3 : Hello :) DSI Rep 3 : <--- Joel :) AFA Bard : Ooopps.. Hiya Joel! RR Joe1 : up. Why? What politics interFEAR with open access I just received a long letter from the Customs Director in Provideniya. He is finally opening up to SamsNet and our work, but it is slow. BTW, Provideniya area and Moscow are the only towns in the CCCP that can support modems due to clean lines. there may be others but I doubt it. BCS Frank : Sounds like openness is more appropriate than aggressiveness now. RR Joe1 : Bard, question? AFC Frank : Politics gets in the way of a LOT of things, Joe. AFC Tooter: Yes, peace. Pest II : (and not just international politics either!) RR Joe1 : It is more than politics, it is 50 years under Stalin, and 500 years under Debra annP: I got your message, but I was unable to contact you through Instant Mail Debra annP: It said you were not on line. RR Joe1 : Tsars, have lowered the individual drive , this may be way off base, but is Debra annP: I was looking for Vitesse. my experience. Capitalism is not understood, and black market is the way of life, not the exception. AFA Bard : Sure.. is there a link between AO's Scrapbook Project and the Bering Bridge? DSI Rep 3 : bbl :) RR Joe1 : Students are second class citizens and I have to FIGHT to keep in contact with them, not the teachers, directors, friends of directors, etc. I have not gotten a Scrapbook response yet. I did just send a letter to the school director stating very flatly that if they could not increase their AFC Tooter: ScrapBook Essays in progress now. Full shipment will be made when all are complete. RR Joe1 : use of the GS and send more mail, that I would remove the computer and send to another town. They have 30 days to come up with 50 letters (it is a town of 6,000 - 50 letters should be a snap ) The computer is a shrine, not a tool. AFA Bard : Ahhh.. that'll get 'em motivated! (Welcome Ragen, Morah!) RR Joe1 : they need our continued support. BCS Frank : Hmmm... they don't have a hacker's ethic yet? I do not like to tell them directly, they have to learn on their own, it has RR Joe1 : been repeated in the Native history in Alaska, to learn on your own, fail, and Pest II : have to beg for people to leave messages... BCS Frank : Toot! :( RR Joe1 : learn again, and succeed. MaryEz : Did you send over the fall scraps? AFC Tooter: I know. Sorry Frank. AFA Bard : (Glad you asked that Mary!) RR Joe1 : I have updated their files consistently. Pest, I agree. I have had addresses posted on the Bering Bridge for a year and very little response for them. BCS Frank : Would they be likely to respond better to one-on-one letters? RR Joe1 : And we are talking world peace. And we need that now. Pest II : Good idea Frank. Many people seem more comfortable that way. People on the BBS Pest II : use Email more often than they post publicly (unfortunately) RR Joe1 : One on one may be better as the teachers tend to get in the way. I gave BCS Frank : It's easier to visualize the one correspondent waiting for a reply. specific directions to the last students to write to me directly (thru my SamsNET director over there) and avoid the school, and that I would get them BCS Frank : Hmm... would the students have more latitude it theSov. teachers could RR Joe1 : responses on the GS and send them disks, there by needing the use of the GS BCS Frank : also have "pen pals" at their level? RR Joe1 : to read. Arm twisting. My Soviet director is behind me and solid.RR Joe1 : There are names awaiting for pen pals, also, just general letters to the RR Joe1 : Provideniya School, Fazanka School (Technical school) and Uriliki Schools. And teachers like mail very much. Any grade 2 - 11 (our 1 - 12). I have some synthLAB songs to upload that they played at my home as well to upload. AFC Tooter: Once again, Joe, once they have a printer, what do they need next. Mary, can others help you raise the AFC Tooter: money RR Joe1 : They need a printer to help translate letters, on the screen is too hard, it is one at a time, and slow. Next thing they will need is Paper ! AFC Tooter: Has anyone thought about a scanner? MaryEz : and ribbons! Black and color! BCS Frank : Will sending in items like paper & ribbons & disks set off custom duties? RR Joe1 : They could use a scanner as well. Computer paper is very very hard to get, and AFL Gayle : My question, too, BFrank? What about that, Joe? At one time you were having problems? RR Joe1 : I saw no 8 1/2 X 11 paper at all there. AFC Frank : What size is there normal size? European size? AFA Bard : Joe.. I've heard that a division of Texaco Oil, called STAR ENTERPRISES is giving grants for RR Joe1 : Customs I have an understanding with now, so should be no problem. I am the AFA Bard : international telecom. projects.. would this work? AFL Gayle : Will Customs let you take in the paper if someone were to send it to you, Joe? RR Joe1 : only one who can send boxes across though. AFL Gayle : (Also the ribbons.) RR Joe1 : I have labels of SamsNET now that Customs recognizes and accepts. Now I need one of those paper stamps to certify letters with ( LOL ) I dressed up as KGB once in provideniya and went around arresting my friends, got to start somewhere . . . BCS Frank : :) BCS Frank : How about AppleFest buttons? Computer magazines? RR Joe1 : Their only technology is our technology, so not European sizes, but ours. AFA Bard : LOL! Do they have FAX machines, Joe? RR Joe1 : Computer mags, AppleFest buttons, wonderful. Yes, they have a Fax or two over AFC Frank : Then what size paper DID you see over there? AFA Bard : In the schools? Are they screened? RR Joe1 : there. A photocopy machine ended up in Provideniya at the Uriliki school BCS Frank : Did you see paper over there? RR Joe1 : ( 2 - 11 grades ) they called to ask who it was for. I checked around and no body knew in Nome, so I called back and said it was theirs to keep. Paper over there is small, yellow, poor quality. Chalk is even worse, I took my own, and an eraser for the black board. BCS Frank : Does the tech school train machinists? AFA Bard : Jeez.. it's something when CHALK is high technology. Guess we don't realize how fortunate RR Joe1 : But it is important to give them the opportunity to give back. AFA Bard : we really are! (And I complain about laser printer toner!) RR Joe1 : Machinists, cooks, photo, English, all branches . . BCS Frank : Asking because I work a a machinist in my offline hours. AFL Gayle : (Gee, Bard, you have it rough. Laser printer???) RR Joe1 : Yes, the chalk is large rectangles, perhaps 1 inch z 2 inches, 4 inches long, and so weak that it falls apart. they viewed my "dustless" chalk with wonder and staplers were unknown ! AFA Bard : Imagine what they must use the photocopy machine for! :))) AFC Tooter: How about selling Russian chalk in the states to raise money for computers? AFC Frank : Do they have a wall outlet to plug it IN? RR Joe1 : Their photocopy machine needs toner first ! MaryEz : LOL BCS Frank : Bard probably has some extra toner. :) AFL Gayle : Sure he does. Now that Bard has his laser printer, he doesn't need a photocopy AFC Frank : Hmmmm... hope they have 115 volts! Not all those places do! And ... AFL Gayle : machine. ;) AFC Frank : unless I'm wrong.. they're on 50 CPS. AFA Bard : Now, now.... :) We don't use the laser as a copier! Too expensive! RR Joe1 : they are 220 volts and 50 hertz BCS Frank : The gs is switchable to 50Htz. AFL Gayle : OK. You can continue talking. I just want to take a minute to announce our AFC Frank : Did the copy machine operate on 220? If not, it will run very FAST, but for.. AFC Frank : a very SHORT TIME! RR Joe1 : The GS runs fine. AFA Bard : Y'know.. Tutor's idea wasn't all that bad. Could we "Import" some soviet school artifacts and sell BCS Frank : But the LC Mac would be in trouble. :) AFA Bard : them to help them raise money? AFL Gayle : winner of our free hours. Yes, singular winner. MaryEZ gets 2 free hours, one for using the secret word Soviet and one for using the word Scrap. :) Congratulations, Mary! :) BCS Frank : Congratulations, Mary, way to go!!!! AFA Bard : ()()()()()()()()()()() Mary!!! (You been looking into our secret word file again??) LOL! RR Joe1 : Mary needs them, Hurrah. . . . AFC Frank : Congrats, Mary!!!!!!!!!! AFC Frank : Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh AFL Gayle : Applause MaryEz : I am a lucky person. I need that!!! AFC Tooter: I wasn't just being funny. T "Shirts" would go too. Something with Cyrillic and a map. Pest II : congrats Mary BCS Frank : We're lucky to have you here. :)] AFL Gayle : Our chat next week features our own AFC Tooter, talking about Computer Labs AFA Bard : Right, Toot. Even some Soviet texts? AFL Gayle : this time. :) Same time, same station. :) RagenT : Bravo!, Mary! RR Joe1 : Actually, I was thinking is schools made a post card of their town, and AFC Tooter: Right. AFC Tooter: And Mary will win again? RR Joe1 : Provideniya made some, we could trade and sell, all making money. MaryEz : Of course, TooT, why not? BCS Frank : For import items... do their art classes make watercolor paintings? AFL Gayle : Maybe, TooT. Never know until the time comes what words we will pick. ;) AFA Bard : Mary... will you go to Vegas and win money for the Provideniya kids??? LOL! AFC Tooter: Nobody deserves it more, Mary. AFL Gayle : However, Mary has the right idea. :) BCS Frank : Watercolors of students & their town & at their computer would be BCS Frank : great auction items. Pest II : and copies of them could be put on postcards RR Joe1 : I have a very nice water color going to MaryEz, BCS Frank : :) Pest II : wow, all this and a watercolor too AFA Bard : Goooooood Morning Vietnam!! Robin Williams calls from the TV... THANKS for coming to the chat, folks. I'm gonna clock out for the nite! :) AFC Tooter: :( BCS Frank : Bye, Bard :) RR Joe1 : A regular Magnum size photo can accept a PostCard sticker backing, MaryEz : Bye, Bard!}:> RR Joe1 : /Good night Bard AFL Gayle : That's Soviet Union, Bard. ;) Good night! :)) AFA Bard : ****** Closing Log ****** 2/24/91 9:05:25 PM Closing file.