Regarding the query on internet addresses for Africa, IDRC Information Sciences and IDRC Health Sciences Divisions have been funding an experiment in store-and-forward, low earth orbit, satellite e-mail communications in Africa for sites not well served by conventional means. It is called HealthNet and is managed by SatelLife, a US based not-for-profit NGO. There are an increasing number of ground stations available in Africa and these can be reached through conventional internet addressing (addresses below). There is a user council in each country who manage the last mile communications. I attach some recent instructions from SatelLife regarding the new addressing system. ***************************************** From: C=US/A=INTERNET/DDA=ID/hnet(a)usa.healthnet.org Subject: e-mail addressing Date: Monday, April 25, 1994 at 5:47:02 pm EST Attach: smtp4221.499 Certify: N -------------------------- [Original Message] ------------------------- Original MHS ID: US/INTERNET/0006isuqiaqc Original UA Identifier: C=US/A=INTERNET/DDA=ID/hnet(a)usa.healthnet.or g/MSG=0006isuqiaqc Delivered: Mon Apr 25 17:47:13 1994 ----------------------------- [X.400 Text Follows] --------------------------- -- As you all know (or should know by now), we at SatelLife have changed our e-mail address from [log in to unmask] to [log in to unmask] This change was necessary because we anticipated setting up our own gateway and needed a domain name ['healthnet.org']. To make things easier, we decided to use our domain name using an account provided by The World (Software Tool & Die) - an Internet server in the Boston area. Originally, people were advised to address mail with the following formula: FirstInitialLastName.[1st 3 letters of][log in to unmask] This formula now needs to be changed for the last time! Instead of putting the country before the '@', it now needs to go AFTER the [log in to unmask] For example, Adil Abukashawa in Sudan, now has the following e-mail address: [log in to unmask] (Please keep username to 8 characters or less.) Now we have our own Unix machine which is directly connected to the Internet and all of our mail is being received by this machine. The time required to set up the machine as a full time gateway while at the same time adapting the exisiting software we use for the satellite operation was more than we anticipated. Due to this fact, mail addressed to [log in to unmask] was bounced. We had to first set up the Internet connection before we could solve this problem. Currently, we have solved the problem of bounced mail (to : anyone@[1st 3 letters of]country.healthnet.org). Please note that the old addressing cannot be used anymore. TO SUMMARIZE: MESSAGES TO HEALTHNET USERS MUST BE ADDRESSED TO: [log in to unmask] WHERE, COUNTRY OBEYS THE CODES LISTED BELOW AND USERNAME IS KEPT TO 8 LETTERS. **NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT SEND MAIL TO [log in to unmask] COUNTRY CODES: aus - Australia bot - Botswana bra - Brazil cam - Cameroon can - Canada cub - cuba eri - Eritrea eth - Ethiopia gam - Gambia gha - Ghana (Accra) gha2 - Ghana (Navrongo) ind - Indonesia (not yet operational) ken - Kenya mal - Mali moz - Mozambique nig - Nigeria (not yet operational) phi - Philippines (not yet operational) sud - Sudan tan - Tanzania uga - Uganda usa - United States zam - Zambia zim - Zimbabwe All of this painstaking process was necessary. We are moving to a better service and we hope you can understand. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you should encounter any other problems, concerning the HealthNet address scheme, you can use the following address as a backup: [log in to unmask] Thank you for your patience and cooperation. And please feel free to ask for clarification if you need it. Sincerely, Edson Pereira System Engineer and Diana Ricci Office Manager SatelLife ********************************** Don de Savigny, Ph.D. Principal Program Specialist Health, Society and Environment Program Health Sciences Division e-mail: [log in to unmask]