Telnet - It's a terminal emulation program or a client-server protocol that allows remote communication to a host(computer or server) through command line interface. It was an effective tool to do things like get e-mail or sendbasic information, but telnet has not really evolved since it's first use. Telnet does not encrypt the information it sends and another similar protocol seems to have become populae called SSH or Secure SHell. A little more detail on what Telnet is at these two sites: http://www.free-definition.com/Telnet.html[1]; http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/T/Telnet.html[2] And a little bit about SSH can be found here: http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.3-Manual/ref-guide/ch -ssh.html[3] I practiced telnet at the IPAC Extragalactic Database telnet://134.4.10.106[4]. Command line interface does take some getting used to and navigating through pages is definitely not the same as through your typical browser. But, after some reading of the screen and paying attention to the way to get help in navigating I was able to get some information on our galaxy and a few others. It was fun once I figured out what the '^' symbol was for! So, I learned that the '^' means the Control button on the keyboard - Makes it necessary to close and get help in this database! Matthias --- Links --- 1 http://www.free-definition.com/Telnet.html 2 http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/T/Telnet.html 3 http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.3-Manual/ref-guide/ch-ssh.html 4 telnet://134.4.10.106