I agree, it is confusing and can be trying. If I had the time to play with it or the instruction necessary to navigate it, I might try again just to explore some of the other telnet sites. Telnet is built upon three main ideas: first, the concept of a "Network Virtual Terminal"; second, the principle of negotiated options; and third, a symmetric view of terminals and processes. (http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc854.html) I practiced Telnet at IPAC Extragalactic Database or telnet://134.4.10.106. I found Telnet extremely difficult to use. It took me a few tries to realize I couldn't use my mouse. The commands were confusing. It's hard to compare Telnet to the World Wide Web because it is such a simple program, where the WWW is so much more complex. I finally got to an understanding of how to navigate telnet but would prefer to never have to use it again. -Jenny Fitch Mark Maas Hope springs eternal.