Kathryn Schmidt (13), USA. Participant in the Kidforum 'Our Earth-Your Place' project.

The KIDLINK Newsletter
Global Networking for Youth 10-15 Years

March 4, 1995. Volume 6 : Issue 1. ISSN 0805-8881

IN THIS ISSUE "The number of my scholl is 173" Three magazines in KIDCAFE KIDFORUM: The Great Hunt KIDPROJ: "Virtual Trip" to China, Anyone? The KIDLINK IRC means fun KIDLINK's Gopher and WWW services Reorganization and other news The KIDS-95 Annual Celebration is near! New Documents and Files KIDS-95

Note: Throughout this newsletter, references are made to various KIDLINK archive files. An index of files, as well as instructions about how to get them, are given in "New Documents and Files" below.

1. "The number of my scholl is 173"

The goal of KIDS-95 is to involve as many 10-to-15-year-old youth as possible in a GLOBAL dialog continuing until May 6th 1995. On May 7th, 1995, we will start the KIDS-96 project.
All participating children are required to answer these questions: 1) Who am I? 2) What do I want to be when I grow up? 3) How do I want the world to be better when I grow up? 4) What can I do now to make this happen?
KIDLINK has received answers to these questions from over 30,000 kids living in 66 countries around the world.
Here are some recent responses:

** From Tembagapura, Indonesia **
(1) I'm Stuart Cady age 13 and a boy. My hobbies are rock climbing, cricket, baseball and playing Doom, Doom2, Heretic and Descent on the computer. My school is I. S. T. I hate my computer because it never seems to be able to load any games. I also don't like school. I like scouts and caving and in a few years will live in Cairns , Australia. My favorite kind of books are Calvin and Hobbes, Michael Crichton books, Footrot Flats and The Far Side.
(2) When I grow up I want to be a pro rock climber and a chopper mechanic like my dad.
(3) The way I would like the world to be when I grow up is with cleaner water and air. I'd like more forests(especially rainforests). I'd like cleaner mtns. so rockclimbing spots will be more abundant. I'd also like no nuclear power.
(4) I can start to help by not littering, saving eletricty and saving water.

** From Prague, Czech Republic **
(1) My name is David Jira. I am 11 years old boy. I live in Prague, in Czech Republic. The name of my school is NA LISE.
(2) When I grow up, I want to be a pilot. I must study High School for pilots. If not pilot, I want to be a veterinary doctor.
(3) I want to help to the animals. I have a dog, his name is Dundee.
(4) I help animals, I had also the cats. One cat mica had many children. I must study hard.

** From Russia **
(1) Karpov Alexander Nikolajevich. I am 13 years old. I am a boy. I live in Russia, Moscow. The number of my scholl is 173.
uWLEKA@SX KOMPX@TERNYMI IGRAMI I PYTA@SX DELATX IH SAM. sOBIRA@ MARKI, OKAMENELOSTI, KOMIKSY. l@BL@ RISOWATX. iNTERESU@SX PALEONTOLOGIEJ, AST- RONOMIEJ, INFORMATIKOJ. l@BL@ ^ITATX FANTASTI^ES- KIE POWESTI.
(2) sEJ^AS Q TO^NO NE ZNA@ KEM BUDU KOGDA WYRASTU. wOZMOVNO STANU PROGRAMMISTOM ILI POLEONTOLOGOM. q HOTEL BY POLU^ITX WYS[EE-TEHNI^ESKOE OBRAZOWA- NIE.
(3) q DUMA@ ^TO MIR BUDET LU^[E, KOGDA L@DI BUDUT BOLX[E ZNATX DRUG O DRUGE, BOLX[E OB]ATXSQ, OHRA- NQTX PRIRODU. hOTEL BY WSTUPITX W GREENPEACE.
(4) sEJ^AS, NAWERNOE, MNE NADO MNOGO I WSEMU U^IT- SQ, IZU^ATX INOSTRANNYE QZYKI, DLQ TOGO ^TOBY SPOKOJNO RAZGOWORITX S L@DXMI DRUGIH STRAN.

** From Oregon, USA **
My name is Tyler Lawrence, I am 13 years old, and I am a boy. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up but I hope it has something to do with explosives, weapons and tactics, boobytraps, surveilance, and enything else that has to do with weapons and bombs. For this kind of work I will most likly end up in the military, probably in the special forces-green beret area. I will have to be knowledged in all these areas so I do not kill myself. Therefore I expect myself to be well educated. I think the world would be better if I got a job as a Green Beret and I helped the U.S. or whatever country I working for win a war. I will help the enviornment be killing everyong in the war early so no nucler bomb will have to go off. I will help this happen by ordering all the bomb books and materials I need now, before the government bands them. I already think the world is ruined beyond repare and so I my vision of the world is not so good. My life goal is to become a Green Beret.

** From Cracow, Poland **
(1) I'm Artek Kordeusz, a 13 years old boy. I go to 6th form of a Wladyslaw Szafer Grammar School No 57. I'm interested specially in sport, computers, story writing and journalism.
(2) I haven't decided yet, but I suppose to be or a journalist or a pediatrist. However, some the nearest years I hope to be good soccer (football) player.
(3) If I become a pediatrist I'll be able to help many children. If I choose a journalism I'll travel through all the world to develope different charity works.
(4) I'm one of the journalists of our School Paper called "Szaferek". I hope, it allows me to become a famous one. For now, it's the most important thing I can do (besides studying, of course!).

** From Skara, Sweden **
(1) Stefan Olausson im 14 years old I am a boy i live in Skara Sweden Djaekneschool. jag bor i en liten stad pe landsbygden.Jag dr intresserad av musik, flickor och modellbygge
(2) jag vet inte vad jag vill bli ndr jag blir stor.
(3) ren natur
(4) panta burkar och eka mindre bil

2. Three magazines in KIDCAFE

We now have *three* magazines in KIDCAFE! Zinions has had seven issues so far. TeenTech/TeenZine has had one with another due shortly, and JOYsticK MaGaZiNe's third issue was distributed on January 24.
As far as we can tell, they are all entirely student initiated and run. We have not seen any signs of adults in the background, and are very pleased to have them in KIDCAFE.
If you want to see some issues of these magazines, send an email to the LISTSERV containing the following command in the body of your mail:

/SHIP KIDCAFE 43837 40860 43323

Zinions is done by Brett Wertz <bwertz@lps.esu18.k12.ne.US>, while Greg Novick <Greg_Novick@csgi.COM> is the creator of TeenZine. Nathan (BP) Thorell is the creator of the JOYsticK "video & coin-op game magazine on KIDCAFE."
Says Brett about his offering: "Well, Zinions is a magazine, that is run by a buncha kids who write about what they want. Even if you aren't a writer you can add an article to the magazine. It is basically a place for kids to voice their opinions."

3. KIDFORUM: The Great Hunt

The current topic in KIDFORUM is called The Great KIDLINK Hunt of KIDS-95. It is designed as an opportunity for youth and adults, skilled and unskilled alike, to learn more about the KIDLINK services, archives and information, and how to navigate them.
You guessed it! The topic is about finding information in KIDLINK's vast archives.
On 19 February 1995, at 00:01 GMT, it officially commenced. Answers to the first set of 20 Hunt puzzles are pouring in. At press time, 40 different sites in these countries are participating: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Israel, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and USA. More are expected, and will always be welcome.
What for? This is what two participants say:

Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 17:07:25 -0330
From: Kid #3 <hunt03@susie.stemnet.nf.ca>
Subject: Why we are doing the hunt!

YEAOW! WHAT ARE YA AT!?! We wanted to do "the hunt" on Kidlink because we were extrrrrrrrrrremly interested. 8~) Until we started this project, we did not know anything about the Internet. Now that we have started we are becoming more familliar with modems and find it EDUCATIONLY EXCITING (and fun)!!! WRITE US SOON!!!!

>From Gill and Eiko Lakecrest,St. John's,Nfld,Canada

If you have not seen the topic announcement, or would like to get your own copy, send a message to the LISTSERV. In the TEXT of your message, type: /SHIP KIDLINK 605
The Moderators for the Great Hunt are Delwynne Peterson (Australia) and Mark Hunnibell (USA). While the hunt is on (until 1 April 1995), you can reach them both by sending mail to hunt-95@kidlink.org .
"Our Earth-Your Place" was the title of the preceding topic in KIDFORUM. It was moderated by Sister Dianne Mollica (USA) and Lara Stefansdottir.
Up for discussion were questions about the students relationship to Earth, and the present and future contributions of themselves and their families. Participants from the U.S., Germany, France, Malaysia, Netherlands, Greece, and Slovenia shared tales of beauties, recreational activities, and plans for protection of our environment.

4. KIDPROJ: "Virtual Trip" to China, Anyone?

Jim Zahn (Hong Kong) is the brainchild of a new, exciting KIDPROJ project. In his own words:

Virtual Travel Opportunity in China!

Give your students an opportunity to travel by bicycle with a group of 7th grade students through rural Southern China, or to the ancient city of Xi'an ..... home of the famous Terracotta Soldiers.
Half of the HKIS 7th graders (approximately 90) will be traveling the week of March 13th through March 17th, 1995. The other half will travel the week of March 20th through March 24th. Two biking groups and one Xi'an group will be traveling each of the two weeks, so a "virtual trip to China" for those "following" the activities could last for two weeks.
The seventh graders will be posting their daily experiences on KIDPROJ using the subject heading of "Virtual China". All three HKIS groups (each week) will be taking a laptop computer, modem, and software to make a daily connection with KIDLINK. KIDPROJ students from around the world are encouraged to "travel along" and ask questions of the groups throughout the two weeks. Each group traveling in China hopes to answer questions sent to them while traveling.

You can retrieve the full text of the announcement by sending the following command to the LISTSERV address: /ship kidproj 1925 1926
Jim works at Hong Kong International School as a Technology Coordinator, and can be reached at <jzahn@ms.hkis.edu.hk>.
But there is more news from KIDPROJ. Coordinator Mike Burleigh reports that Steef de Haas (Holland ) has volunteered to index our Multi-Cultural Calendar monthly files. The files now have an index at the top to make it easier to search for holidays.
Just look at this international May 1 (part of it!):

5.1		May 1
5.1.1	Japan	Golden Week (Mika ..
5.1.4	Italy	Day of Workers (Elisabetta ..
5.1.5	Iceland	First Day of May (Nelly)
5.1.6	Peru	Dia del Trabajo (Fernando ..
5.1.7	Greece	Easter in Greece ( Christina ..
5.1.8	Finland	1 May celebration (Thomas ..

KIDCLUB announces a new CORE staff responsible for organizing the Saturday IRC chats. Jody Ghani and Ben Walter (the United Kingdom), Nada Evanusa (USA), and Edan Lloyd (Israel) are now the 'kids in charge!' KIDCLUB meets every Saturday on IRC at 17:00 GMT.
Here's a glimpse at their plans....

Topic		Date		Moderator
Nirvana		4th March		Tamar
Films		11th March		Phong
Computers in life		18th March		Edan
*Writers' Corner		25th March		John Ost
Desert		1st April		Edan/hannah
Current events		8th April		Nada
Careers		15th April		Barbara - A careers advisor
Animal research		22nd April		Tamar's Dad
*Writers' Corner		29th April		John Ost

5. The KIDLINK IRC means fun

Couldn't help it. The following 'definition' of the IRC was submitted in one student's answers to the Great Hunt Puzzle #20: "KIDLINK IRC means fun. It is a way for kids to talk to other kids live."
Our official definition is somewhat different. It says that the KIDLINK IRC is a multi-user, multi-channel chatting network. It allows kids all over the world to "talk" to one another in real-time.
There are now over 250 registered KIDLINK IRC users. You can see a complete list on KIDLINK IRC, on our Gopher (path: KIDLINK People, Registered KIDLINK IRC Users), and by pointing a Web browser at the address: gopher://gopher.kidlink.org/11/people/irc
Andraz Tancek, a KIDLINK 'graduate' from Slovenia, is moving into a more active management role and will be handling more of the administration of KIDLINK IRC.
Expect this dynamic environment to continue to be a service that kids everywhere enjoy tremendously. We want to thank all adults who drop in to see what it is, and stick around for some informal supervision.
Information on KIDLINK IRC is in the KIDLINK IRCHELP file, on the KIDLINK Gopher (path: Finding and Using KIDLINK Services, Using KIDLINK IRC and Other Chat Systems), and on this Web address: gopher://gopher.kidlink.org/11/accessing/chatdocs

6. KIDLINK's Gopher and WWW services

We had a serious long-term system outage in January as a result of an unexpected disk change and subsequent compatibility problem. The time was used to improve our services, and there are several promising efforts underway.
Mark Hunnibell has designed a new way to search the many KIDLINK message archives. The new KIDLINK SEARCHER can be reached by sending messages with your search word in the Subject line to SEARCHER@KIDLINK.ORG .
For instructions about the format of the Subject line, just put the word 'help' anywhere in the subject of a message to the address above.
We now have a GMT/Times-around-the-world Clock available on the Gopher (Path: Finding and Using KIDLINK Services, What is the current GMT/UTC?) With a Web browser, point it at gopher://gopher.kidlink.org/0exec0%3A%3A/accessing/gmt.pl
For information on how to use it via e-mail, see the file KIDLINK GMT.
You can now get to the KIDLINK WWW Page from the main menu on the KIDLINK Gopher *if* you are accessing the server using a WWW Browser. The main 'gate' to our service is the Web address: gopher://gopher.kidlink.org
The KIDLINK WWW Page is the last item on the menu. Gopher users will see garbage at this location that looks like this: <A HREF="http:..org:70/0/kidlink-general.html">KIDLINK WWW Page</A>.
If you are using Gopher, just ignore this choice.
Previously, we have told about a service for those unable to use the World Wide Web interactively. We said that WWW pages could be requested by email to a given LISTPROC address.
Since then, this email address has been changed to LISTSERV@INFO.CERN.CH , and the service is unavailable at press time (technical problems).
If you really need this option, here is an alternative. Send an email to webmail@curia.ucc.ie. Put the word 'help' in the body of your mail. This service is not so elegant, but it works.

7. Reorganization and other news

Lara Stefansdottir (Iceland) has been promoted to the position as KIDLINK Assistant Project Director. With this move, the Board of Directors acknowledges Lara's important role in building KIDFORUM from nothing into becoming one of KIDLINK's flagships. <Email: lara@ismennt.is>
Alenka Makuc (Slovenia) has worked as Lara's assistant since October 1993. She has now been promoted to the position as KIDFORUM Coordinator. (Email: <ALENKA.MAKUC@PUBLIC1.NOPRMD.mail.si>)
This promotion created a "hole" in the organization, which was quickly filled by Marisa Lucena from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (currently on leave in Canada), who has accepted the position as KIDFORUM Assistant Coordinator. (Email: <marisa@csg.uwaterloo.ca>)
Mark Hunnibell, who has been around for four years, has been promoted to the new position as KIDLINK WWW/Gopher Coordinator.
The list of Mark's services and accomplishments is very long. It includes building and operating our Gopher and IRC offerings, coordination of our Annual Celebration activities for several years, and much more. (Email: <mark@duquesne.kidlink.org>)
David Lloyd and Hannah Sivan (Israel) have jointly been promoted to fill the position as KIDLINK's IRC Coordinator. For some time, they have been working as KIDPROJ Assistants. Incidently, the KIDPROJ crowd has been our most active users of the IRC. (Email: <boker@zeus.datasrv.co.il>)
We will also be looking for a person to take over Dan Wheeler's responsibility as KIDCAFE Manager, another one to take over his 'List owner' functions, someone to help out Claus Berg with his RESPONSE list duties, and more.
KIDLINK is growing rapidly. We simply need more hands!
Oh, yes, another thing! In February, Claus Berg, Tor Arne Rickvoldsen, and Odd de Presno presented KIDLINK to over 70 listeners in Oslo, Norway. The great thing was that Tor Arne was able to hand out 15 free modems to the participants!
The modems had been given us by Ericsson, Dep. Semafor A/S (Arendal, Norway). This brings their total donations of modems, etc. up to an estimated value of US$ 6.000. Thank you very much!
The KIDLINK 1995 World Wide Kidart Exhibition is on. The first appearance will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, end of April this year. The project still welcomes submissions. For information, send an email message to LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU with GET KIDART ARTEX in the body of your text.

8. The KIDS-95 Annual Celebration is near!

Each day is bringing us closer to KIDLINK's big *fifth* anniversary, and the KIDS-95 Annual Celebration.
We've got a great set of documentation on what has happened in years past that give just a glimpse of what will come in the future. The growth in participation during KIDS-95 has been staggering, and it will likely make this years special anniversary the biggest and best party we've ever had. Expect around 5,000 youth in 25 countries on line for three days of fun.
To get started, retrieve the KIDLINK CELEB file. It starts by talking about the KIDs-94 celebration:

Over 3,000 kids participated during 72 busy hours. They joined in from 20 countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Finland, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Peru, Russia, Scotland, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, Uruguay, and the United States.

Detailed site reports from the last three years are also available. For information, send an email to the LISTSERV address with the command GET KIDLINK CELEB
On the Gopher: About the KIDLINK Projects \ The Annual Celebration \ Info about the Annual Celebration May 4-6 1995
WWW address: gopher://gopher.kidlink.org:70/11/about/celebrate

9. New Documents and Files

Important: If you are new to KIDLINK, then you *must* start by reading the file KIDLINK GENERAL.
The following is a selection of some new or updated files now available by e-mail from our archives:

Archive	File Name	Description
KIDLINK	GENERAL	What is KIDS-95? A *must* for all participants!
KIDLINK	NEWS395	KIDS-95 Newsletter #3
KIDLINK	MASTER	KidLink Document Descriptions. It tells you how to get the most _important_ files.
KIDLINK	SOCIETY	KIDLINK Organization Overview
KIDLINK	CHARTGIF	KIDLINK Organization Chart
KIDLINK	CH_BWWPG	Organization chart (B/W for WP)
KIDLINK	CH_BWGIF	Organization chart (B/W)
KIDLINK	NATIONS	Countries in KIDLINK
KIDLINK	KIDSHOW	How to get a copy of the "electronic book" about KIDLINK
KIDLINK	FRESH-KS	Refresh file for MS-DOS KIDSHOW
KIDLINK	EDU-INFO	Intro to KIDLINK for educators
KIDLINK	SPONSORS	KIDLINK SPONSORS
KIDLINK	WIZARD	KIDLINK People to ask for *help*
KIDLINK	TIPS	Practical tips about using KIDLINK
KIDLINK	SEARCHER	KIDLINK Archive Searching Utility
KIDLINK	GOPHER	The main KIDLINK Gopher Index file
KIDLINK	PROJINFO	Approval of projects
KIDLINK	GMT	What is the current GMT/UTC time?
KIDLINK	PEOPLE	Profiles of KIDLINK people
KIDLINK	NEWFOLKS	KIDLINK NEWFOLKS
KIDLINK	IRCHELP	KIDLINK IRC Help File Index
KIDLINK	IRCHELP1	KIDLINK IRC Access Information
KIDLINK	IRCHELP2	KIDLINK IRC Rules and Registration
KIDLINK	IRCIIINI	Windows INI file for ircII for Windows
KIDLINK	OTHERNTS	For older and younger kids

In Dutch:

KIDLINK	GENERALD	Wat is KIDLINK/KIDS-95?
KIDLINK	NEWS395D	KIDS-95 Nieuwsbrief Nummer 3
KIDLINK	TIPSD	Tips bij het werken met KIDLINK
KIDLINK	QUESTIOD	De Vier KIDLINK Vragen

In French:

KIDLINK

NEWS395F

La lettre du KIDS-95/3

In German:

KIDLINK

GENERALG

Was ist KIDLINK/KIDS-95

In Scandinavian:

KIDLINK	GENERALN	Hva er KIDLINK/KIDS-95
KIDLINK	CARINAM	Report about KIDLINK (Swedish)
KIDLINK	NEWS395N	KIDS-95 Nyhedsbrev nummer 3

In Spanish:

KIDLINK

NEWS395S

Noticias de KIDS-95/3

To retrieve files from the list above, send an electronic mail message to LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU (or LISTSERV@NDSUVM1 on BITNET). The TEXT portion of your message should include the GET command for the file(s) you want to receive. It will look like this: GET KIDLINK GENERAL
The files are also available on KIDLINK's interactive information server:

gopher gopher.kidlink.org 70
-or-
telnet 165.190.8.35 login: gopher
-or-
URL: gopher://gopher.kidlink.org
-or-
URL: http://kidlink.org:70/0/kidlink-general.html

If you only have email access to the Internet, it is still possible to use the gopher. The KIDLINK GOPHER2 file describes an easy way to use Gopher via email.
Several new art creations have been made available through the KIDART archive, the KIDLINK Gallery of Computer Art. The library contains over 140 files. For a list of current offerings, send a message to the LISTSERV containing the following line: GET KIDART MASTER
These pictures are also available from the KIDLINK Gopher, where you can view them without downloading when using a Web browser.

10. KIDS-95

is a project run by a non-profit organization called the KIDLINK Society. Most of the dialog between the kids is based on electronic mail.
KIDLINK is impartial as to what methods are being used to solve the problems of the world today. KIDLINK does not promote specific solutions to problems or political points-of-view.
While the KIDLINK mailing list is an announcement service, the various coordinator forums (KIDLEADR, KIDLEADP, KIDLEADJ, KIDLEADS, KIDLEADN), KIDPROJ, and KIDPLAN are meeting places for teachers, parents and other persons involved with the KIDS-95 project.
KIDS-95 operates the following forums for 10 - 15 year old youngsters:

RESPONSE		where the children send their personal introductions (their responses to the four introductory questions),
KIDCAFE		where they can 'talk' about anything they like,
KIDCAFEP		Portuguese language KIDCAFE
KIDCAFEJ		Japanese language KIDCAFE
KIDCAFEN		Scandinavian language KIDCAFE
KIDCAFES		Spanish language KIDCAFE
KIDFORUM		for exchanges between classroom groups of students.

To join KIDLINK through the Internet, send the command SUBSCRIBE KIDLINK Your Name to LISTSERV@vm1.NoDak.EDU. (Replace "Your Name" with your real name.) Put the command in the BODY of the text.
Our discussion forums are also available through conferencing system and mail exploders around the world. Write us for more information.
All forums are open for everybody, but only kids between 10 - 15 may write messages in KIDCAFE, KIDCAFEP, KIDCAFEJ, KIDCAFEN, KIDCAFES, and KIDFORUM.
A 130+ picture slide show about KIDS-95 is available for MS-DOS and Macintosh computers. For details about how to get a copy, send an email to the LISTSERV containing the command: GET KIDLINK KIDSHOW
The KIDS-95 newsletter is an information bulletin for teachers, parents, participants, sponsors, mediators, promoters, and others. Suggestions and contributions are invited.
The newsletters are distributed through the KIDNEWS mailing list, the KIDLINK announcement service, and the KIDLINK Gopher.
Subscribe to KIDNEWS by sending email to the LISTSERV with the command "SUBSCRIBE KIDNEWS Your-full-name" in the text of your mail. (Please use your real name instead of "Your-full-name".)

Editor/Project director:		Odd de Presno
Mail address: Fax: Internet: email address:		Saltrod, Norway (Europe). +47 41 27111 opresno@extern.uio.no

If you want to help out with KIDS-95, or participate, contact the editor, or write to kidlink-info@VM1.NODAK.EDU
You can also contact one of our local contact persons around the world for information about how to join and more. For a list of contact persons, retrieve the file KIDLINK CONTACTS.
KIDS-95 has local representatives in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and the United States.
Finally, you can also write to KIDLINK, 4815 Saltrod, Norway or just join ...