Main - Network - Services - Membership - Links - Support - Contacts - FAQ - Info

Useful Hyperlinks for Members

This page contains a collection of hyperlinks covering all sorts of computing topics that are of relevance to people like ourselves who like to experiment and learn from those experiences.

The following major sections exist further down on this page:

Important APANA information sources

All domain registrations in the '.au' namespace are managed by the AUstralian Domain-name Authority. auDA controls the accreditation of domain name registrars as well as setting the rules under which domain name applications can be submitted for approval.

Because APANA expressly forbids outright commercial use through a clause in the APANA Acceptable Use Policy, we cannot host websites using domains names in the '.com.au', '.com' or '.biz' namespaces, or any other namespace which is recognised as being used for commercial business websites and/or email.

Domain Name Management Sites, Services and Tools

The following sites, services are useful if you need to check on domain name availability, etc. as well as register, delegate and manage domain names:

NetRegistry is a highly reputable organisation trusted by over 10,000 businesses, organisations and individuals in Australia to handle their domain name registration needs. If you would like to register a domain name for a personal website or for a non-profit organisation website, NetRegistry can help you!

Note that if you would like APANA Sydney to host a website for you then you must register a domain name before the website hosting is set up. Please email us (noting the email address is 'poisoned' to prevent automated harvesting by spam email companies) and we can help guide you through the process.


Support Groups and Social Groups

including Censorship Awareness and Cyber-Activist Organisations

Linuxchix exists to provide female Linux users with the 'hey, I'm not the only one!' experience. For more information (particularly the answer to the question Are men welcome? see the Linuxchix FAQ (Yes, people of all genders are welcome :) The Linuxchix community primarily revolves around our mailing lists, and there are a growing number of regional chapters being established around the world. If you don't see your region on the list, you should ask about it on the grrltalk or techtalk mailing lists!

If you have any questions or comments about Linuxchix, please feel free to contact Jenn Vesperman at jenn@linuxchix.org.

There is a Sydney chapter of Linuxchix in existence but the last-known URL for the Sydney chapter website does not work.


Sydney Linux Users Group was established in 1993. It is primarily a meeting of the minds, a place to learn about and discuss Linux. The 'meetings' take place in real venues, once a month on the last Friday, or in 'virtual space', via their mailing list and Web pages.

SLUG members are made up of professionals, semi-professionals, hobbyists, and just those who like to play and gain knowledge of Linux and the vast number of freely available application packages.

SLUG is about sharing experiences, knowledge and fun.

SLUG caters for all levels, those who are new to Linux, wanting to know how to install or setup Linux, to experienced kernel hackers.


Community Activist Technology is a non-profit anarchist collective of volunteers who's goals are closely matched to APANA's.

Information is power. We need better communication tools to help get powerful information to activists and potential activists who need it. The internet is a cheap global communication network, using computers. It reverses the trend from top down broadcasting of TV and radio, and lets information flow across and under. With good ideas, a little training and a little technology, most anyone can reach a global audience.


2600 Australia is a loose-knit group of people interested in computer security, electronic gadgetry, communications and just technology exploration in general.

They have no official membership though they host a number of mailing lists and hold monthly meetings in cities around Australia. There are approximately 450 subscribers on the lists at the present time. One of the other things they do is investigate and publish details of anomalies in various things, and this forms the basis of their pet projects.


Parramatta Computer Access Network (aka PCAN, pronounced pecan) is a collaborative effort between community organisations, volunteers, and local government in the Parramatta area. It exists to provide access to computer technology; supply services, support, and skill sharing; promote and facilitate computer hardware re-use; and encourage the growth of employment opportunities within the community.



Cyber-Censorship and Regulation Awareness

Links in this section point to organisations that focus on cyber-censorship and regulation of the Internet and other similar systems. With increasing pressure on governments to enforce controls on electronic communication, it's important to keep abreast of what is happening.

Organisations listed in the previous section such as 2600 Australia and CAT cross over into this category as well.

Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. is a non-profit, national organisation formed in 1994 to define, promote and defend the civil liberties of users and operators of networked systems. EFA are the co-ordinators of the STOP! campaign aimed at preventing the introduction of poorly conceived laws regulating the Internet in Australia.


A subsidiary site which is part of the EFA, this site is chock full of comprehensive information concerning attempts around the world to censor what we can say and see on the Internet, with primary focus on the Australian situation.


The Electronic Frontier Foundation is non-profit civil liberties organisation working in the public interest to protect privacy, free expression, and access to online resources and information. The EFF are the co-ordinators of the Free Speech Online - Blue Ribbon Campaign, a campaign to protect free speech in electronic communication.


[Blue Ribbon Campaign icon]
Join the Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign!


Peacefire.org was created in August 1996 to represent the interests of people under 18 in the debate over freedom of speech on the Internet.

Peacefire is a "people for young people's freedom of speech" organisation, not a "young people for freedom of speech" organisation. In other words, you can join at any age if you are against censorship for students and people under 18 in general.



Hardware Info for Members

The info in this section covers hardware items used in the core network, or for links to/from the core network to service member-access sites, or has been tested and proven to work reliably by other members:



Major Open-Source Software Packages

Links in this section are for major open-source software packages used to supplement vendor-supplied software on machines connected into the core network and on other member's personal networks:



Web Client Applications


General WWW Sites


Search Engines

Google


Free Software



E-Zines and Online Journals


HTML Coding and Web Page Authoring

Standards for HTML coding, etc. are maintained by the World Wide Web consortium.



Java and Javascript

Java is a platform-independent application programming environment developed by Sun Microsystems.



Perl

PERL is a highly-flexible, versatile scripting language which borrows much of it's structure from the C programming language.


VRML

VRML (Virtual Reality Markup Language) provides extensions over basic HTML for representing VR-related data objects.



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