The Rural Voice, 1996-02, Page 29has attracted several large employers
for whom the communications
possibilities, coupled with wage
advantages, were a business
incentive.
Lindsay says everyone is looking
for alternatives to the current
party -line dilemma but none of
the solutions are easy or cheap.
Some people have looked at
satellite connections but these are
very expensive. The "free -nets"
like HOMEtown may become part
of the solution, he says.
But access to the Internet is a
two-way street. People like
Ken Furlong are concerned
that not only can people in
the rural areas get information off
the Internet, but also the local
community be represented on the
Internet. It's one of the reasons he
urged the Grey Federation to set up a
home page on the Internet in January.
"We need local information just as
much as we need information from
the rest of the world," he says.
Dillon agrees, and through the
HOMEtown Network several groups
from the local area, everyone from
the East Zorra Seniors Club to
Huron -Bruce M.P. Paul Steckle, have
created home pages.
While outright commercialism on
the Internet is frowned on, Vanderloo
says companies have used it as a way
of getting their name in front of
background.
Dave Snider helped Grey County
Federation get online with its home
page. The cost of creating and
maintaining a home page can vary as
to how elaborate it is, he says. A
"page" is a varying term but he
says it contains about the
information of two eight and a
half by 11 -inch pieces of paper.
A page with one graphic
plus text can cost about $300 a
year to create and maintain on a
server, he estimates. Unless you
have your computer hooked up
online 24 hours a day, you're
going to have to make use of an
Internet provider to "publish"
your page. The provider, whether
a for-profit or a free -net
enterprise, will make your
information available whenever
someone calls it up.
The Grey Federation page will be
updated every other month or so,
Snider says. As part of the
Federation's attempt to be more
proactive on issues, it will provide a
space for people to state their
opinions of what the Federation
should do about things like
OMAFRA cutbacks.
The more sophisticated "sites" on
Internet allow users, using their
mouse and a point -and -click
method, to delve further and
further into the information provided.
If you find something you want to
keep, you can download it onto your
own computer and print it out. Snider
sees this as the future of providing
information to farmers for
organizations like OMAFRA. He
points out that it costs a lot of money
to publish the OMAFRA fact sheets
such as Publication 75, the book that
outlines weed control options. On his
farm, Snider says, he perhaps looks
at that book once a year for a few
minutes, but OMAFRA has had to
pay the cost of printing the book. On
the Internet, he says, he can look up
the page of information he needs,
download it and print it off, and save
the rest of the paper.
Those who have been using the
Internet find they're spending a lot of
time on it as they discover the wealth
of information available. Furlong
estimates he spends eight to 10 hours
a week. Snider figures he puts in an
hour a day himself and the family
The Internet is supposed to
be commercial free but some
companies are learning how
to bend the rules.
people. Large companies are
producing "infomercials" that
provide information while promoting
the company name. Even local
companies are getting into the act.
Anstett's Jewellers of Clinton, for
instance, provides a page that tells
about gems, where they come from,
what carats mean and other
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26 THE RURAL VOICE