Last updated: October 15, 1997.

THIS IS AN UNAPPROVED DRAFT VERSION. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ON THE NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CRITICIZE THE CONTENTS. SEND E-MAIL TO < gvdc@lafn.org >. SINCE IT HAS BEEN SO DIFFICULT TO GET THE NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE TOGETHER, WE ARE EXPERIMENTING WITH COLLABORATING VIA THE INTERNET (COPIES WILL BE FAXED OR MAILED TO COMMITTEE MEMBERS NOT ON THE 'NET). SINCE THERE IS NO PAGE SIZE LIMIT ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB, THE FINAL PRINT VERSION WILL BE AN ABBREVIATED VERSION OF THE FINAL APPROVED VERSION HERE.

COMPUTING The GVDC on the "World Wide Web" The Gardena Valley Democratic Club has been accessible on the "World Wide Web" (WWW) for almost two years now. If you've got Internet access via a computer, you can visit our Web Site at www.lafn.org/politics/gvdc Or, you can find our Web Site easily by looking up "Gardena Valley Democratic Club" using a WWW Search engine like Yahoo! or Alta Vista. If you haven't got access to a computer, you can still visit our Web Site using computers at a local library. Many libraries now have computers connected to the Internet and there are people there who will be happy to show you how to use them. Why would you want to visit our Web Site? Well, the information there is much more up-to-date than the information in this newsletter, since the Web Site can be updated hourly. Also, it looks better -- it's in dazzling colors! There is much more information than we can fit into a newsletter, including links to breaking news stories like the CIA-Contra-Drug Connection story in the San Jose Mercury-News. We've got links to Democratic organizations across the country, from the White House to our neighboring Beach Cities Democratic Club. The best feature of the World Wide Web is that you can access our Web Site from almost

anywhere! Even from Moscow or Timbuktu! So you can always keep up with events in the South Bay even if you take a trip around the world! The "Front Page" of the GVDC World Wide Web Site as it appeared on Inauguration Day, 1997. Of course, there are people who want to censor what you read, overseas and here in the

U.S.A., so you may not be able to visit our Web Site from every country, but you can from most! Another benefit is that the Web Site is interactive! You can have an input into what is said on our Site! You can suggest articles, criticize what's already there and let us know about interesting Web Sites that you've found so that we can add them to our list. Or ask us to add topics that you're interested in. The Los Angeles Free-Net Our Club's Web Site resides on the computers of the Los Angeles Free-Net, a non-profit public service organization based in Encino. In our area, the LAFN uses computers provided by El Camino College and by the USC-Norris Cancer Center and Hospital. A number of businesses, hospitals and charitable organizations throughout the L.A. area also support the LAFN. It is one of the least expensive ways to get on the Internet, costing only $20 per year for an e-mail address and for text-based access to the Internet. To use a graphical Web Browser like Netscape Navigator costs only $40 per year, total -- no other charges! (Our Club's Web Site, by the way, costs us only $65 yearly.) If you join the L.A. Free-Net, the only restriction is a one-hour time limit per session, but you can call right back. It also has some limitations on some audio and other technologies, but for basic Internet service it can't be beat! Send e-mail (electronic mail) to "info@lafn.org" to receive information on joining LAFN. You can access our Web Site from CompuServe, America Online or any Internet Service.

(If this page looks familiar, it's because this was originally intended for our January, 1997, newsletter, and we passed out almost identical copies at several Democratic meetings during February and March.)

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