~* -=/[ Welcome to the ThoughtScape of MindVox ]/=- Welcome to MindVox, where you can cavort in a beautiful virtual environment populated by a stellar collection of people who get thrown off of every other system in Cyberspace; those in attendance include some of the luminaries of Cyberpunk literature; the dregs of the art world; out of work movie people who will offer you glamorous jobs for no pay; ex-hackers from LOD, KOS, and a dozen other affiliations, who played as major role in shaping the development of Cyberspace over the last decade; government people from all kinds of neat three-letter acronyms who have put quite a few of the afore-mentioned crowd through the processes of our delightful legal system; lawyers and legislators who want to discuss the deep inner meaning and truth behind what the hackers did, what the government does, and what it all really means anyway; people who take too many drugs and then write about it; people who can't stand people who take drugs; a bunch of reporters, journalists, and media people, all gathered here to watch what all the other groups are doing; if all this wasn't enough there's also Elvis & Mondo 2000 -- together again, almost, for the first time. Since you have arrived at this nexus point within Cyberspace, you presumably have at least a basic idea of what we are, and what you expect to find here. You may have read an article by or about one -- or some -- of us, seen a clip, attended a conference, or just taken a spin through the electronic landscape to see what fate had in mind. MindVox was created out of our desire to bring an innovative and creative gathering-place to the online universe. While we are a full-featured service provider, our main goal is one of creating and constantly evolving a unique online community, which combines all the features you'd expect from any multi-national commercial network or large-scale public access Unix site coupled with a diverse array of individuals and groups who have made their home on MindVox, weaving together the threads of countless ideas and dreams, into the social fabric of a thriving community. To put it simply: we are a PLACE, not just a collection of services grouped together with a price list and termed "a system." There is a great deal of text available on us in various periodicals, both hardcopy and electronic, and a cross-section of this material is available online. People who are interested in obtaining further information are encouraged to login as guests and peruse the considerable selection of material that is online and available for reading or download. Whatever has brought you here, you want to find... something. It might be as simple as the latest stock quote or a piece of shareware, or it could be as complex and all-encompassing as trying to give your life some new level of understanding that allows you to find peace of mind. Chances are that for most of you, what you desire lies somewhere between the two absolutes delineated by NeW WaReZ and online therapy. Although MindVox is suitably equipped to supply just about anything you may desire, it's primary focal point isn't shareware, or junk that can be found on ftp sites and PC boards spread throughout the land. MindVox is a storehouse of knowledge pertaining to a wide variety of topics, and contains a vast collection of archives that house information on everything from software updates, viruses, security news, drug information, legal issues effecting Cyberspace, and electronic digests and anthologies . . . all the way to a constantly growing library that chronicles the very inceptions of Cyberspace, with timeslices of systems dating all the way back to 1979 -- the first bulletin boards ever to exist. MindVox runs on pretty complex, custom software that makes everything as easy to use as possible. The system itself is in a constant state of change as we make improvements, implement your suggestions, fix problems stemming from complaints, and generally evolve the state-of-the-art in online technology. We're running on an expensive collection of hi-tech toys, with a lotta modems, workstations, hard disks, terminal servers and bandwidth. We are BeTTeR, NeWER, FLASHIER, SHinY, BrIGHT and Cheaper ThaN almost anything on earth, or in outer space for that matter. The closest tangible structure that MindVox could be likened to, is a sprawling Tavern at the crossroads of the entire world. Whether you have jacked into Vox by dialing a local number with your modem, or stacked together a web of net connections that spans the world, you have arrived - and while you might make use of the facilities provided, chances are you're not here 'cuz you want to flip through an online multimedia encyclopedia, or because you're on a quest for that elusive copy of MegaTerminal 92.7Y NOW SUPPORTING NEON ANSI MODE and V.FAST! You're here because you want to interact with people that you won't find on any other system -- pioneers in the fields of computer science, science fiction, music, the arts, religion, altered states, and future realities - writers, musicians, artists, programmers, designers, directors, actors, entrepreneurs, business-people, politicians, chemists, body-builders, and Elvis. You're bored with the cookie-cutter tract houses that litter the electronic landscape with copies of copies. All featuring the same thing, with the same environment and the same people. Your cruise through the Datasphere has brought you to our gates because it's more interesting to hang out in an experimental theatre, recording studio, occult bookstore, headshop, R&D lab or club, with people you read about; than a 7-11, with people you're sick and tired of. Technology has created one of the most unique possibilities in the history of human interaction; Anytown USA can jack into Haight-Ashbury in the 60's, Soho in the 70's, any place or time that has ever been and places that never were and exist only by mutual wish-fulfilment... MindVox is a celebration of possibilities Jack In, Rock Out and Feed your Head!