Boy, do I feel stupid ...

Trying to get my modem (Hayes-compatible) to respond to
the chat program seemed already to be impossible, until
last night:
More or less for fun I scanned the pppd-manpage and tried
something like 'pppd ... connect "chat -f chatscript"' --
and don't you believe it, click, beep, beep, the confusticated
thing started to dial, and as far as I see, connected
with my Compu$erve node in Nuremberg.
Comparing the time until modem hangup with the times used on the
Mac side I would say, it got to somewhere like 'ppp phase: Establishment'.

So, now that the dark clouds of desperation seem to disappear,
what specifically would I have to do to successfully ppp-connect?
I will try to compile Mosaic or else use lynx, unless somebody points
me to the "optimal web browser".

Second question, does anyone know how to connect to the plain ascii
interface of Compu$erve? Would I have to use something like kermit
or some terminal program? Where could I obtain those?
The reason here is that the folks still do not provide a pop mail server,
I could use for reading my mail from outside.

Third question, I am going away for two weeks and during my last absence,
the mailing list flooded my mailbox, which has a limit of *100* letters!!
What do I have to do to temporarily sign off this list?

The Fourth question is a direct consequence of number two and three:
Does anyone know an Internet Service Provider in Bavaria/Germany who
does not pose such frustating limitations on his customers?

Last question for today: What is the meaning of 'confusticate'?
The word is in Tolkien's "Hobbit", but I do not have a dictionary
here ...

Greetings to everyone still reading.

Stefan Schmiedl
101321.3101@compuserve.com