Online Forums
Usenet:
A usenet newsgroup is a "discussion" forum - almost like a bulletin board. You "post" something to it for others to read. Only this bulletin board is huge and allows you to stick on your replies to what someone else has said, and then they in turn can reply, etc. etc - sparking off a huge conversation on many different subjects going all at once. The alt.colorado.grand-junction.macusers newsgroup is for discussion about anything mac related, or anything relating to GMMUG.
Join us and feel free to ask any questions you like. If you don't see alt.colorado.grand-junction.macusers on your ISP's news server, send them an email requesting them to add it.
There are a couple of applications that make it easy to read usenet on the Macintosh. Hogwasher, is a commercial application for Mac OS 7.5 and above. Thoth 1.5.2, a shareware program for MacOS and MacOS X. MT-NewsWatcher, freeware. You can also use Outlook Express, but I don't recommend it. (Using your real name and email address on usenet can lead to lots of unwanted spam... and is probably not very wise. These usenet groups are available for anyone in the world to read.)
You can get reviews of any of these products and more at Tucows Macintosh Downloads. Just do a search for "news".
Hotline Server and Client
GMMUG has a Hotline Server! You can access this by downloading Hotline Client. With Hotline you can chat, post messages (have discussions, like on usenet), and download files. If you would like to sign on, please email Emi at emi@tokyografix.com with your name, and she will send you a login, password, and directions for accessing the server.
The link above is to a review at Tucows. It says Hotline Client is adware, but the company that made the software has gone out of business, so you won't have to look at any ads.
You can download it at the link above or from this site:
Hotline Client for Mac 8272K
Hotline Client for Windoze
Made on a Mac! (of course) 
This page was last updated on 10/04/02.