Changes and Updates

This is where we are announcing the most recent additions to our web site, new tools and services. If you've visited us before and want to know what's changed, take a look here first. Click on "refresh" or "reload" button to see the current version of this page!

Text which is strikethrough like this means that the news has been made obsolete by a more recent announcement.

1 October 2025

Lower data charges for bulk users: we are happy to announce decrease on data charge rate on monthly credit card account to $0.19 per MB plus $0.019 GST. All members currently using our monthly credit card account will benefit from the new rates automatically as of today. We have also introduced a new bulk pre-paid package, $176 plan, no time limit to use the funds (accounts not used for 6 months are closed). Access rates for $176 package is calculated as follows: $0.90 per hour plus $0.19 per MB of data plus $16 GST

14 June 2025

We are happy to announce implementation of FrontPage extensions on our www server. You are invited to use your FrontPage client not only for building web sites, but also for publishing them with the use of FrontPage features that require the www server to include mechanisms described as FP extensions. If you want your web site at Hermes to be FP enabled, please, send a message to that effect to admin@hermes.net.au and make a back-up of any pages currently on the site. Note: for specific information on how to use the FrontPage software, please consult the program's documentation or Microsoft Technical Support. We will not provide support for designing websites using the FrontPage.

17 February 2025

We are happy to announce increase of FREE Web space allocated to you from 5MB to 10MB. Recent upgrades to our system allow us to offer this to you at no additional cost.

The space you have now at your disposal is sufficient to design a huge, commercial Web site. We also offer secure transaction Web server, and soon we hope to offer you easy to setup 'shopping basket' facility. We trust that current and coming changes will make our service particularly attractive to all who intend to setup Internet shopping facility.

10 February 2025

We now have in place improved filtering of unsolicited email messages (so called 'spam'). It is not possible to eliminate all spam, however huge amount of this junk will not reach you, as our new improved filtering will stop it. A side effect of the upgrade is that sometimes when you send your email you may experience short delays. From your end it may appear that email processing is a bit slower, or that after pressing 'send' nothing happens for a few seconds. Please, be patient -- sending and receiving is actually a bit faster, but our system does series of thorough checks of addresses and their domains before actually accepting messages for delivery. 

8 February 2025

Software upgrades that took place this morning have changed the way some of our services operate. People who use FTP, autoreply, and Hermes Web Mail are urged to read the new instructions. They are described in detail in an automatic reply sent to those who send an empty message addressed to:
hermes-info@hermes.net.au

1 January 2025

Our software and hardware did not experienced any problems, year 2000 rollover was smooth and errors free.

1 July 2025

Improved navigation, added entry page link "HELP!!! Are you lost? click here" which list all pages on this site.

7 March 2025

Two Cent Newsletter – full archive of all issues of this newsletter is now available at:

http://www.hermes.net.au/cgi-bin/2cent.pl

The archive has search facility. While subscription to the newsletter is available to members of Hermes Internet only, we decided to make the above archive visible and available to all Internet users.

25 January 2025

OzSearch Australian search engine added to our Web site.

12 January 2025

All lines upgraded to V.90 standard (final communication standard for 56K modems). We are the very first ISP in the region to offer the latest V.90 modem standard on all lines. Users of older and slower modems (up to 33.6bps) are not affected. Users of K56Flex modems need to upgrade their modems to V.90 standard (typically samall, free software updating code inside of a modem is available from a modem manufacturer). V.90 offers better stability and reliability of connection.

8 December 2024

Hermes Internet Reference manual ver 1.20 released. Two files are available as a free download from ftp.hermes.net.au/pub/docs

HELP120.ZIP is compressed (ZIP-ed) Windows 95/98/NT format help file (standard Windows help file)
MAN120.ZIP is compressed manual in RTF text format (use any word procesor to open, you can also read it on Macintosh).

15 October 2025

Hermes Web Mail introduced (members only). A new service for people on the run. Have you ever wondered if it might be possible to read/send/reply to one's mail while away from home or office, without reconfiguring someone else's mailing software? Now it is possible. When you are at an Internet cafe, airport, friend's home, even on the other side of the globe at a computer with a browser, you can point the browser at http://www.hermes.net.au/cgi-bin/checkmail.pll and deal  with your mail.

25 August 2025

general and technical local news groups introduced (members only) – our general-notices and technical-notices mailing lists are being gradually replaced by a newly created local news groups called general and technical. They are accessible in two different ways: (Web browser) http://www.hermes.net.au/cgi-bin/dnewsweb.exe, or (news reader) blue.hermes.net.au as additional news server for local news.

The replacement should satisfy all those who would like to choose message or article subjects before the actual texts are fetched from
the server. Besides, one will not have to save immediately an article one finds helpful or interesting as it is in the case of a mailing list.

19 August 2025

AltaVista Discovery – your own, personal search tool (on and off line, can also search your hard disk files) available directly from our site. See Member Services – Tools for Members Only. For more details see AltaVista Discovery Web site.

7 August 2025

Keyword search facility – new free service to our subscribers. To see an example of how it works, click on SEARCH on our home page. The keyword search facility can be used not only for the Hermes site but also for your site. See member Services pages for details how to use it on your site.

3 August 2025

Improved News access – we now have direct connection to Telstra Internet news server. This connection offers faster and more reliable newsgroup access. Please change you news server name from blue.hermes.net.au to loomi.telstra.net

6 July 2025

Daily news service – a small panel with scrolling news headlines included on our Web site. By clicking on a title you can read full story. The news areas covered are: AUSnews: news and current-event stories about and from Australia, AUSbiz: business news from Australia, WORLDnews: news and current-event stories from all over the world, and WORLDnetnews: news and stories about the Internet industry and markets around the world.

20 June 2025

Our mail server has been enhanced to filter out spam, i.e. unsolicited bulk mail sent by unscrupulous internet (ab)users who try to make money out of enormous communication potential of the Internet, and thus diminish that potential. This important improvement will decrease your Internet charges, and decrease the volume of junk mail received by our members from the Internet.

10 June 2025

A series of excellent tutorials covering all aspects of HTML and Web site design are now included on our server for very fast and reliable access. See member Services – Web Tools – HTML Resources.

3 June 2025

Banner advertising introduced, see our home page for details.

15 May 2025

Hermes Internet Chat – new faster, easier to use, and more reliable chat server introduced. Hermes Chat is a "chat room" system for the web, where lots of people can join in and talk to each other. Compatible with all Web browsers supporting Java. Opened to the whole community, not only to Hermes Internet members.  it replaced our previous FreeChat. See http://www.hermes.net.au/chat

8 May 2025

Hermes Internet Reference Manual ver 1.01 released. Two files are available as a free download from ftp.hermes.net.au/pub/docs

HELP101.ZIP is compressed Windows 95/98/NT format help file (standard Windows help file)
MAN101.ZIP is compressed manual in RTF text format (use any word processor to open).

1 May 2025

FreeChat server introduced. FreeChat is a "chat room" system for the web, where lots of people can join in and talk to each other. Compatible with all Web browsers. Opened to the whole community, not only to Hermes Internet members. Very easy to use, see http://www.hermes.net.au/chat

23 April 2025

Hermes Internet Reference Manual ver 0.1 released. Two files are available as a free download from ftp.hermes.net.au/pub/docs – Windows 95 / 98 / NT format help file, and text manual in RTF format.

11 February 2025

User names are now allowed up to 12 characters, letters and numbers (no special characters, no spaces), first character has to be a letter.

5 February 2025

Additional incoming lines added to improve lines per customers ratio. Our new Internet access phone number (the number your modem dials) is:
4780 3000

2 January 2025

New style of Web pages introduced, improved graphics and easier navigation.

31 October 2025

Our equipment has been upgraded to K56Flex technology. All our customers are now offered connection with maximum speed of up to 56K (this may vary in each case, see "modems" sections for more details) at no additional cost – our rates remain the same.

30 September 2025

Free Web space increased to 5MB.

21 September 2025

19 September 2025

On line business forms are now free. Universal CGI script "mailbook" can be used as a form to collect information - a person looking at Web page fills in empty areas of a form, and then clicks on a "send" button to submit it as a email message to the owner of such form. See "Services" for more details.