This page documents how to access the Montreal Greek Times Unicorn (MGT Unicorn), a non-mainstream, parallel infrastructure operated by THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES.
MGT Unicorn is an Origin Polyprotocol Publishing System (OPPS) defined by canonical-origin content distribution across heterogeneous and historically displaced network protocols. It publishes journalism, radio programming, and emergency alerts simultaneously to Web 1.0 HTML, Gopher, Gemini, Telnet, BBS, Finger, NNTP/Usenet, WAIS, FTP, RealAudio, and Tor (Onion), with each endpoint served either natively or through reconstructed period-correct infrastructure. The system preserves protocol integrity while ensuring that identical live newsroom output is delivered across all channels, independent of centralized platforms, contemporary web dependencies, or modern application ecosystems.
Telnet is one of the classic Internet protocols for remote terminal access. In Unicorn, it appears in two distinct forms: a dedicated Telnet news service for quick, text-based access to headlines and bulletins, and a separate BBS environment that uses Telnet as its transport but serves a different purpose.
This is not our primary publishing platform. Our modern website, mobile applications, connected TV apps, and contemporary streaming services remain the recommended access points for the general public.
Montreal Greek Radio has been broadcasting online since 1994, at the dawn of the public web. As the first Greek webcaster anywhere, our digital presence began when internet streaming itself was new. MGT Unicorn exists because of that history and continues to operate as a live, multi-protocol distribution environment.
MGT Unicorn is intended for technically proficient users, computer historians, retro-computing enthusiasts, privacy-conscious readers, members of the independent small-internet community, and readers who prefer access paths outside mainstream platforms. It is also of interest to professional and specialized users such as librarians, researchers, historians, and digital archivists who study the evolution of networked media, early internet technologies, and historical digital publishing environments. These services provide access to working examples of legacy protocols, historically authentic distribution systems, and archival material such as the electronic replica edition of the print newspaper in PDF format. In addition, readers located in regions where internet access may be restricted, filtered, or censored can reach our journalism through the Tor onion service, which provides an alternative path to the same news content outside conventional network infrastructure. Users are expected to configure and operate legacy or specialized client software independently. Technical support is not provided.
MGT Unicorn has also evolved beyond a historical publishing environment. THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES now operates as a last-mile distributor for Canada’s National Alert Aggregation and Dissemination system, known as NAAD. As part of this role, we receive official emergency alerts directly from the national source and distribute relevant alerts affecting the Greater Montreal area through multiple Unicorn protocols and related infrastructure.
MGT Unicorn may best be understood as an unprecedented broadcasting network: a live newsroom and radio operation distributed simultaneously across both modern and legacy protocol environments.
For standard access to our journalism and broadcasting services, please use our modern platforms.
What MGT Unicorn is
A coherent multi-protocol ecosystem that mirrors current content using historically significant and alternative network technologies.
- A Web 1.0 HTML mirror
- An Internet Explorer 4-era Active Channel endpoint
- A Gopher server
- A Gemini capsule
- A dedicated Telnet news service
- A BBS
- A Finger news and weather service
- A full-stack NNTP/Usenet server
- A WAIS search server
- An anonymous FTP archive and distribution server
- A Tor v3 onion service
- A live RealAudio 3.0 stream over the original PNA protocol
- A multi-protocol emergency alert distribution layer for official NAAD alerts affecting Greater Montreal
MGT Unicorn enables access to content produced by THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES from legacy and retro computing environments, modern minimalist clients, professional research contexts, and privacy-focused networks. Readers can browse current Greek community news from Montreal on a 486-class system running BeOS, access headlines from an early IBM PC via Finger under UNIX or DOS, retrieve articles in a traditional newsreader through Usenet, search the live article corpus through WAIS as early internet users once did, connect directly to a dedicated Telnet news service for quick menu-driven access, browse downloadable archives through FTP, view the print replica edition in PDF on a Windows 95 or OS/2 workstation, study the mechanics of early online publishing and streaming as a living historical environment, or reach current journalism through Tor using an onion address.
The name “Unicorn” reflects the rarity of the overall environment. Today it is unusual to find any one of these services maintained in active operation. A Web 1.0 mirror, Gopher, Gemini, a dedicated Telnet news endpoint, a public BBS, Finger utilities, a full-stack NNTP/Usenet server, a WAIS search service, an anonymous FTP archive, a Tor onion service, a live RealAudio stream using the original PNA protocol, and a live emergency alert distribution layer operating across multiple protocols, all running together as a coherent, public-facing distribution layer, is almost unheard of. MGT Unicorn preserves this near-extinct ecosystem as a functioning system, not an exhibit behind glass.
What you will find on MGT Unicorn
MGT Unicorn is not only a collection of legacy protocols. It is a set of practical, working access paths to current Montreal Greek Times journalism, Montreal Greek Radio, and official emergency alert information presented through historically authentic and alternative interfaces. Depending on the service you use, you can read current headlines, open full articles, retrieve text bulletins, browse archives, access a streamlined Telnet news menu, enter a classic BBS environment, subscribe through a traditional newsreader, search the article corpus, listen to live radio, and access active emergency alerts affecting the Greater Montreal area.
- Read current news: Headlines and full articles from the Greek community in Montreal across multiple protocols.
- Browse archives: Structured navigation for past items in menu-driven environments.
- Search the article corpus: Use WAIS to perform ranked full-text searches across indexed content through one of the oldest networked information retrieval systems on the Internet.
- Get command-line bulletins: News and Montreal weather via Finger, optimized for terminals and low-bandwidth access.
- Use a traditional newsreader: Read current articles, weather briefings, and emergency alerts through our NNTP/Usenet service using standards-based desktop or terminal newsreader software.
- Use direct terminal access: Connect through our dedicated Telnet news service for a simple menu-driven interface, distinct from the separate BBS.
- Download files directly: Access print replica editions in PDF, audio and video podcasts, and software through our anonymous FTP archive.
- Privacy-preserving access: A Tor onion endpoint for readers who prefer minimal tracking exposure, network resilience, and access in environments where the open web may be restricted.
- Listen live: Montreal Greek Radio via RealAudio using the original PNA protocol.
- Receive official emergency alerts: Active NAAD alerts relevant to the Greater Montreal area are distributed across multiple Unicorn endpoints, with Greek text and Greek audio added by THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES.
- Hidden print replica access: The print replica edition of THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES is available in PDF through Gopher, the BBS file areas, and FTP.
PDF compatibility note: The MGT Unicorn print replica PDFs are produced as PDF 1.3 and are compatible with Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 on Windows 95 or higher, as well as many legacy PDF viewers on classic operating systems.
Emergency alerts through NAAD
THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES now operates as a voluntary last-mile distributor within Canada’s NAAD emergency alert system. This means we receive official emergency alerts directly from the national source and automatically process alerts relevant to the Greater Montreal area.
What you will find:
Official emergency alerts affecting Greater Montreal distributed through multiple Unicorn services, including text-based endpoints and downloadable audio where supported. Our system also generates Greek-language text and Greek-language audio versions of applicable alerts for community use.
How it works:
When an alert is issued and matches our regional coverage, the system receives it in real time, filters it for relevance to Greater Montreal, publishes it across Unicorn protocols, and adds Greek text and Greek audio generated by THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES. Certain alerts may also be pushed into our live radio streaming chain when required by alert characteristics.
Important note:
This is a real operational distribution layer, not a demonstration feature. Unicorn now serves not only as a heritage publishing environment, but also as an active emergency information platform.
Web 1.0 mirror
A lightweight, text-first web environment designed for early browsers and low-resource systems.
What you will find:
Current Montreal Greek Times headlines, full articles, and active emergency alert notices presented in a classic Web 1.0 layout compatible with early graphical browsers.
How to access:
Designed for early web browsers including NCSA Mosaic and Netscape Navigator. Modern browsers can also access it normally.
URL:
http://retro.greektimes.ca
An optional Active Channel subscription is available for Internet Explorer 4.0, preserving the push-style content model of the late 1990s, widely associated with Windows 98 Active Desktop environments. It represents an early precursor to modern RSS syndication. To our knowledge, it is the only Internet Explorer Active Channel presently maintained by a print newspaper operation anywhere in the world.
Gopher
Gopher is a small, quiet corner of the Internet and a predecessor of the World Wide Web. It provides structured, menu-driven navigation without scripts, advertising, or client-side complexity. Today, roughly 200 or so Gopher servers are believed to remain active worldwide, and THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES operates one of them.
What you will find:
A fast, hierarchical directory of current headlines, full articles, archives, active emergency alerts, downloadable alert audio where available, news sound clips where available, and access to the print replica edition of THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES in PDF. Images and sound clips made available through our Gopher service use the historically native .gif image and .au audio formats associated with the Gopher era, preserving period-correct image and audio delivery for compatible clients and systems.
How to access:
On retro systems (Windows 3.x and Windows 9x), Netscape Navigator 3.0 Gold provides native Gopher support.
On modern systems, a dedicated client is recommended. Lagrange is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS and Android, and supports both Gopher and Gemini.
URL:
gopher://gopher.greektimes.ca
Gemini
Gemini is a modern, minimalist protocol introduced in 2019 within the small internet movement. Although recent in age, it is intentionally modeled on early internet philosophies, prioritizing simplicity, text-first content, and the absence of advertising and scripting. Inspired by Gopher-era design, Gemini continues the architectural lineage that MGT Unicorn preserves.
What you will find:
A clean, low-overhead capsule featuring current Montreal Greek Times headlines, article access, active emergency alerts, and Greek-language alert pages in a reading-focused format.
How to access:
Gemini requires a dedicated client. Lagrange is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.
URL:
gemini://gemini.greektimes.ca
Telnet
Telnet is one of the original Internet remote terminal protocols, designed to let a user connect to a remote text-based service over a network. As part of MGT Unicorn, THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES operates a dedicated Telnet news service that is separate from the BBS and intended for fast, menu-driven access to current information. Public-facing information Telnet endpoints of this type appear to be extremely rare, likely numbering only in the dozens worldwide.
What you will find:
A lightweight interactive news service featuring the latest English-language headlines, full article text, Montreal weather briefings, contact information, service information, and active NAAD emergency alert notices in a streamlined terminal interface. The service is designed as a quick-access text endpoint rather than a social or messaging system.
How to access:
Use any Telnet-capable client and connect to the dedicated Telnet hostname on port 2323. This service is separate from our BBS, which remains on port 23.
On retro systems, use Telix, Procomm Plus, Qmodem or similar Telnet software where supported.
On modern systems, standard terminal Telnet clients may be used, along with dedicated retro-oriented clients where appropriate.
Connection command:
telnet telnet.greektimes.ca:2323
BBS
A classic bulletin board system environment operating over Telnet, reflecting the pre-web era of community-driven digital communication.
What you will find:
A terminal-based news interface featuring Greek community headlines and full articles, active emergency alert bulletins, a file section containing the print replica editions of THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES in PDF, and message areas connected to FidoNet (node 1:229/134), the world’s oldest continuously operating global BBS message network, founded in 1984. Long before modern social media platforms, FidoNet linked communities through structured message forums and direct person-to-person correspondence. Still active worldwide today, it represents a cleaner, distraction-free form of online dialogue rooted in continuity, accountability and substance.
How to access:
On retro systems, use Telix, Procomm Plus, Qmodem or similar Telnet software, often paired with a retro RS232 WiFi modem.
On modern systems, clients such as NetRunner and SyncTerm are recommended.
URL:
telnet bbs.greektimes.ca
Finger services
Finger is one of the earliest Internet protocols, originally developed in the late 1970s to retrieve user information from remote systems. Today, publicly accessible Finger servers are extremely rare, likely numbering in the low tens worldwide. THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES operates one of these publicly reachable Finger services, adapting this minimalist, low-overhead protocol into a live news, weather, and alert bulletin system while preserving its original simplicity and design philosophy.
What you will find:
Text-based access to current Greek community headlines, full articles retrievable by ID, active emergency alert notices, and a custom-generated Montreal weather briefing. Rather than mirroring a website, the forecast is built from raw ECCC data and interpreted into a clean, terminal-ready bulletin by THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES. Optimized for command-line systems, low bandwidth and clarity.
How to access:
Finger can be accessed from most UNIX-like systems and from Windows NT-based systems, including Windows 2000, XP, 7, 10 and 11, which include the built-in finger command. Simply open a terminal or Command Prompt and type:
For news:
finger news@finger.greektimes.ca
For weather:
finger weather@finger.greektimes.ca
Finger services can also be accessed through the Lagrange small-web browser. To access our Finger services via Lagrange, enter the following URLs:
Weather:
finger://finger.greektimes.ca/weather
News:
finger://finger.greektimes.ca/news
NNTP / Usenet
NNTP, the Network News Transfer Protocol, was one of the defining technologies of online news distribution before the modern web. For years, Usenet and traditional newsreader software formed a primary way that users read, followed and archived network-published information. As part of MGT Unicorn, THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES operates its own full-stack NNTP/Usenet server, extending current journalism, weather bulletins, and emergency alerts into another historically significant protocol environment.
What you will find:
A standards-based Usenet news server carrying current Montreal Greek Times articles, weather briefings, system notices, and official emergency alerts through dedicated newsgroups:
greektimes.news.englishfor English-language news articlesgreektimes.news.greekfor Greek-language news articlesgreektimes.weatherfor Montreal weather briefings in English and Greekgreektimes.announcefor system announcements and editorial notesgreektimes.alerts.naadfor official emergency alerts distributed through our NAAD integration
Unlike a minimal feed mirror or hobby stub, this is a full operational NNTP service with native reader access, local article injection, automated publishing, authenticated posting capability, and TLS support on both standard NNTP and NNTPS ports. Publicly reachable independent NNTP servers of this type appear to number only in the tens worldwide.
How to access:
Use any compatible newsreader. On retro and legacy Windows systems, clients such as Outlook Express or Forte Agent may be used where supported. On modern systems, users may connect with software such as Mozilla Thunderbird, tin, slrn or other NNTP-capable clients.
Anonymous users may read all greektimes.* groups without authentication. Secure access is available on both standard and TLS-wrapped ports.
Server:
news.greektimes.ca
Ports:
119 - NNTP with STARTTLS 563 - NNTPS (direct TLS)
WAIS
WAIS, or Wide Area Information Server, was one of the earliest distributed search and information retrieval systems on the Internet, emphasizing query-based access to indexed document collections rather than menu browsing. As part of MGT Unicorn, THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES operates a live WAIS search server, extending current journalism into another historically significant protocol environment. To our knowledge, THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES maintains the only actively operating WAIS server using the original Z39.50-1988 protocol currently in public operation worldwide.
What you will find:
A searchable index of current Montreal Greek Times content, allowing readers to perform ranked full-text searches across indexed articles through a protocol originally associated with early Internet research and information discovery. We brought back a forgotten search engine that predates the web, and it now serves real news in 2026.
This is anomaly-level rare even within the already unusual ecosystem of legacy internet services. In practical terms, it is not simply a preserved protocol endpoint, but a live production search service attached to a working newsroom.
How to access:
In practical terms, the only straightforward contemporary way to access our WAIS service is through our native Windows client, developed specifically for this server. Legacy UNIX command-line examples are omitted here because the traditional waissearch client is obsolete and no longer included in contemporary Linux systems.
Windows client download:
https://greektimes.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/MGTWAIS.zip
Server:
wais.greektimes.ca
Port:
210
Database:
greektimes
FTP
FTP, the File Transfer Protocol, was one of the foundational services of the early Internet and remains one of the simplest ways to distribute downloadable files across a wide range of operating systems and client environments. As part of MGT Unicorn, THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES operates a public anonymous FTP server for direct access to archives, media, and software.
What you will find:
Anonymous access to the print replica editions of THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES in PDF, audio and video podcasts, downloadable software by Greek Times, and other selected files intended for direct retrieval rather than browser-based access.
How to access:
On retro and legacy systems, use any standard FTP client or command-line FTP utility. On modern systems, users may connect with software such as FileZilla, WinSCP, built-in command-line FTP tools where available, or direct FTP support in compatible file managers.
Anonymous login is enabled.
URL:
ftp://ftp.greektimes.ca
Port:
21
Login:
anonymous
Tor Onion Service
The Montreal Greek Times operates a Tor v3 onion service as part of MGT Unicorn. This provides a privacy-preserving, censorship-resistant access point to our journalism using the Tor network. Unlike the retro protocols within MGT Unicorn, the onion service is modern infrastructure designed for anonymity, network resilience and access from environments where the open internet may be filtered or blocked.
What you will find:
A standards-compliant HTML edition of current Montreal Greek Times headlines, full articles, and active emergency alert notices, optimized for access within Tor Browser. The onion site mirrors current content while reducing reliance on mainstream network pathways.
How to access:
Install and launch the Tor Browser, then enter the following address in the browser’s address bar.
URL:
http://pdfjsjif5kr3ppaxzgukdtkqsfqvku3rzpumbyfa5oaw65iyuzhip3ad.onion
RealAudio live stream
A period-correct RealAudio 3.0 live stream delivered using the original PNA protocol, reflecting the architecture of mid-1990s internet radio. To our knowledge, THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES maintains the only actively operating RealAudio live server using the original PNA protocol currently in public operation worldwide.
What you will find:
A live Montreal Greek Radio broadcast accessible through compatible RealPlayer software, preserved as a working example of early internet streaming technology. In addition, NAAD emergency alert capability has been integrated into the broader radio delivery chain for applicable alerts affecting the Greater Montreal area.
How to access:
Install RealPlayer 3.0 or later, compatible with Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows NT, Windows x86/x64, BeOS, Linux, OS/2, and Windows 10/11.
On legacy browsers, clicking the play button on our retro website will automatically launch RealPlayer via the associated .ram metafile.
Modern systems no longer associate .ram files automatically. In such cases, open RealPlayer and select File > Open Location, then enter:
pnm://retro.greekradio.ca:7070/live.ra
This direct method works with both legacy and modern versions of RealPlayer.
Important context
The Montreal Greek Times Unicorn is a heritage initiative rooted in our 1994 online broadcasting origins. It exists because we were there when internet radio began.
It is also now part of a practical, real-time emergency information system. Through our NAAD integration, MGT Unicorn no longer serves only as a historical publishing and broadcasting environment. It also functions as a multi-protocol alert distribution layer for official emergency alerts relevant to Greater Montreal, including publication across legacy protocols and Greek-language adaptation by THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES.
For modern access to our journalism, radio and television services, please use our primary website and apps.
MGT Unicorn remains available for those who appreciate early internet architecture, protocol history, independent publishing infrastructure, standards-based access methods, emergency information resilience, and the continued operation of working systems that most of the Internet has left behind.