 |
|||
INTERNET TUTORIAL |
|||
INTRODUCTION
What is the Internet? ||
What is the Web? || How to
Connect
Surfing for the First Time || Troubleshooting || Other
Features
Links || Glossary ||
The 'Net Around the World
INTERNET QUIZ
|
|||
INTERNET TUTORIAL |
|||
INTRODUCTION
What is the Internet? ||
What is the Web? || How to
Connect
Surfing for the First Time || Troubleshooting || Other
Features
Links || Glossary ||
The 'Net Around the World
INTERNET QUIZ
In an astonishingly short time frame, the World Wide Web has become the outstanding component of the Internet. However, you will also find useful other aspects of the Net—namely E-mail and USENET newsgroups.
E-mail is the method through which you can send messages to other Net users. Your online service should provide you with E-mail capabilities; if you have questions concerning the operation of your E-mail system, contact your service's customer support, or consult your user's guide or other documentation.
How to Address Other Internet Users
If you use an online service such as America Online, you may be accustomed to addressing E-mail to fellow member John Doe simply by using his AOL user name, "JDoe." But if you were on another service provider and wanted to send E-mail to John Doe, you would have to address the message properly in order for it to transverse the Internet.
Internet addresses always follow this format:
username@domain.top-domain
"Username" is, of course, the user name of the person holding the account. "Domain" refers to the name of the computer that holds the user's account (usually a close match to the service name).
"Top-domain" refers to the top-level domain name, indicating the nature of the computer system containing the account. The following are the common top-level domain names in the United States:
Following this protocol, John Doe's Internet address on America Online would be "jdoe@aol.com," where "jdoe" is the user name, "aol" is the domain name, and "com" is the top-domain name.
Try it! In the form field below, type the E-mail address of Dr. Amy Smith, a user whose user name is "asmith," and who has an account with an Internet service provider whose domain is "networld" and whose top-domain name is "org." Then click on "Go!"
Internet top domains outside the U.S. contain an extra two-letter extension indicating the country of origin. If John Doe had an account on the Websys service provider in Toronto, Ontario, for instance, his address would be "jdoe@websys.ca," in which "ca" is the two-letter designation for Canada. More information on international top-level domain designations appears in the section "The 'Net Around the World."
E-Mail Etiquette
Because of the high potential for misunderstanding the intent of an E-mail message, you should be aware of the following points of "netiquette" when communicating via E-mail:
USENET newsgroups constitute the Internet's system of "bulletin board" posting and response. Unlike E-mail, in which messages are intended to be read only by the recipient, USENET newsgroup messages can be read by anyone participating in the newsgroup. Most newsgroups function as discussion groups, whereby people post and respond to public messages, though some contain "binaries," or specially encoded files containing downloadable graphic images or application software.
Newsgroups are categorized by topic, and most are accessible to anyone who has an account with a participating Internet service provider, as well as the proper software (some Web browsers such as Netscape double as newsgroup "readers," and most of the commercial online services allow for newsgroup access as well). The names of individual newsgroups appear as a series of words or word fragments separated by periods; reading from left to right, the words indicate a hierarchy from the broad to the specific. A newsgroup name of "comp.systems.mac.d," for instance, translates into "a discussion group concerning Macintosh computer systems."
Although the vast majority of newsgroups allow users to post unrestricted, many are "moderated," meaning that a person or group monitors postings and either blocks or deletes postings it deems inappropriate or irrelevant to the newsgroup's stated topic. Moderated newsgroups typically prohibit any type of advertisements, though exceptions may be made for items of special interest to the group. Some groups even automatically reject posts that are "cross-posted," or addressed to more than one group, assuming them to be spam. In general, moderated newsgroups are considered to be of higher quality than unmoderated groups, because the discussions are kept focused, and participants don't have to sift through dozens of irrelevant posts. Moderators, though, are sometimes accused of being heavy-handed in their decisions, and their decisions are often fuel for controversy within groups.
Currently, there are about 20,000 active newsgroups on the Net, with new ones being added nearly every day. Most of the major access providers offer newsgroup access. However, your service provider might not carry all available newsgroups, as some opt not to carry newsgroups containing pornographic or potentially illegal material, or topics of extremely narrow interest.
Newsgroup Etiquette
As with E-mail, newsgroups follow their own set of unwritten rules for posting and responding to messages. The following are a few of the general points:
The penalties for violating newsgroup etiquette are similar to those for the more serious E-mail transgressions. If enough people complain about your conduct to your service provider, your account could be suspended or even canceled.
Commonly referred to as listservs, electronic mailing lists provide a method for groups of Internet users with similar interests to correspond with one another and post messages publicly, not unlike a newsgroup. The distinguishing characteristic of listservs, however, is that they are totally accessible through ordinary E-mail; therefore, a user with Internet E-mail access but no other capabilities can participate in a listserv.
You can subscribe to a listserv by sending an E-mail message to the list's administrative address (usually separate from its submission address, which is used to post messages). Precise subscription instructions vary, but in most cases, sending a message with nothing in the body copy but subscribe list John Doe (where "list" is the name of the listserv and "John Doe" is your name) will suffice. Similarly, you can also remove your name from a mailing list (you should receive instructions explaining how to do this once your name has been added).
Once your name has been included in a listserv, you will receive messages posted to the listserv in your regular E-mail. When you reply to a message, the reply will be sent to the listserv E-mail address, and not to the address of the original author (unless you specify otherwise, using your E-mail software). Likewise, when posting a new message, make sure you send it to the correct listserv E-mail address.
In general, the rules of etiquette for general E-mail and newsgroups also apply to listservs; stick to the topic of the listserv, and avoid redundant posts such as "Me too" and "I agree" responses (you'll see soon enough how trivial posts can clutter up one's electronic mail box!). Many listservs are moderated, so that only important and informative posts are forwarded to subscribers.
Directories of electronic mailing lists on varying topics, complete with subscription instructions, are available on the Web at the following sites:
Medically-oriented mailing lists may be found in Medical Matrix (http://www.medmatrix.org/) under the various specialty topics.
Internet Relay Chat was developed in Finland in 1988, and allows multiple Internet users (or "clients") to enter a "channel," or a virtual meeting place on an IRC server computer, and type instantaneous messages to one another. Unlike USENET newsgroups or E-mail, IRC chatting allows users to carry on real-time, two-way or group "conversations."
The major IRC servers carry chat channels (the names of which are prefaced by a "#" symbol) on a wide variety of topics, but you can often create your own channels if the current selections don't please you, or if you want to hold a limited chat with invited guests. On an IRC channel, users can post messages that everyone connected to the channel can read, or they can send private messages to specific individuals.
To protect their privacy (as well as to add an element of fun to the chat), users can create and change nicknames for themselves. Nicknames should be unique to prevent confusion among participants in a chat. Some chat channels and servers require users to register their nicknames in a nickserv, or a standing list of nicknames; systems that require this will have information on how to register nicknames.
If you have used the chat rooms on America Online or another online service, you will see the similarities between those systems and IRC immediately. IRC, however, uses arcane commands that can be daunting even for experienced users; therefore, a sophisticated IRC client program with a user-friendly interface takes the difficulty out of IRC and lets you concentrate on your chats instead of commands. See the "Links" section for Web addresses for downloading IRC software.
Be aware that the proprietary chat systems of most online services were developed independently of IRC and are not part of the IRC network. If you are a member of one of these services and are not sure if or how you can participate in IRC through your service, contact the service's customer support.
To learn more about IRC, and to get lists of IRC servers and downloadable IRC clients, go to http://www.kei.com/irc.html Many regular IRC channels have their own Web pages, so you can search the Web for chat topics that might interest you.
When the World Wide Web made possible the convergence of text and
graphics online, the effect was revolutionary. Now, many programmers and
developers are working to take the Web one step further with technologies that
allow users to navigate three-dimensional environments. An environment that so
immerses a user in cyberspace is called virtual reality, or a
virtual world.
A number of languages and protocols are being used to create virtual worlds, but the most popular is Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML), which allows a virtual environment to be accessed through a properly configured Web browser. VRML plug-ins are available for Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer; other browsers designed especially for VRML are also available.
Virtual reality can be used to help users navigate a complex Web site, or to
interact with other users using avatars
, or 3D characters that the user can define and
manipulate. So far most virtual worlds have been limited to games, navigation
maps and 3D chat rooms, though the possibilities for virtual worlds continue to
expand with better browsers and virtual reality development tools.
For more information on virtual reality and VRML, visit the VRML Repository at http://www.sdsc.edu/vrml/
Go to...
INTRODUCTION
What is the Internet? ||
What is the Web? || How to
Connect
Surfing for the First Time || Troubleshooting || Other
Features
Links || Glossary ||
The 'Net Around the World
INTERNET QUIZ
Please be aware that medical advice, diagnoses and physician references cannot be obtained from this site.