Concepts submission finished

I can't believe it's finally finished! I have never before spent so much time in front of a computer! I was really keen to complete this degree, but I'm finding my life is passing me by whilst I sit here hour after hour. This is incredibly unhealthy! Not that this submission is complete and has been submitted, I'll stay away from the computer for a day or two! Think I'll change direction and study phys ed or something!

Concepts Assignment

Concept 1 – Asynchronicity

Asynchronous electronic communication is not the opposite of real-time, synchronous communication: rather it describes forms of communication that appear differently 'located in time' depending on the perspective of the sender and receiver. (Allen, n.d.)

Asynchronous electronic communication is a variant on the concept of asynchronous communication. Asynchronous communication has been with us since humankind learnt to write. In “History of Communications” (Ensmenger, 2006) the author states ‘A truly comprehensive and global history of communications would have to begin with the Phoenician alphabet, the early postal system in China, the use of homing pigeons in Ancient Greece, the legendary Roman roads, and the invention of the printing press, among many, many other inventions.’ But asynchronous electronic communication is a modern phenomenon, and it allows for a different analysis of time. The line dividing synchronous and asynchronous electronic communication is often blurred, and some forms of electronic communication can be both synchronous and asynchronous at the same time or at different times. For this reason, synchronous and asynchronous electronic communication cannot be classified in the same way as traditional synchronous and asynchronous communication.

The North Carolina State University (NCSU) (n.d.) states that “Synchronous communication consists of communication which takes place in real time without a delay in the exchange of information or resources. In contrast, asynchronous communication is intermittent, where a time delay between the sending and receiving of data occurs.” However, at times all forms of electronic communication have the potential to be synchronous, just as, at times, they can also be asynchronous. This blurring of the division between synchronous and asynchronous electronic communication means the the two can no longer be deemed opposites. Typically we see forms of asynchronous electronic communication to include lists and e-mail, however at times these forms of communication can behave as chat or instant messaging – where ‘conversations’ between discussion group members go back and forth in real time. Chat and Instant Messaging are considered synchronous, but there can be delays in messages being sent and/or received between those involved. My own experience with chat (using IRC with the NET11 study group) raised questions of synchronicity – sometimes there were delays in messages being posted and conversations had already moved on. The chat became confusing as a result. Similarly, we consider websites to be a form of asynchronous communication, since data is transferred to a server and, from then on, it is available to others to view. However, some information on a website can be synchronous. Increasingly, websites are tuned in to the viewer, drawing up-to-date data from a database which is constantly changing, and presenting it tailor made to serve that particular viewer’s interests. This electronic communication is synchronous. Electronic Communication is therefore different to other forms of communication. It cannot be easily defined as synchronous or asynchronous. In fact, constant advances in technology and changes in the way users act mean that existing forms of electronic communication are constantly evolving, and new forms of electronic communication are constantly being developed. It is increasingly difficult to classify where this communication fits into traditional terminology.

Site 1: Federal Communications Commission
http://www.fcc.gov/omd/history/internet/

The Federal Communications Commission website notes the FCC as being an independent United States government agency which was established in 1934 to regulate interstate and international communications. The site provides interesting information on the history of various types of communication, including the early history of the internet, where three topics are covered – ‘Something to Share’, which introduces the earliest beginnings of the internet; ‘Common Standards’, which notes the development of the first standards which were established by ARPANET; and ‘Making the Connections’, which discusses the process of packet switching and early concerns about the process. There is also information on the history of Radio and Television.

Site 2: North Carolina State University
http://www.ncsu.edu/sciencejunction/

The ‘sciencejunction’ section of the North Carolina State University site had some interesting information about synchronous and asynchronous electronic communication, with definitions and classifications of types of asynchronous and synchronous electronic communication. It also offers detailed explanations of the different forms of electronic communication and numerous links to aid users towards deciding what is most appropriate for them. There is also guidance relating to safety and privacy. Probably the only criticism I have for this site is that some of the pages have not been updated since 2002, and since the internet is constantly evolving, some of the information may be out of date.

Concept 17 – The impact of text-based real-time chat

Communicating in real-time with text enables a form of 'authoring of the self' that is similar to the processes of face-to-face speech but which is much more amenable to authorial control, experimentation and reflection. Further, text-based communication carries with it the possibility for multiple, differing conversations occurring simultaneously, relying on the ability of the human brain to deal with text much better than speech. (Allen, n.d.)

There are a number of potential affects of text-based real-time chat, many of which relate in some way or another to privacy and security. But there is an increasing amount of research being done to try to understand the effects of internet based communication on behaviour. In terms of privacy, text-based real-time chat (or the more modern instant messaging) increases privacy in that conversations can be held without others being able to listen in. Telephone, for example, is only private when there is no one else around to hear the conversation. The ability to communicate instantly by text decreases or completely eliminates that lack of privacy, making text based communication more discrete and more easily hidden. Conversations involving suggestive or malicious behaviour might sometimes be impossible on telephone due to a lack of privacy, but can be conducted secretly when using text, and this also applies to illicit relationships or marital affairs. In terms of security, real-time text-based communication removes facial and body language from a discussion, and enables a user to remain anonymous. Chat thereby enables authors to pretend they feel a certain way or to act differently to how they would in a face to face situation. In fact, an author can create a whole new persona. This has, for example, given sexual predators an easy way to ‘groom’ potential victims. Chat room safety has become a serious concern for this reason, with government agencies throughout the world establishing task forces specifically to deal with the issue. Lying, cheating and criminal activity are a common and negative aspect of an otherwise potentially useful form of communication, but there is a deeper issue which is also worthy of discussion.

The Australian Government NetAlert website provides a range of information on cyber safety and particularly on the issue of children and the internet. The article “Why do children love to chat on the Internet?” states that, inter alia, chat removes the anxiety common with face to face (or voice to voice) interaction. This begs the question – if increasing numbers of children and teenagers (and adults) are using real-time text-based communication in place of face to face interaction, what will the longer term effects be? Does this type of communication affect social behaviour? Quentin Atkinson, in his paper titled “Disinhibition on the Internet: Implications and Intervention” (2002) notes that “Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), like e-mail and Internet Relay Chat, generates disinhibited verbal behaviour both in the form of flaming and excessive self-disclosure…” and that “Those who exhibit disinhibited behaviour online may become more disinhibited in real life”. Patricia R. Recupero, JD, MD, in “Forensic Evaluation of Problematic Internet Use” (2007) discusses what has been dubbed ‘Problematic Internet Use’ (PIU), and the effects of PIU on an individual’s life. A large number of social and behavioural issues are discussed in the article, and many of these problems can lead to serious life consequences. Text-based real-time chat is just one of the areas of PIU discussed, however the real-life consequences of PIU in general, from inappropriate internet use by employees to cyberstalking to, in one extreme example, murder – clearly raise some very interesting points for discussion.

Site 1: Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
http://www.jaapl.org/

This is a really interesting site and this particular article was an eye opener to me. I suspected that the social and behavioural problems of inappropriate internet use (or, as the article describes it, ‘Problematic Internet Use’ or PIU) would have to be significant, but it is an area which is obviously of interest to researchers in a number of fields. The site obviously is not just about psychiatry, law and the internet, but there were a number of articles about this topic. In fact it listed 26 articles ranging from cyberstalking and PIU to internet gambling. PUI is clearly becoming a new-age health concern.

Site 2: American Psychological Association (APA)
http://www.apa.org/releases/youthwww0406.html

This site had an interesting article relating to behaviour and the use of internet based communication such as chat and instant messaging. Six different areas were researched, and some indicated benefits to users, whilst others raised concerns. There is an article on adolescent self-injury and internet discussion boards and another on online predators and their victims. The site is not as comprehensive as the JAAPL site noted above, but research in this area is still in its early stages and the APA has been active in trying to learn more about the behavioural implication of chat and similar forms electronic communication.

Concept 26 – Privacy and Security

The Internet is a profoundly ‘open’ system and advanced Internet users are cautious about either accepting or sending material from and to unknown sources and are careful in releasing information about themselves in any form. Conceptually, the Internet challenges us to take greater responsibility for the protection of privacy and security than perhaps we are used to when dealing with the media. (Allen, n.d.)

On the surface the internet is easy to use. Some of the more common uses of the internet are email, searching the WWW and, increasingly, social networking. Privacy and security are serious issues, yet many users seem oblivious to or willingly ignore the risks. As internet privacy is virtually impossible to regulate, there is little we can do to prevent the publication of our personal information by others. However, we can reduce the risk of breaches of privacy and security by being cautious as to what information we disclose on the internet. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is a comprehensive guide as to privacy and security issues and provides guidance as to how to minimise the risks of using the internet. The Age Newspaper reported on April, 14 this year that the European Commission is hoping to review legislation regarding internet privacy, especially considering the current legislation dates back to 1995. However, in reality, internet privacy and security is a serious and significant issue and one which is very difficult to police. Collected personal information is frequently sold from one organisation to another, and well known and popular sites (such as Facebook) have had many issues regarding privacy. This year Facebook has been criticised for its storage and use of collected data (guardian.co.uk, 2009). Even those who use caution are at risk of suffering from security and privacy issues, as they cannot prevent others from disclosing their personal information and/or photos. A recent case, “Elite school’s horrific cyber bullying case”, (Mark, 2009) highlights the dangerous and extremely serious problem of cyber bullying and our inability to prevent the problem. The internet has given people an easy avenue to act maliciously towards others. The information posted on sites such as facebook and myspace, whether accurate or completely false, may well be available to all and sundry for many many years to come. With increasing numbers of employers ‘googling’ potential staff as observed in “Should Employers “Google” Applicants” (Siegel, Shields & Lewis, 2009), and the ability for anyone to ‘google’ a friend, colleague or enemy, there is a significant likelihood that such personal information will repeatedly come to light. This loss of privacy can have a serious impact on the victims life, though they may have done nothing to warrant such loss of privacy. Internet Privacy and Security is becoming one of the internet’s most serious problems, with fake websites, ISP’s and special offers becoming an increasingly serious problem. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has a website called “SCAMwatch” which gives a reasonably up-to-date account of current scams. There are many different types of scams and privacy intrusions – identity theft, credit card scams and key-logging to name just a few. Yes, we must do all we can to protect our own privacy and security, but we must be equally as vigilant about protecting the privacy and security of others.

Site 1: Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/HOMEPAGE/pc=HOME

This is the Australian Government regulatory body for communications and media, so it covers information on digital TV, radio and telecommunications as well as the internet. The home page of ACMA provides some information relating to the internet – mainly general information and a number of internet guides, but the links to these pages lead to a section of the site which is devoted to the Internet. This part of the site includes numerous articles relating to ACMA reports on current Australian internet issues, plus various sections relating to issues such as spam or privacy and safety.

Site 2: SCAMwatch
http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/scamwatch/

I found this site to be very informative as it gives an overview of some of the scams being seen at the moment. Many of the scams listed on the site involve the internet. Unfortunately, there are scams which are hard to avoid. The site notes that pop-ups which appear on your screen with a ‘close’ button on them can download spyware, and there is currently an email scam which involves completing a survey to win a $500 Myer gift voucher. Scams change frequently, so keeping up to date with current scams is a good idea.

Concept 28 – The paradox of the World Wide Web

Advanced Internet users recognise the character of the Web, seek to utilise its advantages, ameliorate its deficiencies and understand that not all users have the same abilities as themselves in reconciling the paradox of the WWW. (Allen, n.d.)

Humans have always strived for change. Indeed the need to improve our situation, to learn new things and to explore the unknown is very much a part of being human, and we have proven ourselves to be highly adaptable to change. The World Wide Web, however, is unlike any technological advance in the history of humankind. Never before has a new technology been so accessible to such a large number of people, across the world, at the same time. We have embraced this new technology, but our enthusiasm is taking its toll. The web is growing far more quickly than anyone could have predicted. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2009) states that, in Australia, “Between 1998 to 2007-08, household access to the Internet at home has more than quadrupled from 16% to 67%...”. User growth across the world has grown a massive 342.2% in the years 2000 to 2008 (Internet World Stats, 2009). In July 2008 Google reported that it had counted 1 trillion URL’s, as compared to 26 million in 1998 (The Official Google Blog, 2009). There is so much information available, and so many users trying to find information, that volume and speed are becoming serious issues. New technologies must be employed to simplify the process and to ensure that the web is able to grow even further. A google search for ‘web statistics’, for example, produces 691,000,000 results. In order to sort through this ridiculously large number of results, other search methods can be applied. For example, by choosing to only search sites with the ‘.edu’ domain, the search is reduced to 3,570,000 results, or by searching via ‘google scholar’ we can reduce this to 1,890,000 results. There are a large number of other tools designed to make searching even more accurate, but users need to know how to find these tools, how to download them (keeping in mind the need to firstly ensure they are safe) and, once downloaded, how to use them. Security concerns have also made the web more complex, since all users should have a reasonable amount of knowledge of internet risks and ways to reduce them. Originally only anti-virus protection was enough. We now need numerous firewalls, anti-virus, anti-spam and anti-phishing software. We must be vigilant about sites we visit and emails we open. In order to ensure our computers continue to cope with incredible amount of data being transferred, we should ideally use software which will keep our pc’s tidy – programs to file, sort and clean up our computers, software to keep our photos or other media tidy, or to play videos, animations or documents in particular formats (such as flash or pdf) and new ways to communicate and network. In “Web 2.0 leading to internet overload” (Thomson, 2008) it was noted by the author that, in relation to Web 2.0 technology “…experts said that the plethora of new information being created is a benefit, but also a serious danger as it is confusing users.” All users, whether inexperienced or advanced, must keep up with at least some of the changes to technology, though we may all be at risk of internet overload!

Site 1: Internet World Stats
http://www.internetworldstats.com/

For statistics on world internet use, this site is very informative. It provides information on internet usage and population throughout the world. The data can be broken down into world statistics or regional statistics. There is also interesting information on topics such as current developments in broadband and mobile communications throughout the world. The site claims that the information is based on census information and data collected from Nielsen Online.

Site 2: The Official Google Blog
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

This site is the official google blogspot, and it contains lots of interesting bits of information on a whole range of different topics, but particularly focuses on new developments in the world of google. The latest post relates to google’s newest search tool – google suggest, but there are posts on online security, search quality and personalisation, photos and politics. Since google is the most popular search engine, I felt the google blog would have to have some interesting and useful information – even if it might be biased at times! The article ‘We knew the web was big….” gives an insight into how google searches work given the huge amount of data available on the web.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Age Newspaper Online, (2009). EU urges tougher Internet privacy rules. Retrieved on May 16, 2009 from http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/eu-urges-tougher-internet-privacy-rules-20090414-a69j.html

Allen, M. (n.d.). Internet Communications Concepts Document, NET11 The Internet - Communications, Curtin University of Technology. http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_14736_1%26url%3d

American Psychological Association (APA), http://www.apa.org/releases/youthwww0406.html

Atkinson, Q. (2002). Disinhibition on the Internet: Implications and Intervention. Retrieved on May 19, 2009, http://www.netsafe.org.nz/archive/research/research_disinhibition.html

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2008). HOUSEHOLD ACCESS TO COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET (No. 8146.0). Retrieved on May 21, 2009 from http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8146.0

Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/HOMEPAGE/pc=HOME

Australian Government NetAlert, (n.d.). Why do Children love to Chat on the Internet? Retrieved on May 21, 2009, from http://www.netalert.gov.au/advice/services/chat/Why_do_children_love_to_chat_on_the_Internet.html

Ensmenger, N., Ph.D., (2006), History of Communications. Retrieved May 16, 2009, from http://www.fi.edu/learn/case-files/communication.html

Federal Communications Commission, http://www.fcc.gov/omd/history/internet/

Internet World Stats, (2009). Internet Usage Statistics. Retrieved on May 21, 2009 from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

Internet World Stats, http://www.internetworldstats.com/

Johnson, B. & Hirsch, A. (2009). Facebook backtracks after online privacy protest. Retrieved on May 16, 2009 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/19/facebook-personal-data

Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, http://www.jaapl.org/,

Kang, S. (2006). Disembodiment in Online Social Interaction: Impact of Online Chat on Social Support and Psychosocial Well-Being. Retrieved on May 19, 2009 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/0/9/0/0/6/p90067_index.html

Mark, D. (2009). Elite school’s horrific cyber bullying case. Retrieved on May 16, 2009 from http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/07/2563942.htm

Nielsen Online, http://www.nielsen-online.com/

North Carolina State University, (n.d.). Welcome to Electronic Communications. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://www.ncsu.edu/sciencejunction/route/usetech/electcomm/index.html

Federal Communications Commission website, http://www.fcc.gov/omd/history/internet/

North Carolina State University, http://www.ncsu.edu/sciencejunction/

Recupero, P.R., JD, MD, (2007). Forensic Evaluation of Problematic Internet Use. Retrieved on May 19, 2009, from http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/content/full/36/4/505

SCAMwatch, http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/scamwatch/

Siegel, P.J., Shields, A.C., & Lewis, J., LLP (2009). Should Employers "Google" Applicants?. Retrieved on May 16, 2009 from http://www.irmi.com/expert/articles/2009/siegel02-employment-practices-liability.aspx

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner, http://www.privacy.gov.au/internet/,

The Official Google Blog, (2008). We knew the web was big…. Retrieved on May 21, 2009 from http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/we-knew-web-was-big.html

The Official Google Blog, http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

Thomson, I. (2008). Web 2.0 leading to internet overload. Retrieved on May 21, 2009 from http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2229878/web-leading-information

Search Information Tasks

I have had a go at using a variety of tools, and have tried very hard to take in all we've had to learn for this unit, but I guess at the end of the day I simply don't have time to make use of everything that is available. So, on the basis of Concept 28 - the Paradox of the World Wide Web, I have to say I feel that I have come to understand some of the many many tools relating to Module 4, but in reality I simply can't implement them all. There are so many tools available, and each offers something different. At the end of the day I will use a) something which is easy to use and b) something which doesn't take too much time to learn. I could add c) something I have already discovered to be useful which can do everything I need! To this end, with all the amazing tools offering so many different features, I took a snapshot of my screen which included the url, author and institution. I saved the snapshot into OneNote which I have been using for a little while. I find that it can take me awhile to become proficient at using a new tool simply due to time constraints. I discovered awhile ago that I could 'print' to OneNote, which is really handy if I'm nowhere near a printer but want to save something from the net. OneNote and Outlook work together, which is also handy, and I can tag and flag notes and lots of other things. It's fairly basic compared to some other tools, but maybe that's what I like about it! Anyway, here are my three website screenshots:

url http://www.utoronto.ca/webdocs/HTMLdocs/NewHTML/

The institution is University of Toronto, no author noted.

url http://www.case.edu/help/Help_www2.html

The institution is Case Western Reserve University, no author noted.

url http://www.memphis.edu/itd/webdev/resources/html/html-guides.php

The institution is the University of Memphis, no author noted.

Boolean Search

I decided to use google to do this part of the exercise. Don't know if it's just me, but copernic just doesn't return many results, even when I use all search engines. Google gives the largest result. So, using my 'html' search, I googled 'html' and my search produced 16,210,000,000 results. I'd say this is probably the best way to get the largest number of results! To cut the result down, I googled 'html guide' which produced 471,000,000 results. Okay, not a really good reduction. I then tried copernic, typing in 'html guide', which produced 13 very good results. I'd be pretty happy with that. The final part - find html AND guide AND university. Tried it with google and returned 35,300,000 results. The first 10 or so were a mixture of useful university ones (eg. http://www.utoronto.ca/webdocs/HTMLdocs/NewHTML/ - University of Toronto). There was a slight problem with some of the results in that 'html' came up as part of the url of a few university sites, though these sites had nothing to do with html guides. Still, it wasn't a bad result as there were a few useful sites amongst the first 10. I tried the same search with copernic using just 4 engines and returned 15 results. Again there were those that seemed to have nothing to do with my needs, but there were a couple of university guides to html. I prefer to use google - it's simple and clean, no clutter. So far the Bb discussions have seemed to agree.

Copernic web search

I am so grateful for the advice of my co-students and tutors. I have been stuffing around trying to figure out how to select particular search engines using copernic. I knew there must be a simple explanation as to why it didn't seem possible - and sure enough my fellow students have figured this one out already. Simple, of course -I have the wrong copernic program. It all makes more sense now! Desktop search is handy for desktop searching. Copernic Basic is better for web searching. I typed in my 'html' search and it came up with 31 results (using 12 search engines). Google or Yahoo! would usually come up with heaps, as previously noted, but using just Yahoo! and the 3 I couldn't remove from the search (Copernic, Enhance Interactive and Mamma) I still had 13 results. They were all similar in terms of the first results. The W3 Schools site (http://www.w3schools.com/html/) features quite a few times in all searches. The 'HTML Code Creator' (http://www.Ektron.com/) also appeared, as did Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML). The others were a mixed bag. Strange thing was - the search results seemed to change when I tried to repeat them. Not sure what happened there!

Web Search - Yahoo! v copernic

Having had no luck in finding a freeby useful tool, and since it's getting toooooooo late to seek out any new ones, I thought I'd go back to that and have a go at this bit before hitting the sack.

I used Yahoo!, since I usually do, and typed in 'HTML'. It came up with 5,040,000,000 hits, the first one being, you guessed it, wikipedia! I used copernic and it came up with just 18,the first being a sponsored ad by www.Ektron.com, the 'HTML code creator'. I was also given a list of choice for alternative searches related to HTML (eg. HTML codes, tags, tutorials etc.). I'm not sure how to refine the search to specific search engines....tried to work it out but haven't succeeded with it yet. Anyway, it's after 1.30am and I think that'll do for tonight!

WebCopier & PageSucker

I've often thought it would be handy to download a site so that it could be explored over a period of time and important bits could be properly read whilst offline, so WebCopier or PageSucker looked like a good choice. I thought I'd try PageSucker since it was a java program, but I was a bit disappointed. First, it wasn't that appealing, second....it hadn't been updated since 2003. In the world of the web that is too long ago...how up to date was this one going to be? We've come a long way since then....sooooo.....

onto WebCopier. More appealing to me. Problem...it's a buy or 15 day trial download, not a freeby. Much prefer freebies, so back to the less pretty PageSucker. Still a problem...my earlier concern that it was too 'past it' was justified...I run on Vista but it doesn't offer a Vista compatible download. I could just try the earlier version and hope for the best, or I could go back to WebCopier and download a trial. Or, if I'm tired of downloading lots of trials I'm not likely to buy, I could try finding another reputable similar download, or I could go back to the drawing board and try a bookmark management download. Stay tuned for another post!

Copernic Desktop Search

Okay, so I downloaded Copernic as instructed - and admittedly I was a little negative about downloading yet another program from the internet. I have downloaded so many for the various units I've been doing...it's getting a little overwhelming! Each one offers something else, but sometimes you feel like it's all getting too complicated and it was easier when you had nothing to make it easier! I mean, if you use every one of these downloads, you'd be forever switching from one to another....creating more work and taking up more and more time. It sometimes feels like you're spending so much time setting up and changing things around, that you're not actually doing any real work! Anyway, the download was easy enough - didn't take long and was pretty easy to follow, but I must admit I was thinking....'ere I go again!

Well, it is a bit different to what I've downloaded thus far....a way of searching for stuff on my computer. It was actually quite handy and much quicker than looking for files via vista. It could search my whole pc for any word I liked. I tried out 'spook', 'element' 'paint' and 'japanese', not words I would generally use in documents stored on this pc. Surprisingly all but spook appeared. I typed in 'minutes' since I'm secretary of an organisation and...voila...a list of minutes, together with a list of sites explaining the ins and outs of minute preparation. It works really quickly, so if you're looking for a file or email or whatever and can narrow it down to a reasonably uncommon word, this is quite a handy tool. In this case 'fast data' is worthwhile data - so maybe I wont be deleting this one!

Web 2.0 v FURL

All of this stuff is beginning to blow my mind....there is just so much out there, how can I ever take it all in?

FURL - very clever and a really really good idea. I love the fact that lists are not quite 'lists' in FURL. It's more graphic, which I really like. It makes traditional lists look pretty boring. Definately prefer Diigo (or similar) - like the way lists can be tailored. All you can do with an HTML list is put it in alphabetical or similar order....with FURL you can have icons and boxes and you can highlight things and put sticky notes on. Extremely handy and think I might just have to use it for research in future!

Web 2.0 - do we actually know what it is yet? Paul Graham, who wrote the article 'Web 2.0' referred to in the NET11 Module 3 Study Guide, has a bit of trouble trying to define what exactly Web 2.0 is. In summary, he states that 'Web 2.0means using the web as it was meant to be used'. Throughout history, people have found new uses for things that have existed for some time. As our needs change, we find new ways of using what's already available to us, as well as discovering completely new things. My understanding of Web 2.0 is that it's the natural progression of the internet. It's original purpose has been replaced by a new one.

Blogging

I had heard of blogging before starting this course, but didn't really know much about it. From my point of view blogging was a great way to waste time. I mean, who'd want to read it anyway, and why would you want to post your thoughts for all to see?

Now that I know a little more about it I've discovered a new world! Though I still feel, personally, that you can waste a lot of time with this sort of stuff, I can also see some benefits.

I have discovered some really good blogs about topics I'm interested in, and you can pretty much join in to the social network of the blogger to find others interested in the same things. For example, if you're into Dr. Who, or glass blowing, or making candles from ear wax (not that I'm into that) then you can do a Google blog search and find blogs covering those topics. If the blogger is seriously into the same topic, you've just found a kindred spirit - even if they're on the other side of the world. Even though blogging may not have been intended that way, facilities to include discussions allow others to follow the blog and to make comments. Links to followers or other blogs and sites offer a wealth of networking opportunities if you are able to find the blog of a like minded soul.

Blogging comes under asynchronous communication since the blogger is communicating ideas and thoughts etc and posting it for others to see and potentially respond to at a later date.

Blogging may be the new 'newsgroup' alternative - a more aesthetic way to tell people about something and to create a network. A blog which focuses on a topic which interests you can lead you to another interesting site or other related blogs. It has some appeal, since it is so informal yet looks good. Although a response is not generally expected, it is usually hoped for. For example, we students of NET11 have created a blog network by linking our blogs to each others' blogs, and by offering comments on posts. If we don't receive comments we feel a little lonely -there are often students asking for comments to be made on the Bb noticeboard.

The issue of privacy and security is also worth considering. Blogging has its similarities to facebook and other social networking sites in this regard. It is possible to forget that you are not writing in a diary but actually posting to the world. Yes, you can limit the availability of your blog, but used the wrong way, blogging can also be a threat to privacy and security. If I decide to blog about someone else, or to mention names and personal details of friends or colleagues or co-students or myself, then issues of privacy and security come into play.

Still, I must admit I enjoy blogging - maybe it reminds me of my teenage years when I kept diaries, or maybe it's just being able to write what you're thinking without stressing about it too much.....whatever....it's been a great experience!

Copyright

I have tried to be really careful about copyright issues and, since the learning log is actually a blog and not an assignment, it's a little easier to avoid copyright issues if you simply type what you have learnt and, if you use something you've picked up somewhere else, you cite. At this point I haven't actually used anything from anyone else...I've just reported on my experiences. It kind of feels strange - when I do an assignment I refer regularly to specific articles, books, pictures etc and they are all cited. This is different - it's my personal diary. I've used a pic from my own collection, I've worked through the exercises and I've blogged about them. I think I'll have to go through every one of my posts just to make sure I haven't unwittingly referred to some article etc without referencing!

As for the Curtin Logo question (NET11 Module 3 Study Guide, Curtin University), I think it would depend on the intentions of the user. Really it's unlikely there would be a valid reason for using the Curtin logo unless you have been specifically authorised to do so. More to the point, if someone is purporting to be authorised to use the logo but isn't actually authorised to us it, that would be a breach of copyright. Eg. If I use the logo to suggest I am a Curtin employee or to give my document some sort of credibility, then that would be a breach of copyright.

The Curtin website has a section entitled 'Copyright and disclaimer', and under that heading there is the following copyright statement:

"Copyright statement
Unless otherwise stated, the material published within the Curtin website is Curtin copyright.

Information for students and staff about copyright can be found Curtin University of Technology's copyright website.

Under the "fair dealing" provisions of the Commonwealth of Australia Copyright Act 1968 an individual may make a single copy of a "reasonable portion" of the material on this site without prior permission or payment, provided it is for the purposes of research or study, criticism or review.

Limited amounts of material may also be used by educational institutions or other agencies that participate in a statutory licence agreement in accordance with Part VB of the Copyright Act.

Aside from these specific uses, no part of this site may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the specific written permission of Curtin first-hand and obtained. Generally speaking, the University is disposed to allow a "reasonable portion" of the material on this site to be reproduced and communicated for educational or non-commercial purposes, provided that:

express permission is sought and granted beforehand; and
due acknowledgement is given as to the source of the material so used.

I think that says it all. Even if the copyright statement was not included, the Curtin logo is copyright protected because it is owned by Curtin. However, if the logo was included because it was part of an imaged document or was necessary for the purposes of research and study, and it was suitably referenced, that would be considered fair use. I found lots of info on what is considered okay and under what circumstances, but I didn't find anything about use of the Curtin logo except as noted above.

Site Validater

Okay, now to see if my test page met the W3C requirements - I knew it was transitional, and I knew there'd be problems. There were problems! Firstly, it had a go at me for leaving out character coding. Okay, fair enough. Then it told me there were missing closing tags - stacks of them. I actually did my test site a couple of weeks ago, but didn't get back to it due to my other studies and another assignment, but I did do a validation and a couple of weeks ago I couldn't figure out why it was telling me I'd left out closing tags when I could see them. Now I know what I have done wrong....I've put my closing tags in the same order as my opening tags. They must be nested....ie, the last open tag is the first closed tag, but I had the closing tags around the other way. Anyway, there were 14 problems - almost all of them due to reversing the closing tags, but also for leaving out the ALT part of image tags, putting # in front of the colour code. Can't say I understand all of what the validator says, but it's a reminder that I will really need to be careful with my code.

Back Again

It's been a bit busy lately - school holidays, work, study...have had another assignment due last week so have not been around much for NET11. Back to it! I had a bit of fun playing around with the 'So, you want to make a Web Page!' tutorial. My other unit (NED11) involves webdesign, so this tutorial was really useful. It's just so amazing to think that by typing out the right words and symbols you can create a web page....just like that...pretty cool.

Anyway, here is my slightly modified version of the tutorial experiment......I only wanted one door, so I'll have to work out how to stop the image from repeating.....will look into that.

So that is a very small version - just to get a 'big picture' view. Here is a little more detail.


I'm having trouble getting decent screen shots - they look good when I get them ready but lose quality when they post here. Must try to figure this one out too. Still, I'm really rapt in what I'm learning....the world wide web is soooooo BIG and there is so much to learn, and I'm loving it.

Well, onto the next task.....back soon!

Chat on ICQ

I have just signed off after more than an hour's chatting with 4 other NET11 students. It was an interesting experience. From what my co-students were saying, ICQ was a bit of a pain. I can't yet compare to other chat rooms, but I didn't find ICQ that good. Obviously one of the benefits is being able to chat to a number of people at once. I prefer the phone, but teleconferencing has its limitations. Chat allows a large number of people to 'speak' at once. The problem I found was the jagged conversation - one person says something, but by the time I have finished my response another thread of conversation has started. It's easy to end up with a number of different threads mixed in with one another, making it difficult to have a flowing conversation. I guess that is the world of chatting, and maybe you get better at it as you go. If there are only two or three in the conversation, you can keep it nice and neat, but it's harder with a large number. Also, in terms of real-time synchronous conversation, it is real time - we are all over Australia and chatting to each other at the same time, but since the conversation is stilted it isn't quite real-time. Also, when we physically speak we can't delete our words - we need to choose our words carefully. When you chat you can change what you're saying and only send when you're finished. You have to think and respond more quickly with speech, you can hesitate, write, delete, think etc with chat. There is a delay - not in terms of 'time' - messages seem to be instant once posted, but in terms of response. It is also hard to avoid interrupting threads - when there are pauses in the conversation and there is no-one typing you are not sure whether to 'speak' or not. You can't exactly type 'ahhhhh' everytime you pause for thought.

Chat has its uses without doubt - it would not be possible for me to speak to my co-students in a group setting since we are not in a physical classroom and are too far apart, and the response time for chat is obviously of benefit compared to Bb. Also, a large group can't easily teleconference or videoconference. Chat is the obvious answer in those sorts of scenarios. It offers some unique opportunities which we would otherwise not be able to enjoy. It also poses some problems.

Yesterday I considered a number of problems I thought might be an issue. Most of those related to chatting to people we don't know and 'being' someone else (or speaking to someone who is not as they seem). I'm now also wondering about the social impact of chatting v phone or meeting with people. I know many teenage kids who keep in contact with each other via chatrooms etc. Some of them spend hours and hours chatting. Since chat is a very different form of conversation, I wonder whether it changes the way those kids behave in the physical world? What impact has chat had on kids raised with it? What impact might it have down the track? I guess it's too early to say, and I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad impact.

As I noted above - in chat you can pause, type, delete, retype, cancel, start again, type again, delete.....all the time potentially being someone else or making claims that are not necessarily true. In my case I was watching 'The Burbs' whilst chatting - I didn't mention it because it would sound rude. I wonder whether admitting that would change the way my co-students felt about my input (note: I was paying attention to the chat session - I can watch a movie at the same time!). I could have said I was sitting in my study concentrating on the chat task. I could have said I was on a train or visiting a friend in hospital. No-one can tell what I was doing. I can say whatever I like when I'm chatting and, within reason, no-one will know! If I chatted all the time, would I start to speak and behave as though I am in a chat room when I'm actually with other people. Would I say things more carelessly, forgetting that I can't delete it. If I increasingly lie in my chat sessions, would I lie more often in my physical world? If I pretend to be someone else in my chat session, would I pretend to be someone else in real life? Okay, I think this is getting too deep.....!

Chat Groups

Okay...a little more success here I think. I can see the merit in chat groups, but I can also see how people could spend too much time in chat rooms! I have successfully set up my ICQ account and am awaiting a chat tomorrow night (Sunday) at 9pm. I'm looking forward to the experience. I have already made a few observations:-

1. I have spent a huge amount of time setting up accounts for different things and searching through the various sites to learn how they work. I realise once you've passed the initial stages of setting up you can go straight to chat/newsgroup/list etc., but I feel like I'm spending a lot of time stuffing around and not much time actually doing anything!

2. Chat rooms are great for catching up with people you can't usually catch up with, for studying, for quick discussions from different locations, for 'speaking' to friends and rellies overseas. I can imagine lots of really good uses, but I wonder whether sometimes it's just easier to pick up the phone? Will I be in hot water suggesting that? I like listening to the laughter in a friend's voice when I speak to them on the phone. I can offer sympathy - not just in words but in voice - when I need to, or can interrupt if it's appopriate. I can sense anger or disappointment, joy or sorrow. It's ever better face to face over a coffee or lunch. I can't imagine having the same 'discussions' in a chat room that I have with my friends face to face or on the phone - with the same spontaneity and laughter and interaction - body language, voice and words. I understand we can have a voice in text, but I'm not sure it compares to reality.

3. Chat rooms certainly offer a unique opportunity to communicate with others in a real-time, synchronous way without actually being physically together. This is wonderful if you already know the people you are chatting with, is a lifesaver for someone unable to physically meet new people, and is exciting if you just want to meet new people online. However, if you chat to strangers, you can't ever really know 'WHO' you are chatting to. There are benefits in that you can be anyone you like - brave, crazy, fun, successful, popular....whatever and whoever you want, but so can the other person/people. I could be chatting to a very different person to the one profiled - age, sex, interests.....

4. The unique ability to chat to different groups at once, to speak privately to someone whilst still chatting to a group, and to be a different author with each group is really useful in many ways. Sometimes chat will be more beneficial than face to face or phone discussion, but there is also a risk of the chat becoming superficial and fake. Do you become a different person when you are chatting as compared to actually seeing and speaking to people? It is very easy to take on a different persona - and if this is kept to virtual communication then it can be lots of fun. If the virtual persona begins to cross into the physical persona things get difficult and dangerous!

5. This begs the question - how much of the chatting is 'real' - is a large amount of chat room discussion really 'virtual reality' stuff? It's so easy to be anyone, not necessarily who you really are - it has an exciting place in the new modern world of the information age, but it will be interesting to see where it leads.

Newsgroups (2)

After spending so much time discovering the joys of newsgroups, I have decided to give up on that task. My reasoning - they really don't impress me! After my last post I spent ages (read hours) scanning through lists of newsgroups with Google. My observations are that:
1. The groups tended to be very specific and connected to something in particular (eg. church groups, sports groups, specific towns etc.); and
2. on the odd occasion that I found a remotely interesting or relative newsgroup, it was either stale (ie. no one had posted for a year or two or more), or there were only a handful of members (sometimes only 2!).

To top it off, when I found something I thought I could join (ie. still current and a few members), I would inevitably find the posts had pretty much nothing to do with the topic! I think I have spent enough time on this topic. Will move onto Chat Groups!

Newsgroups

Okay, so I'm ready to join a newsgroup as required, and to do so I click on the first link offered in the study guide - http://www.usenet.org/. I clicked on the link and arrived at the usenet site....but where exactly are the newsgroups? It comes up with a whole lot of ads for 'related searches', which don't seem to have anything to do with what I'm looking for. Still, 'newsgroups' is offered to I click on that. It comes up with a whole lot of ads for sites offering subscription to newsgroups - but that's not what I want either. Up the top there is a 'newsgroup' link so I click on that - and I get another list of 'related searches'. At the top is another list.....thinking that I just need to choose a topic (okay, this is all new to me), I click on 'Houses for Sale' - maybe this is a newsgroup.....but no...more 'related searches'! I end up at realestate.com.....but that site is NOT a newsgroup! Where are the newsgroups? I get out of usenet and try the other links offered. Not much help there either....lots of advertising, but how exactly do I find the actual newsgroup? I once subscribed to a yahoo! newgroup and it was pretty easy to do that, so by now I'm thinking that might be the way to go, or maybe Google has newsgroups too....but I decide to check out all the offered links before trying that idea out. One link offers a guide for first time users....and the guide tells me about some of the possible newsgroups I might join....urgggghhhhh! Hubby's eyes open wide in surprise as I scroll down a list of porn group links.....I have by now decided that this newsgroup biz is not for me. Next step, see what my fellow students have discovered.

Module 2 - Lists

At work we are on a couple of lists - we receive regular emails containing newsletters, bulletins and other important updates and information. Some are regular - arriving at pretty much the same time every week. Some are annoying - too much stuff sent and I have to sort through the important stuff and delete the stuff we don't need. We have thought about setting up a list of our own to email a monthly newsletter to clients, but first someone has to provide content!

Email lists are handy if you don't need to communicate back and forth. They are good for sending out regular mailings, such as newsletters, without the need for a response from the recipient. Discussion boards, on the other hand, are a way of having a 'conversation' - albeit a stilted one. Downside of discussion boards can be having to read a lot of info that may not apply to you, but at least you have the opportunity to join in and offer your own opinions.

Email 101

Attachments

I send quite a few attachments with emails - usually documents, sometimes photos. I scan them in and tidy them up using a program called 'ulead' (cheap photoshop type program). I do my best to get the best quality for the lowest size. Some things are best saved as jpeg, others GIF. If the doc/photo is a large file, I'll try out a few ways to reduce the size. Sometimes I lose too much quality so I'll try something else. You can reduce really large files into small files and maintain quality. It annoys me when I receive an email with a massive photo (both in terms of physical size and file size). It takes ages to load up and then you can't see it because your screen is too small. I usually test my attachment by 'previewing' it too. Also, since I use Office 2007, I have to make sure I'm saving any office files as older versions so that others can read them.

Filters & Rules

I have a few email addresses that go directly to junk mail, and I have directed emails addressed to particular user accounts to be filed in their own folders. Apart from that, I haven't really looked into my options.

Folder Structure

Okay, I admit it....I haven't spent much time arranging my folder structure (or rules and filters). Apart from adding a few addresses to the junk mail folder, and having a couple of email addresses all coming to the one place, I haven't done much arranging. Yes, I do the housekeeping, but I have to admit it would be a whole lot easier to keep it tidy if I made some changes. Belated New Year's resolution - sort out email stuff and make use of the tools available!

What's in an email?

Finally - I can start on module 2. I've read through everything but work keeps getting in the way of study. Okay, email.....mmmm. I've been a bit slack. I seem to spend a lot of time doing lots of other stuff, but I've never taken the time to learn how to organise my email set-up. I know it would be far more efficient, and I know you have to take time to make time, but first you have to have time available. Right, now that I've confused myself....

EMAIL GLEANING

What info can you glean from an email. Well, the obvious bits are the ones easily seen. Who it came from, who it was sent to and what it's about are all in the head bit, plus just reading the actual content can tell you a bit if the 'reply' bits haven't been deleted. But to find out a bit more you have to seek out the information. I picked out a work email and clicked on file/properties. The info in there is more revealing.

Bit hard to read, but there is detailed info here on the return path, the delivery date and time, and who it is going to. It also includes info on the time it took to get from the sender to me, the path it took and the time it arrived at each hop (at least I think that's what it means!), the MIME version, virus threats, and all kinds of stuff about the content (fonts, content type, character sets etc.). Some emails have more info than others. I'm not sure exactly how to read all of the info in 'properties' but I think I follow most of it.

TO CC OR NOT TO CC

I use cc when I send an email to one person, but want someone else to have a copy of that email. The recipient of the email knows to whom I've sent a copy. The cc'd recipient knows the email is more or less for filing rather than for response. BCC would be appropriate if someone would like a copy of the email but they don't want the original recipient to know their email address. Reply all - handy if you want to reply to all of the original email recipients. I use it so that I don't have to type in the email addresses (less error). If the message I'm replying to is reasonably short, or if the recipients are waiting for a reply, I might include the actual content, but often I delete it. Sometimes messages can get very lengthy, even though it's good to have that record of 'conversation'.

Module 2

Last night I was up until 2am reading the outline to module 2 and thinking about the tasks. It's all very exciting but I'm a bit anxious. I joined a yahoo group a year or so ago, but apart from that I haven't joined any lists, newsgroups or chat sites before. I am really behind the times! It must be strange for those fellow bloggers who have grown up with the internet - you must think those of us who were around pre-pc's are from the dark ages (not that I'm that old!). I thought I was pretty up to date with the current technology - I think I've probably bought at least 10 computers over the past 20 years, plus helped a lot of other people to buy theirs. When I speak to my friends they have no idea what I'm talking about half the time (blogging! what's that?) - and they're often impressed at how much I know. He he...little do they know! There is so much more to learn.....

Photos

I really love the photo I had on this blog - it reminds me of the Dandenongs near Melbourne. Even though it was a freeware photo which came with a program (can't remember which one...might have been Ulead, or might have come with a program that came with one of our many cameras), I decided to try using one from our own collection. So....today anyway.....our pet bunny Caramel features. Almost all of my photos are on another computer so I'll have to bring some over to this one. I'll see if I can find an authentic 'Dandenong's' photo. I might set up a slideshow....I really enjoy playing around with the gadgets and widgets! Yee haa!

Ping and traceroute

Okay...next step in module 1...learn about traceroute. So I visited the site 'how stuff works' and read the article 'how routers work'. Okay, so that all makes sense....then I went to the article on tracing a message and saw an example of a traceroute. They suggested using tracert which should already be on my pc....so I tried typing tracert into google. Found an interesting site with more info on ping and traceroute but they wanted $ for the privilege of using their tools. Decided to stick with one of the sites suggested in the study guide...network-tools. Typed in 'curtin.edu.au' and off it went.....

So on my count that's 18 hops (the 19th being the curtin server). It took about 2.54 seconds to get from the tools site to the curtin server. The IP of the hostname curtin.edu.au is 134.7.179.56.

Thought I may as well test out tracert, since it is apparently already on my computer...and it worked! Had to figure out how to get to DOS on this laptop ("command prompt"), then typed in tracert 'http://www.curtin.edu.au/ and got a slightly different result. Only 12 hops and an average of 1.8 seconds! Interesting.

Comparison...the last six hops were identical with both. The trace from my laptop went via my ISP and was pretty quick to find Curtin.

One week down

I can't believe one week has passed since this study period began. I was really keeping up with it for the first couple of days, then I was offline for a day and a half and I seem to have lost momentum since then. Mind you, it was a long weekend and Moomba was beconing. Now it's back to work. Have read all the blogs, now I need to set up 'Google Docs' so that we can all post our blog addresses in one spot (thanks Peter for the advice - now I just have to figure out how to do it!).

Also need to get through the rest of the modules, although I think I'm not actually behind at this stage. More on that as the night progresses!

Day 5 - posts and more posts!

I have been working on my 2 OUA units every night until around 1am and I'm getting tired! Whenever I log on to Bb there are so many posts it takes me AGES to read them all. The trouble is, they're all so interesting that I don't want to miss any! I was offline for just over a day and they'd really built up. I'm finding it hard to fit the actual study in.... It's almost midnight and I need some sleep.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

FileZilla

Day three...I have managed to get through the telnet task...now onto the FTP task. Took awhile to figure out what I was doing but...yee haa....I did it!

First I downloaded filezilla - but I kept thinking I'd need to find the file on my computer in order to use the program. Then I remembered that http is just one type of search option - ftp was another. So I tried typing ftp:// etc etc and...bingo...it worked and I found the answer!

"This server runs on a unix platform, so CAPITALIZATION MATTERS! A file named "file.txt" IS NOT THE SAME as "FILE.TXT".


The tasks I've completed thus far (telnet & FTP) have involved finding text based information..no graphics, no font variations, nothing fancy at all. All very much like the old pc's as previously noted. Pretty dull and boring. The introduction of GUI's has made computing much more interesting.

My how things have changed! - Telnet & blinkenlights

I've been sitting in my lounge listening to ABC radio for updates on fire/wind warnings, and trying to memorise the terminology of FTPs, IPs and telnet amongst others. Fortunately I have come across some of this stuff before as I was setting up a website for someone and had to teach myself from scratch. That was a hard way to go but a good base for this unit!

I first used pc's back in the days of monochrome monitors and XT computers...slow cumbersome things that ran only on DOS (which our modern day computers still do way down at the core). Telnet brings me back! Before windows you needed to know the basics of DOS - you searched by typing in simple commands like 'menu' or 'rd' or 'dir'. There was a list of available commands and I managed my files and directories with it. Telnet is a lot like DOS. I must admit I prefer windows, even though I remember being wary of windows when it was just becoming popular! Oh dear,,showing my age here....anyway here is a copy of the email from Deakin.

Subject
Email from DEAKIN UNI LIB
Telnet printout You searched for the AUTHOR: bennahum 2 AUTHORS found, with 2 entries; AUTHORS 1-2 are: 1 Bennahum David A 1936 ................................. 1 entry 2 Bennahum Ninotchka .................................... 1 entry

As for blinkenlights....that brings me back too. I learnt to 'draw' pictures just using letters, numbers and symbols on my chunky manual typewriter at school :) We had an electric one too! My kids think it's totalling boring, but then they've grown up with pc's, windows, computer games with amazing graphics and PS2. I was lucky if I could find someone with an Atari or Commodore (go space invaders!). Programming computers was done by little cards with dotted marks on them (like the tattslotto cards) and I don't think pc's existed. I feel like I've seen a little chunk of an amazing world revolution in the making. Now I've progressed to learning to create animations using Toon Boom...now that's a cool program!

Top 5 Tips For New Bloggers

1. Keep personal safety in mind. Although I'm new to blogging, I think it's a good idea to be careful about the personal information you include on the blog site.


2. Consider who might be reading your blog. There are plenty of people who have lost jobs and had all kinds of problems by spilling their guts on the web... I read about someone on the weekend who lost her job because she said she hated it (her job) on facebook. It's also good to remember that once you've released information into cyber world it might be impossible to completely remove it - it could come back to haunt you!


3. Be creative. Don't be afraid to experiment with colour etc. to brighten it up and make it more interesting, or add widgets and other bits & pieces. Maybe add pics or animations. Anything is possible and what you do with your blog is up to you!


4. Check out what others have done. Don't be afraid to dive into those millions (?) of blogs out there. And while you're at it, add links to fellow students so it's easy to move from blog to blog. Maybe even add links to other interesting or useful blogs (I'm still trying to work out how exactly to do that.....!)


5. Have fun!

In the beginning.......

....there was the blog...

....well okay, the blog came later.....

Hi to anyone out there reading this blog. My name is Fi and I am blogging as part of my NET11 internet studies unit. I've never actually blogged before so this will be interesting!

At the moment I feel as though I'm just focussing on the technical aspects of this unit...getting used to using Blackboard and Oasis and trying to read the study guides for the 2 units I'm doing this semester. The NET11 'concepts' section is pretty long and I'd like to be able to digest it properly, so I'm taking a bit of time to read through it.

The first point...asynchronisity (did I spell that right?)....mmm....haven't we come a long way since people delivered mail on horseback or mailed letters to loved ones in other countries knowing it would take months and months to arrive. Time was sooooo much slower then. Now we can speak to each other via the internet (with web cams and microphones) instead of having person to person or phone conversations. We can send short notes to each other instead of mailing lengthy letters - staggered conversations....back and forth, anywhere in the world, all day long! We can check in with business contacts without interrupting their day, we can avoid talking to people who bug us and we can chat people up, all without actually seeing anyone....what a massive change the world has undergone!

Anyway....I'VE MADE A START! Yee haa!