using your IT
So you've planned and budgeted for and even purchased your IT. Now it's time to use it. In this part we will look at the internet and other related tools such as email and web browsers. These are common IT tools that you're likely to use at some stage.
the internet
Many people are afraid of the internet and think it's too hard to understand. Fortunately, it's not necessary to understand the internet to use it. What you see or hear on the screen is designed to be as user-friendly as possible. The best way to learn how to use the internet is by doing exactly that — using it.
In simple words, the internet is a network of computers all over the world connected by telephone, cable and satellite. "Going online" refers to the act of connecting your computer to the internet.
The internet can be used to send and receive email and to access websites using web browsers. All this allows you to do things like network with like-minded people and groups, identify funding sources, and obtain current information on almost any topic you wish.
Tip
Remember — where you see underlined text, you can click on these words to link to a page or website. Some images can also be "clickable" — you will know this if the cursor turns into a pointing finger when you move it over the image.
what's an ISP?
ISP stands for Internet Service Provider — a company with a large computer that hosts websites and provides access to the internet. If you have a website or email (other than free email) on the internet, you will have an ISP.
internet connectivity
Connectivity is how a computer connects to a network. If you want to access the internet or email you have to have a connection. The two types of access (or connection) can be grouped into two broad categories — dial-up and broadband (or high-speed).
A broadband connection allows faster web browsing, downloading and transferring files than is possible with a dial-up connection. It does not use a voice signal and can share your phone or fax line while you talk or fax at the same time.
Dial-up internet access
Dial-up internet access is a type of internet connectivity that operates through a standard telephone line and a dial-up modem device built in or connected to your PC. It's what you would use if you're working from home. It uses a voice tone to connect to another modem requiring exclusive use of the line.
You cannot talk on the phone and connect to the internet at the same time using this technology.
Dial-up access is offered through a number of ISPs to which you pay a monthly or yearly fee. For this fee, you can access the internet when you like and send and receive emails etc.
Dial-up service is the least expensive but also the slowest type of internet access (at 56Kbps or less). This means it could take up to 5 minutes to download just one megabyte of data, which isn't a lot.
Broadband internet access
There are a number of different technologies currently used to deliver high-speed internet access. Two common ones are:
- DSL (Digital Subscriber Line or Dedicated Service Line) and
- cable.
DSL uses your standard telephone line for fast internet access, but differs from dial-up in that DSL uses a digital frequency compared to dial-up which transmits data across the phone line using the standard analogue frequency.
All this means that, with DSL, you can be online and use the phone at the same time, whereas with dial-up, you are tying up your phone line. There are several types of DSL of varying price but generally they're affordable. However, DSL is only available in limited areas and can vary widely in speed.
Cable differs from dial-up in that internet access is provided via the same cable company that brings cable television into the home. This means it's completely separate from your phone. Cable offers high speed connection at relatively low costs but the connection is shared and slower speeds sometimes occur due to congestion. It's primarily for home users and is only offered by TelstraClear in Wellington, the Kapiti Coast and parts of Christchurch.
Both DSL and cable provide an "always-on" internet connection, allowing you to leave the computer actively connected to the internet 24 hours a day. These services are also more than 30 times faster than dial-up but they're also more expensive than dial-up.
Other less common types of broadband internet access are:
- satellite — data arrives at your computer via a satellite dish (a little larger than the Sky TV dish), which is installed on your property
- wireless— land-based transmitters send the information to a special modem (about the size of a small notebook) which sits on your desk. The advantage is you can move around anywhere in the coverage area and stay connected. Speeds are fast (up to 500Kbps) and several companies are providing a wireless service and many new computers come with wireless infrastructure.
viewing websites using web browsers
A website is a collection of linked files on a computer that can be copied (or "downloaded") and viewed by other computers around the world. This is done by using a piece of software called a "browser", such as Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. One website can link to other websites, and the World Wide Web (or the web) is the term used to refer to all the network or "web" of interconnected websites.
Every website has an address, which is a line of text called the URL (Universal Resource Locator). A URL begins with http:// and tells your browser where to find the site or page you want. You can see the URL of the site you are at in the location bar at the top of your browser. You can save URLs that you use frequently so that you can go directly to them at a later date. Simply choose "add bookmark" or "add pages to favourites" and the browser will automatically remember the URL.
searching the internet
The internet can be the quickest and least expensive way to find information — as long as you know how to use a search engine. This is particularly useful if you don't know the exact URL or you want to obtain as much information as you can on a particular subject.
A search engine is like an indexing system or librarian that helps you find what you are looking for — if you ask properly. Basically, search engines are websites that allow you to search the internet for whatever you ask it.
There are many search engines and each are different. For example, some require you to enter key words, while others require a phrase. Experiment with different search engines to find the ones that best suit your needs.
If you go to websites www.xtra.co.nz and www.community.net.nz you will experience how to use search engines. If you try searching within these websites and you run into trouble, read the information provided under the "Search" and "Help" headings. This will explain exactly how the search engine operates and what's required from you before it will search properly. The same kind of help is often provided under the heading "Hints" on other websites.
Listed below are some common search engines. Just go to the website address (the word in brackets beginning with www.) and have a go at searching for something:
- Google (www.google.co.nz) — uses a very sophisticated system to find the most-visited sites and suggests alternatives to misspelt words in your search and can be set to search within New Zealand only
- SearchNZ (www.searchnz.co.nz) — a local search engine that is easy to use and provides a good list of sites
- AltaVista (www.altavista.com) — a Web and Usenet News searcher, indexing over 100 million pages. Can search under categories: simple, people, business, subject and advanced
- Ask Jeeves (www.askjeeves.com) — features a question-answering system allowing anyone to ask a question in plain, simple English without having to use key words. Great for beginners
- Excite (www.excite.com) — searches by keywords or text strings or browses the categories of reviewed sites
- Yahoo(www.yahoo.com) — the original search engine and directory of the web.
email
What is it?
Email stands for "electronic mail". It's a way of sending messages from one computer to another. Generally, if you have access to the internet, you will also have an email account, but you can have an email account without having your own web access.
You can either have an email account with an ISP (Internet Service Provider) or a free email account via the internet e.g. Hotmail. If you have a free email account you will access it through a website, which means you can access it from anywhere in the world.
To access an email account with an ISP, you will need to dial into the ISP and have the right account settings, so it's a bit more complicated. But if you're using it from one computer, it's more secure and offers more functions than a free account. ISPs offer different packages and prices, so if you're looking at setting up an email account with an ISP it's worth shopping around.
Email can also be used to send files from one computer to another. These are called attachments, and can be text or graphics. Occasionally you can run into problems if the computer you are sending an attachment to doesn't have compatible software, but these problems are happening less often as the technology improves.
Tips on using email
It is difficult to give detailed guidance on emailing because this would vary depending on the different email software packages. For this type of detail, you're advised to refer to the manuals that come with your software, ask an expert or search the internet using one of the search engines mentioned above by entering the words "using email".
Some advice on good email style:
- provide your audience with adequate context:
- use meaningful subject lines
- quote the email to which you are responding
- avoid pronouns.
- be aware of page layout issues. Stick with:
- short paragraphs
- lines under seventy-five characters long
- messages under twenty-five lines long
- plain text.
- to convey emotion use:
- smileys
- asterisks
- capital letters
- typed-out vocalisations
- whitespace
- lower-case letters
- creative punctuation.
- be aware of what cues people will use to form impressions of you, for example:
- name
- domain name
- grammar, punctuation and spelling
- formality
- signatures.
(Adapted from the website www.webfoot.com/advice/email.top.html).
Tip
Make it a routine to pause before you send an email, especially if you are feeling any strong emotion, and re-read it from the point of view of someone likely to misunderstand it.
When replying to messages, be careful you don't include recipients you did not intend. There are many true stories of intimate messages reaching wide audiences, and gossip reaching the people it was about.
advanced technologies
For those organisations that are ready to take the next step on from getting started and want to keep up with the latest IT technologies, it's great to know that there's a lot of information available out there on topics like:
- developing a website
- blogs
- email lists.
Developing a website
There are lots of books and online advice available about developing websites (which your organisation might want to do at some stage). These are listed towards the end of this section under "Where to go for more information".
Here are a few tips for developing a website:
- Try to think like the people who will be using your website. What will they know already? What will they need to know and want to know? Assume too little rather than too much.
- Have great consideration for people with disabilities using your website.
For example, blind and sight-impaired people can't use a mouse, so provide keyboard-based alternatives to clicking on images. Their browsers read out links separately from text, so offer more information with links than "click here". Use captions (and the "ALT" command) to tell them what is in pictures.
For deaf and hearing-impaired people, provide text alternatives to speech files.
- Have regard to people accessing your website with slow connections (as in rural areas). If you must include large files, such as big pictures, make them open on new pages, and provide thumbnail images so users can decide whether they want to open them.
Blogs
If you need to keep people informed but email isn't enough and you don't have the time, skills or money for a website, then a blog may be the answer. A blog is a way of quickly posting your thoughts, interacting with people, and more. It's also free and really easy. Give it a go by clicking on www.blogger.com and follow the steps given.
Email lists
Electronic mailing lists are a way of emailing information to many internet users at the same time rather than having a "send to" list a mile long. These lists are most often used for a group of people working together on a project and as a way of distributing current news and the like. Actual discussion and information exchanges can occur. The commands "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" are often used to have your name added to or removed from an email list.
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