Module 2: Group Task

I've used and experienced ICQ, mIRC, MSN, yahoo chat, Nateon (Korean instant messenging program), and SKYPE. Out of all these chat programs, I prefer to use Nateon or MSN. Previously, I enjoyed using mIRC for quite awhile but now I feel very comfortable using MSN. I don't know if I'm old fashioned or something but I prefer MSN. I had never experienced using SKYPE until now. It's an interesting program and has great features but I still prefer MSN. I believe the main reason I'm using MSN is because all my friends use it too. In other words, if I use another chatting program, I'll have no one to talk to since they don't use it.

MSN LOGO:

mIRC LOGO:

Difference between MSN & mIRC:

1. MSN is an instant messenging program where you can chat to one person or as a group.


2. mIRC is more used for group chatting but you can chat one on one by 'quoting' them.


3. MSN you can add friends so you can chat with them when you go online, you also have the option of emailing fellow hotmail users.


4. The layout of mIRC is very basic and simple whereas MSN seems quite modern.

In conclusion, there are a variety of chatting programs out on the internet and they all have similar features but differ in someway. Some are mainly for group chatting, some are for private one on one messenging and so on. As mentioned above, I prefer MSN out of all chatting programs because it is simple to use, nice modern design, there is a vast number of MSN users so it's a popular program and finally it is connected with hotmail so I receive notifications when I receive an email!

Module 2: Chat

For this task I decided to download the chatting program ICQ. I think the last time I used ICQ was probably when I was in year 9 (wow!).

I downloaded ICQ from http://www.icq.com/download.

I then installed it..

After the installation finished, ICQ popped up automatically.

I then created a new ICQ account.

It's been awhile since I last used ICQ and to be honest, I actually enjoyed using it! I thought I might not like it since I'm used to other chatting programs these days. BUT! It was interesting to use it once again. The difference between ICQ and other chatting programs is that you send short messages to one another. Unlike MSN, where you chat on a single page.

ICQ is a great way to communicate with others and I liked the features where you can find people from all different places by simply searching by name, country, gender etc.

I enjoyed using this program because I think it's quite similar to the chatting program I'm currently using (Nateon - which is a Korean instant messenging program).

In conclusion, ICQ is simple to use, no hassles, no complications, just easy and fun messenging chatting program which I would recommend to others!

Module 2: Newsgroups

For this task we were required to find a newsgroup and post a message.
I decided to go to usenet.com.au and then joined aus.music which is a group on music, CDs and radio.

This is the message I posted on aus.music:



This is the first time I've joined a newsgroup and to be honest, I don't think I will ever use it again. I didn't like it on how long it took for a message to show up on the net, unlike discussion boards - they show up immediately! Also, newgroups seemed to be more unorganized and hard to follow. (But that's just my opinion!).

Module 2: Email Lists

Through a fellow student's blog I found about the following site:
http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/internetstudies/


It's a site that has been made for students currently studying Internet Studies.
Once again, I have never visited such a site before so it was quite a new experience for me.
In order to join the group, I created a Yahoo account (since I couldn't recall the last time I used Yahoo).

Anyhow, after visiting a few sites I began to notice the differences between discussion boards and email lists.

What are the pros and cons of email lists versus discussion boards?

Email Lists Pros:

• Great for distributing information, newsletters, notifications, and more. Simple way of sending information to numerous people - popular way of marketing.
• You don't necessarily have to go to a certain site to view messages since they are sent directly to your email. Convenient way of communicating with others.
• Since you receive all messages by email, you never miss out on what's going on.

Email Lists Cons:

• All messages are sent to all subscribers which means that there is an issue with privacy. Information is shared and can be viewed by everyone, so it's not a good option to use email lists if you want to have a private talk with someone.
• Since all messages are sent directly to your email, it can become a nuisance when checking your inbox.
• There is a possibility in receiving spam and junk mail which can be very annoying and harmful to your computer (that is if you get a virus from spam mail!).

Discussion Boards Pros:

• Discussion boards can be viewed as a slow version of chatting. You are able to reply/post messages to certain topics and they are all saved under the topic. Since it's like a slow version of chatting, it's actually quite fun and interesting.
• Useful and simple way of communicating with others. It's quite easy to use and not so complicated. All posts are viewable on a single page.
• Able to build online communities with people of the same interests.
• Popular with many people.

Discussion Boards Cons:

• All posts and replies are viewable by all members who are registered on the discussion board. Basically, there is no privacy!
• Can be inconvenient since you have to go and log in to view the discussion board.

Are there certain kinds of communication or purposes more suited to one than the other?

In a way, discussion boards are much more open and user friendly whereas email lists are very confronting and can be complicating. As mentioned above in the pros and cons, the use of email lists will be much more effective for marketing and promotion purposes. The reason being is that information can be widely distributed directly to subscribers at any time unlike discussion boards where people have to log in and view the messages themselves. On the other hand, depending on how much messages are being sent, email lists can become annoying since it can make one's email inbox full of unnecessary emails.

Discussion boards are popular and easy to use. It is a great way to make an online community and helps bring together individuals with similar interests. Email lists are likely to be used for marketing purposes, whilst discussion boards are more of a place where you can socialize with other people. In my opinion, I find discussion boards more interesting and easier to use. You are able to view a number of messages on a single page, unlike email lists where you have to open and close many windows.

Module 2: Email Tasks

For this email task we were required to undertake an email tutorial to ensure that we understood all the basic tools of emailing. We then had to answer the following reflective questions:


1. What information about a user's email, the origin of a message, and the path it took, can you glean from an email message?

From an email message we can see who sent the email and where it has come from by simply looking at the email address. An email address consists of a username and domain name ("username@domain"). We can identify the person's name or nickname by looking at the username and the domain name shows where the message is from. For example, if the domain is yahoo.com.au then it is an email supplied by Yahoo in Australia.

The last few letters at the end of an email address helps identify the location or what type of organization it is, for example, .org = organization, .gov = government, .edu = education, .au = Australia, .nz = New Zealand and etc.

Furthermore, we can also see what path the email has taken by looking at the title. Whether it is a reply from a previous message, or a message that has been forwarded to many people.

By looking at an email address we can find out all these informations. It is simple and easy to understand.


2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the 'cc', 'bcc' and 'reply all' functions of email?

CC: This stands for 'Carbon Copy' and it is useful when sending a copy of the same email to someone. It is used to indicate that the email is mainly for the person in the 'To' box, however the 'cc' people may also want to read the email as well.
For example, you send an email to a client and then 'cc' to your boss to show that you have completed the job.

BCC: This stands for 'Blind Carbon Copy' and it is quite similar to the 'cc' function except that the 'bcc' function is discreet. When using 'bcc', the recipient is unaware that other people have received the same email message. This can be useful when you want to secretly send information to a person without the recipient knowing.
For example, you receive threats from an evil person so you 'bcc' the information to the police.

REPLY ALL: This function can be very useful when in need of replying to a number of people with the same message. This saves the time and hassle of typing all the email addresses and it is an efficient way of emailing. When using the 'reply all' function, it replies the same message to everyone that is listed in the email.


3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?

It is important to make sure that the recipient can open the file before sending an attachment. It would be useless if you sent a file that can not be opened. For example, if the file is a word document, the recipient will need a compatible program to open and view it.
If unsure whether the recipient has a compatible program, then sending documents as plain text (ASCII) or as a format that can be viewed by many applications such as Rich Text File (RTF) are another option. File names and file compression should also be taken into account when sending an attachment.


4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?

The only filter I have currently set up is for spam mail to be received in the Spam Email section. This is a great tool since it separates my email from useless spam mail. Other than that, I do not have any other filters or rules set up.


5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?

The folder structure of my email has been organised into 3 sections - Personal, Business #1 and Business #2. By organizing my emails into different folders helps me from being confused and also allows me to search and find emails that I need to read again quite easily. Without such structuring, all the emails would be mixed up and it would be very frustrating and confusing. Organizing emails into their allocated sections makes everything neat and easy to view.

Internet Tools

For this task, I decided to use the following site: http://centralops.net/co
I then tracerouted to curtin.edu.au and these were the results.

As I was doing this, I realized that the IP address for curtin.edu.au was 134.7.179.53.
The results I received from centralops was 20 hops in total in 245ms.

I've never used a tool such as traceroute before and it's quite facinating to see how connections can be made quickly to different locations. By looking at the results from centralops, it clearly shows where the connections were made and this shows how broad and deep the internet is.

FURTHER EXPLORATION:

We were also required to ping into the webct site and compare the time taken to ping from my computer and the net tools site (centralops.net). These were the results:

The time taken to ping from my computer to webct.curtin.edu.au [134.7.180.156] only took an average time of 85ms.

Whereas, it took an average time of 248ms from the centralops website.

From these results, it shows how the location is a major factor in the time taken to ping from one to another. Obviously it took less time from my computer since the distance needed to travel is much less than that of centralops.net. I believe the centralops website is located in America or somewhere overseas and since I'm located in Sydney, Australia, the distance and time taken is much less and faster than that of centralops. I expected these results since I'm in Australia whereas centralops is not.

Next, I tracerouted from my computer to curtin.edu.au [134.7.179.53] and these were the results:

There was a total of 12 hops in 87ms. Only 12 hops! Centralops.net took approximately 245ms with 20 hops. From these results, it shows how distance is an important factor. The further the distance, the more time it takes to make a connection. On the other hand, the shorter the distance, the less time it takes. This has been quite an interesting task!!

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Task

For this task, we were required to have an FTP client for our computer so I downloaded and installed FileZilla.

I then used this program to ftp to recall.curtin.edu.au and downloaded the README file.

The task was:

"according to the readme file. '________ MATTERS' - what word goes in the blank?".

"CAPITALIZATION MATTERS". Capitalization was the missing word.

FTP is an efficient and simple way of transferring files over the internet from one site to another.

I've used FTP previously, so I did not find this task difficult.

Telnet: Task B

TASK B: If telnet leaves you unimpressed, and you much prefer the contemporary web-based library catalogues, then 'do yourself a favour' and telnet over to towel.blinkenlights.nl for a bit of fun!

Here are a few snap shots of what I saw when I connected to towel.blinkenlights.nl!

STAR WARS!!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Wow!

Technology is so amazing. When I was doing Task A (connecting to Deakin University Library) I was thinking how this seemed quite old fashioned and ugly but my way of thinking has just changed! It's incredible how everything is possible! After watching "Star Wars" by blinkinlights, I've come to realise how telnet is like the foundation for all programming. Telnet is used as a basis and then modified/transformed to create a much more appealing program.

Personally, this is my first time using telnet and I'm sure that there are many other people who have never used telnet. It is something that is not used as often as other softwares and programs. Telnet seems to me as an important part in application production.

Telnet: Task A

Connecting to Deakin University Library via Telnet was the first task we were required to do. Through this we were asked to connect and search through the library computer.

To see if I had Telnet installed on my computer, I clicked on Start> Run> typed Telnet.

This is what I got: (I guess this meant that Telnet was already on my computer!)

I then typed library.deakin.edu.au to connect to the library.

It then asked which terminal I was using. I was confused at this point, so I searched on the internet and realised that I was using VT100.

I was then connected to the Deakin University Library.

Here, I searched for books by the author name of Bennahum. These are the results I received:

I then chose to print both titles to my curtin email.

Finally, I logged into my curtin email account and there it was! The information I had requested had been sent to me! TASK A COMPLETED!!

This was the first time I was experiencing Telnet, and to be honest it was not as complicated as I thought it would be! This was an interesting task and it feels great that I've learnt something new!

Top 5 tips for NEW Bloggers!

I've been using the internet for many years but I have never come around to create my own blog! To be honest, I had no clue on where to begin searching! There's so many blog sites, you just can't choose! Anyhow, here are my 5 tips on blogging for the newbies!

1. GOOGLE IT!
Search the internet and see what blog sites are out there! You won't believe how many sites will pop up. (The power of the internet, amazing isn't it?).

2. READ REVIEWS!
Read reviews about certain blog sites, ask friends and people that you know who are into blogging. Getting direct information and opinions from people that you know can be quite useful! Take their recommendations into thought!

3. TEST IT OUT
To get a better feel of the site, register and test it out. See if you feel comfortable with the tools available. If you find it too complicated and difficult to use, try another blog site! Eventually you'll find one which will meet your needs!

4. DESIGN
Once you've created your blog site, it's now for the important part of designing your blog! Some people like it nice and simple, some people like to make it creative and full of design. Create a style that suits you!

5. POST POST POST!
The most vital part of blogging: POSTING!! If you don't post.. I guess there's no point in making a blog site in the beginning. Always be careful on what you write because it's not just only you and your friends but other users of the internet may be able to access your blog. Privacy is a sensitive issue so don't forget that! Remember, post post post! And have fun!