New Year is perfect time to try the Internet

By JIM BROOKS

If Santa brought you a new modem or a new modem-equipped computer, there's no excuse for you not get on the Internet.

If you've never used your computer for things beyond word processing or games, there's a whole new world to explore.

But actually using the Internet can appear intimidating to lots of folks. All the technobabble that's bantered about -- bauds, bits, bytes, megabytes, search engines, home pages, hits, hype and hoopla -- may seem to require some sort of translator to figure it out.

To help get you started, here are a few terms for newcomers to cyberspace:

Internet: A global network of computers. If you've ever seen computers that are linked together in a school or business, you've seen an example of how computers can be networked The Internet operates in a similar manner.

The term "Internet" refers to the network, or the "pipeline," if you will, that carries the information.

Web: Abbreviated name for the World Wide Web. The Web is the multimedia environment on the Internet. Using a software package, known as a "browser," users see images and text on their computer screens brought to them over the phone lines via the Internet. Navigating the Web requires only a simple click of a mouse.

E-mail: One of the most common uses of the Internet is electronic mail, or sending messages to other persons via your computer. You can send e-mail to your family members around the state or the world, provided they too have e-mail access to the Internet.

Usenet: (also called newsgroups) -- think of newsgroups as the bulletin board of the Internet, where anyone can post a public message regarding a particular topic.

There are more than 20,000 newsgroups, ranging in topic from the ordinary to the bizarre. And despite Usenet's sometimes controversial reputation, most of the folks who post in newsgroups are genuinely helpful and courteous.

Newcomers to the Internet may wish to just read the postings of a particular newsgroup -- an activity known as "lurking." Lurking will let you get a feel for the type of information available. And nearly every individual newsgroup has an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) file that will contain background information and etiquette of that particular group. If you're interested in the newsgroup, you owe it to the other participants to download and read the FAQ.

Information flows through newsgroups fairly quickly; most information posted in newsgroups remains only about a week or so before it is automatically deleted. Most folks who have a favorite newsgroup visit it regularly for the latest posting.

FTP/TELNET: Other Internet protocols newcomers may want to explore are Telnet and FTP.

Telnet allows your computer to access a distant computer system -- such as a computer bulletin board system (BBS) where most users call in via a phone line.

Once isolated to telephone access, BBSes have found that adding Telnet access gives them a greater audience by allowing users to enter from the Internet.

America Online and CompuServe both offer this method to access their systems.

FTP stands for "file transfer protocol." This is a handy way to download and upload files over the Internet. Many browsers support FTP, eliminating the need for stand alone software.

Most hardware and software companies offer information about their products via FTP. Most corporate Web sites have a section devoted to information that users can download -- most often at no charge.

ACCESSING AOL VIA THE NET. Many new subscribers to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) get their feet wet by using one of the major on-line services; namely, America Online, CompuServe, the Microsoft Network or Prodigy.

The attraction of the services is content; the drawback is the cost. Most on-line service users find -- as I did -- that long-distance telephone charges add up ever so quickly.

But with an ISP, you can Telnet into AOL or CompuServe and avoid the toll charges. Here's how:

    1. From the WELCOME screen that pops up when you start the AOL software, select SETUP, then select CREATE LOCATION.

    2. In the name for the new location, use "Internet" or something else to identify this as your way of accessing AOL via the Net.

    3. Leave the phone number boxes blank; set modem speed to match your modem.

    4. Under NETWORK, click on the window and select TCP/IP. Click on SAVE and you're done. Close the AOL software.

    Now open the dialer software for your ISP and make the connection between the Internet and your computer. After that is completed, start up the AOL software, making sure your Internet location is selected in small print; then type in your AOL login name and password as you normally would.

    When you click SIGN ON, you'll see the connection confirmed by the AOL lightning bolt and hear the Welcome message.

    Windows users should use AOL 3.0 for best results.

    MAC USERS. These instructions should work on Mac systems as well. There may be a conflict between the AOL dialer and MacTCP or other dialing software you have already installed. I would recommend visiting the AOL Mac Forum for more information.

    AOL's customer support should be able to help should you run into problems in configuring their software to work.

    All America Online users should note that by using your ISP to use the service, you can get the lower price of $9.95 per month for unlimited AOL access. All in all, it's an easy way to save $10 for using American Online.

I WANT MY WEBTV. Apparently the fall introduction of WebTV has stirred up interest -- and sales -- among holiday consumer electronics shoppers.

While no sales figures have been released yet, a spokesman said that the holiday sales were "brisk."

And while the set-top VCR-like WebTV box is aimed at the novice Internet user, retailers report that interest was high among experienced computer users.

The device is reported to be as easy to hook up as a VCR (without the pesky clock that flashes "12:00"). It doesn't come with a keyboard, but you can plug a standard PC keyboard into it; an infrared remote keyboard is optional.

Web page designers have voiced their disappointment that the browser used in the first WebTVs doesn't support HTML coding for frames -- which translates into the fact that many Web sites are either difficult or impossible to properly access.

But this shortcoming is likely be temporary.

WebTV recently inked a deal with Microsoft to use a version of its Internet Explorer Web browser in the future. Stay tuned.

Comments and questions about this column may be sent to jbrooks@myoldkentuckyhome.com, or visit www.myoldkentuckyhome.com on the World Wide Web.

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