Novice Net users can take a lesson from Web Teacher
April 8, 2001
By JIM BROOKS
If you or
someone you know is just getting started on the Internet and the
World Wide Web, there's a Web address you might want to pass along to them.
A Web site
called Web Teacher is designed to answer those questions that
newcomers are sometimes embarrassed to ask.
Web Teacher is
geared for the novice user and includes very basic lessons about
using the Internet. The site doesn't get too technical with its
explanations, but it does offer some "how-to's" that allow
users to make the most of their Internet experience.
The Web site
makes use of an animated letter "e" character named
"Mister E" to help new users navigate around the site.
Even veteran
users may want to check out the site's Jargon Buster, which takes
complication and intimidating computer geek jargon and translates
them into all into plain English.
Using the
Internet isn't difficult, but it can seem intimidating to novice
users. I've found that people who have used the Web for a while often
explain it to newcomers so quickly they are a little confused by it all.
The Web
Teacher site should help get new users a little more comfortable with
the Web.
Point your
browser to www.webteacher.org.uk/.
GOING
POSTAL. The United States Postal Service may consider doing away
with Saturday mail delivery, and one reason why may be as close as
your computer.
Electronic
mail has hurt the volume of traditional mail that travels from
business to consumer and from business to business.
Internet
research firm The Gartner Group estimates that the average American
worker spends four hours each day reading, writing and forwarding e-mails.
The group's
research also found that e-mail now carries up to 75 percent of a
company's communications.
Seventy-five
percent of U.S. workers had e-mail access by the end of 2000, the
researchers found.
But e-mail
hasn't eliminated traditional mail, and according to surveys, e-mail
can't replace traditional mailing methods.
While more and
more people in business and at their homes use e-mail, they still
prefer the security of traditional mail for receiving financial
documents, a study by Pitney Bowes said.
Ninety-three
percent of individuals surveyed said they preferred traditional mail
for important documents as well as product announcements and
promotional mailings.
Seventy-three
percent of users said traditional mail has higher levels of security
than e-mail, the survey said. More than 60 percent found postal mail
faster to answer than e-mail.
Unsolicited
mail is usually thrown away when it arrives via e-mail. Sixty-six
percent of those surveyed said they never read unsolicited e-mail.
The survey
found that 74 percent of people open and read their junk mail that
comes via the U.S. Postal Service.
Postal mail
will keep an edge over e-mail because it doesn't require special
knowledge, training or equipment. It's universal, secure and
personal, according to the survey.
NAPSTER
SHAKEOUT CONTINUES. While Napster, the original user-to-user file
swapping service, tries to comply with a court order to prohibit the
swapping of copyrighted music files, similar services have begun to
follow Napster's lead.
The
Israel-based iMesh service began recently alerting users it would
start blocking copyrighted music files.
Since iMesh is
based outside the U.S., there were rumors circulating that it would
be outside the reach of the Recording Industry Association of America.
The RIAA's
request or iMesh to block copyrighted file swapping isn't unexpected.
With Napster's moves to eliminate copyrighted music files, users have
been logging in with other file-swapping services like iMesh.
And iMesh
appears to have been one of the top alternatives for ex-Napster users.
According to
the Download.com Web site, nearly 7 million people have downloaded
the free iMesh software from that site alone. More than 330,000 users
downloaded the software during a recent week.
OUTLOOK
TOUGH ON VIRUSES. With the next generation of e-mail software now
being readied for release, Microsoft is planning to take some action
to help reduce the spread of e-mail viruses.
Microsoft
Office XP, the next version of the popular Office productivity
business software package, will include a revised and updated version
of the Outlook 2002 e-mail program.
One of the
changes Microsoft is making to combat the spread of e-mail viruses is
that now, by default, the software will reject more than 30 types of
files sent as e-mail attachments.
Attachments
have been the way most e-mail viruses have been spread in recent
outbreaks.
The
attachments that will be rejected by Outlook 2002 included executable
files, batch files, Windows help files, Java and Visual Basic
scripting files. The software also blocks photo CD images,
screensavers and HTML application files, according to Microsoft.
The list means
many attachments now sent via e-mail won't make it to the mailboxes
of people running Outlook 2002. The software is set for release later
this year.
Outlook 2002
users will be able to send all types of attachments -- including
those they cannot receive -- to other users. A warning prompts
Outlook 2002 users that other Outlook users may not be able to open
the restricted file attachments.
Restricting
file attachments isn't new, and in fact, while Microsoft's move
sounds like they are throwing out the baby with the bath water, it
highlights how easy it has been to spread viruses via e-mail.
Microsoft's
patches for past versions of Outlook contained some restrictions on
file attachments, but they were optional to install. Outlook 2002
will apply the same level of restriction to all Office XP users.
E-mail viruses
have caused havoc in corporate America in the past.
The "I
Love You" virus and its variations are said to have infected
more than 600,000 computers and caused more than $2.5 billion in damages.
Corporate
installations of the new Microsoft Office XP will have some
flexibility on how e-mail attachments are received, but corporate
computer gurus are being discouraged from changing the default settings.
Even if you
don't upgrade to Office XP or Outlook 2002 in the near future,
Microsoft's concern over e-mailed file attachments is still valid.
Never click on a file attachment unless you know who sent it and
they've already told you to expect it.
Some viruses
automatically e-mail themselves to other users, and can mimic a
legitimate e-mail. Never open any file e-mailed to you unless you
know what it is. |