CMSY129 Principles of the Internet
Week #1 - Introductions, Email, and Internet Basics
January 1 - January 4, 2002
Welcome to CMSY129
This course introduces the student to Internet history, structure, and basic functions and issues. Students will work in a lab setting online and will access Internet software and carry out basic functions including searches and data transfer.CMSY129 will be taught entirely online. To enroll, you must have a basic understanding of and access to the Internet, WWW browsing capability, and an electronic mail account.
Introductions:
To begin this class, you will need to introduce yourself and establish that you have basic email skills. Please fill out the introduction form to tell me about yourself, and visit the class discussion web to introduce yourself to your classmates (the links for these two things appear below).
Attachments and signature files:
Then, please send me an email message with an attachment and a signature file with it. An email attachment is a separate file that you include with an email message. It can be a text file (.txt), a graphics file (.gif), or any other file you have on your computer that you want to share. Just be sure it's 60KB in size or less or it will take too long to send and receive. Your internet service provider may prevent you from sending large files anyway.
A signature file is text appended to your email message. As an example, here's the one I use for email I send for this class:
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CMSY129 Principles of Internet Online
web: http://classweb.howardcc.edu/5week/
disc: http://classweb.howardcc.edu/5week/discussion/129disc_frm.htm
chat: http://www2.howardcc.edu:8080
email: mailto: mwesthaver@home.comYou may want to create several signatures for yourself – one for your business clients, and a different signature for messages that you send to your friends. To create signatures, or to set a default signature to be inserted in all outgoing messages, look in the Help area of your email program – almost all of them include this feature. You might notice once you've started using them that a lot of people do, using ASCII art and their favorite jokes or lyrics to stamp their email with a personal touch.
The advantage to using a signature file is that you don't have to remember to identify yourself when you send email if you're sig file already does this.
If you don't use a signature file, be sure you sign your name at the end of your email with your first and last name – many people have cryptic email addresses such as cutesypoo@aol.com, and others are using a friend or parents' email address – I have no idea who you are if you don't sign your email!
The Internet is not a place or a destination. It is basically a global network of computers that transfer data to and from each other. It connects your computer to millions of computers around the world that house free information for you to use, including text, pictures, sound, and video. It also links you to everyone in the world who's online, via email.
The internet itself is the system of what is basically telephone wiring connecting computers all over the world. It is not the same thing as the World Wide Web – the World Wide Web (or WWW) refers to the web pages you view in your browser. The WWW is only one of the things you can take advantage of on the internet (other things would be email, gopher, telnet, ftp, and chat).
What's on these computers that you would be interested in?
- Encyclopedias;
- Newspapers and Magazines;
- Phone directories;
- Maps;
- Job search information;
- Stock prices;
- Literature classics;
- Pending legislation;
- Photographs of famous people and places;
- Travel booking;
- Shopping - for books, CDs, clothes, toys, flower deliveries, etc.;
- Mathematical tools - loan calculators, time zone conversions, currency conversions;
- Games - some of which can be played over the internet in real time;
- A free tool to chat in real time with other people on the internet;
- Enormous databases devoted to specialized topics; and of course,
- Online classes.
There are over a million computers connected to the internet. Over 20 million electronic messages are sent over the internet every week. 33% of users are female, more than half are between the ages of 18 and 34, 51% went online in 1995, and of first time computer buyers, 64% cite getting on the internet as their main reason for buying a PC.
Who's on the other end of these computers?
- Students with email access;
- People who work in libraries;
- Academics who use the web for research and socializing;
- Computer professionals;
Business owners who have a web site up to advertise their company or sell things online;- Government agencies and public servants; and, of course,
- You.
In this class, we're going to take a look at the resources available on the Internet - how to find web sites, send and receive email and file attachments, chat with people online, and look at multimedia options on the World Wide Web.
First, familiarize yourself with the basics of the internet, by following the link below:
The web browser is your window into the internet. You are probably using Internet Explorer or Netscape, the two most popular browsers (although there are others). These programs run on your computer and provide a viewing environment for the information that is out there on the internet.
Your internet service provider (ISP) is your connection to the web. Usually, this is a dial-up account, where you use your modem to connect to your provider. Common providers are AOL, Earthlink, AT&T, MSN, and Erols.
The choice of ISP may depend on the connection you're looking for. For example, you can't even choose cable modem as your internet source unless you have cable service to your home with a provider that also provides internet access. Cable modem is one of the fastest connections available. Other options, such as ISDN or ADSL, will require an ISP that services your area plus an outlay of cash for a special modem, plus some installation costs.
The cheapest (but slowest) option is to buy a modem and connect to an ISP via your telephone line. Again, be sure your modem is compatible with your ISP – especially with 56K modems.
Measuring bandwidth:
In the U.S., Kbps stands for kilobits per second (thousands of bits per second) and is a measure of bandwidth (the amount of data that can flow in a given time) on a data transmission medium. Higher bandwidths are usually expressed in megabits per second (Mbps, or millions of bits per second) and in gigabits per second (Gbps, or billions of bits per second).
Cable Modem: A cable modem is a device that enables you to hook up your PC to a local cable TV line and receive data at about 1.5 Mbps.
T1: The T1 (or T-1) carrier is the most commonly used digital line in the United States, Canada, and Japan. In these countries, it carries 24 pulse code modulation (PCM) signals using time-division multiplexing at an overall rate of 1.544 megabits per second. It is unlikely that an affordable T1 option is available to you at home – but you may have access to this kind of speed at the office.
DSL: Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is a technology using ordinary copper telephone lines delivering download speeds of 1.544 Mbps to 512 Kbps and upload speeds of about 128 Kbps.
ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of standards for digital transmission over ordinary telephone copper wire as well as over other media. ISDN downloads quickly – up to 128 Kbps). ISDN requires adapters at both ends of the transmission so your access provider also needs an ISDN adapter.
ADSL: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ASDL) is a technology for transmitting digital information at high bandwidths on existing phone lines to homes and businesses. ADSL is asymmetric in that it uses most of the channel to transmit downstream to the user and only a small part to receive information from the user. ADSL is generally offered at downstream data rates from 512 Kbps to about 6 Mbps.
Modem: There are many modems available, from older-technology 14.4 Kbps, to 28.8 Kbps, 36 Kbps, and 56 Kbps. If using an ordinary modem is your only choice, choose the fastest one you can buy – it will make an enormous difference when you are working on the internet.
Shopping for an ISP: The definitive guide to choosing an ISP can be found at http://thelist.internet.com/.You can use them to locate an ISP by area code, by country code, and by their y2k readiness.
Things to consider when selecting an ISP is the type of connection you have (if you have a 56K modem, make sure your ISP will support your modem), the cost, and local numbers to call to connect to the internet if you travel away from your usual area. Most ISPs will provide you with an email address (yourname@isp.net) and many also provide some free web hosting.
Reading: URLS with information on this subject
Self Test: Take the quiz for this unitAssignments:
- Complete intro form (40 points)
- Make a signature file (20 points)
- Email me and include an attachment and your signature file (20 points)
- Post an introduction to the discussion web for this class (20 points)
Click this link to review the grading system for this course
Deadline: Plan to turn this in no later than January 4, 2002.