Electronic Mail, Mailing Lists, Newsgroups, Chat, Online Shopping and Downloading

1. Electronic Mail, Mailing Lists, Newsgroups, Chat, Online Shopping and Downloading

2. Electronic Mail ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

3. What is Email • E-mail is an electronic message sent from one computer to another. • You can send or receive personal business related messages with attachments, such as pictures or formatted documents. You can even send computer programs. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

4. How it Works • It can take days to send a letter across the country and weeks to go around the world. • To save time and money, more and more people are using electronic mail. It's fast, easy and much cheaper than the post office. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

5. How it Works • Let's say you have a small business with sales reps working around the country. • How do you keep in touch without running up a huge phone bill? Or what about keeping in touch with far-flung family members? • E-mail is the way to go. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

6. How it Works • Just as a letter makes stops at different postal stations along its way, e-mail passes from one computer, known as a mail server to another as it travels over the Internet. • Once it arrives at the destination mail server, it is stored in an electronic mailbox until the recipient retrieves it. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

7. How it Works • To receive e-mail, you must have an account on a mail server. This is similar to having an address where you receive letters. • One advantage over regular mail is that you can retrieve your e-mail from a remote location. Once you contact your mail server, you can download your messages. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

8. How it Works • To send e-mail, you need a connection to the Internet and access to a mail server which can forward your mail. • The standard protocol used for sending e-mail on the Internet is called SMTP, for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

9. How it Works • When you send an e-mail message, your computer sends it to an SMTP server. The server looks at the e-mail address (like the address on an envelope), then forwards it to the recipient's mail server. • When the message is received at the destination mail server, it is stored until the addressee retrieves it. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

10. Anatomy of an E-mail Message • Email has two main parts • Header - contains the name and address of the recipient, the name and address of anyone who is being copied, and the subject of the message. • Body - contains the message itself. • When you receive an email, the header tells you where it came from, how it was sent, and when. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

11. Anatomy of an E-mail Message ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

12. Understanding E-mail Addresses professor@learnthenet.com • First there is the user name (professor) which refers to the recipient’s mailbox. • Then there’s an axon sign (@) • Next is the host name (domain name) • Finally, there’s a dot (.) followed by three letters that indicate type of domain. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

13. Sending an E-mail Message ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

14. Step 1 • Open your e-mail program and launch a new message by clicking the appropriate icon. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

15. Step 2 • In the TO box, type in the email address. • You can send a message to more than one person by entering multiple addresses. Just put a semi-colon between each address. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

16. Step 3 • Type in the subject of the e-mail ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

17. Step 4 • Write your message in the message window. You can also copy text from a word processing program and paste it in to the window. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

18. Step 5 • Click on the Send icon or select Send from the File menu ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

19. Sending E-mail Attachments ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

20. Step 1 • Open you e-mail program, launch a new message window and compose your message. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

21. Step 2 • Click on the attachment icon or insert file by selecting from the drop down menu. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

22. Step 3 • Browse your hard drive or removable disks to locate the file you want to attach. Once you find it click on it, then click the OK button. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

23. Step 4 • An icon or message should now appear indicating that the file has been attached. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

24. Step5 • Click on the Send icon or select Send from the file menu. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

25. All About Newsgroups ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

26. Newsgroups have been around almost since the dawn of the Internet, enabling scientists to post questions (and answers) to other scientists. Today, newsgroups resemble virtual coffee houses, where people get together to discuss subjects of mutual interest. Newsgroups ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

27. Newsgroups • There are literally thousands of newsgroups covering every topic, from computers, social issues, literature and science, to recreation, entertainment, hobbies and current affairs. • You can find job postings, business and health care advice, announcements about events, referrals, political and religious discussions. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

28. Newsgroups • Newsgroups provide a way to quickly meet and communicate with people who share your interests from all over the world, without ever having to leave your computer. • By the way, if you're the shy type, you can just read what others are posting without responding. This is called lurking. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

29. Newsgroups • How does it actually work? • First you will need a newsreader program. Both Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer 2.0 and later releases have built-in newsreader programs. • Next, determine which newsgroups interest you and subscribe to them. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

30. The History of Newsgroups • Newsgroups had their humble beginnings in an academic environment in 1979, when a couple of Duke University graduate students connected some computers together to exchange information with the UNIX community. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

31. Searching Newsgroups • To read or participate in a newsgroup you have to subscribe to it. One way to start, is to review a complete list of newsgroups available to you from your Internet service provider (ISP). (Note that not all ISPs carry all newsgroups. ) • A more efficient way is to search using the tools, such as Yahoo and Lycos. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

32. Mailing Lists ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

33. Mailing Lists • Once you start using the Internet, you'll notice people talking about joining lists and participating in discussions on various subjects. • While there are thousands of ongoing newsgroup discussions on different subjects, there are also thousands of e-mail list discussions happening as well. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

34. Mailing Lists • What's the difference? • Newsgroups are public discussions that anyone with newsreader software can subscribe to and participate in. You read what other members have written and can post a reply if you choose. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

35. Mailing Lists • A mailing list, on the other hand, is a list of e-mail addresses of people interested in the same subject. • When a list subscriber sends a message, it goes to everyone on the list. You can reply to the messages, send new messages, or just lurk, reading the messages without participating. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

36. Mailing Lists • The key advantage of a mailing list over a newsgroup is that instead of having to go somewhere to read or retrieve postings, messages are automatically delivered to your e-mail box. • All of this traffic is automatically managed by programs called Mailing List Managers (MLMs). ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

37. Mailing Lists • The two most frequently used MLMs are Listserv and Majordomo. • Mailing lists are often used to provide subscribers with current information. For music fans, that might include upcoming concert dates or ticket purchasing details. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

38. Mailing Lists • Generally, there are two types of lists: • With announcement-type lists, you receive messages, but can't post to the list yourself. • With discussion-type lists, everyone on the list can participate. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

39. Mailing Lists • To subscribe, you send a message to the list administrator and your e-mail address is added to the list. • Subscribing is usually free. After you subscribe, you will receive a reply giving you details about the list and how to participate. • Soon, you'll begin receiving mail from other list members. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

40. Mailing Lists • To get off the mailing list, you have to unsubscribe, by sending an e-mail message to the list administrator. • If you don't want to be overwhelmed with a daily flood of e-mail messages, subscribe to the digest version, if one is available. A digest provides a periodic summary of the messages. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

41. Mailing Lists Tips • Subscribe to one or two mailing lists at a time, then wait to see how many messages you receive before subscribing to any others. • After you subscribe, you will get a response with instructions on how the list works, and perhaps most important, how to unsubscribe. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

42. Mailing Lists Tips • Turn off the list when you go on vacation. It's like stopping your newspaper delivery. Some lists have a vacation option. For others, you have to unsubscribe, then re-subscribe when you return. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

43. Chat • Chat refers to a facility that enables people to engage in interactive conversations over the internet. Two common types of chat are Internet Relay chat and voice chat. • InternetRelayChat. It allows people to type message on others and to get response in real time. IRC works like regular phone call, except you’re instead of talking. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

44. Chat • Voice Chat. It allows you to actually speak to each other via the Internet. • Voice Chat requires microphone, a full duplex sound card, speakers, a modem and voice chat software. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

45. Online Shopping • Electronic catalogs on the Web show you color graphics of products. • Search tools and intelligent agents help you to locate the product you desire without excessive browsing. • Online shopping and purchasing benefits both businesses and consumers. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

46. Online Shopping • Since businesses don’t need salespeople to sell online and some of the savings in labor costs can be passed on to consumers. • Security and privacy is the major concern. • Customers feel uncomfortable by credit card. • Merchants feel that better selling can be done face to face. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

47. Smileys • When we talk to people face-to-face, our body language, the tone of our voice and our facial expressions impart great meaning to what we say. • You can personalize your written messages by using smileys or emoticons. • You create smileys by typing characters from your keyboard. ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

48. Smileys • :-) Happy • :-( Sad • :-o Surprised • :-@ Screaming • :-I Indifferent • :-e Disappointed • >:-< Mad • :-D Laughing • ;-) Wink ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

49. Abbreviations • <BFN> Bye For Now • <BTW> By The Way • <G> Grin • <HTH> Hope This Helps • <IJWTK> I Just Want To Know • <IJWTS> I Just Want To Say ICMAP/F1/ZAQ

50. Abbreviations • <IMHO> In My Humble Opinion • <LOL> Laughing Out Loud • <OTOH> On The Other Hand • <ROTFL> Rolling on the Floor Laughing • <YMMV> Your Mileage May Vary ICMAP/F1/ZAQ