Module 2: Chat

It's time for a chat.

Along with a large percentage of the population, I've embraced chatting via the internet as a means of staying in regular contact with friends, meeting people with similar interests and communicating with some online businesses.

Initially it may seem that this is not unlike a phone call - synchronous, interactive conversation - but a number of factors stand out that make this forum more valuable for certain communicators.

• The cost of chat is inexpensive as you require the application - free to download - and an internet connection.
• Location and time zone become unimportant in this environment.
• Ability to share web links, files and photos (usually through click and drag).
• With webcam, this forum offers video conferencing.
• Can offer asynchronous communication through delivery of messages sent to off line users.
  

As a part of this course I've had some online conversations with other students in the class - using ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live, and Second Life.

As a part of the group task, I had a conversation via Windows Live with Peter Martin, Jai Galliott and Chris Clarke. The transcript of the conversation can be downloaded at the following link - Net 11 Chat Task Conversation.

I found this a little disjointed. Like all group chat situations, it was easy to lose track of the conversation and contributions can easily be out of sync. It's a bit like standing in a room where everyone is speaking at the same time but without the advantage of body language.

SecondLife was the option that I chose for the class experiment and met up with Peter Martin in the Second Life world. Unlike some other chat forums, we were able to experiment with different locations and 3D avatars to represent ourselves.

We spent some time exploring the Second Life world - investigating the different options of communication in that forum. What was interesting about this environment is being able to 'see' what is happening. My research has shown that a number of businesses and educational institutions use this environment for virtual classes, training and other communication purposes. It could be a very useful tool used for those purposes - particularly as a virtual classroom as location no longer becomes a factor and it can create the classroom vibe which is otherwise missing from external study.

I don't see Second Life replacing applications such as Yahoo Messenger or Windows Live - it is more a cross between a game and a chat application. For people inclined to want the game aspect they would look to World of Warcraft or other similar MMORPG and those looking for the standard chat application aspect may find one of the stand-alone applications available more easy to use.

I note though that with every release, standard chat applications offer more in the terms of tools for users. It was interesting to see how ICQ has developed since the mid 1990's in terms of interface and usability.

"The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate." Joseph Priestley

Module 2: Newsgroups

This was a blast from the past for me. I used Newsgroups extensively in the early 1990's - back before Windows 3.1 and a WYSIWYG computing environment.

Overall Newsgroups haven't changed that much but the technology around them has.

I used the Newsgroup Reader through Microsoft Outlook 2007. Obviously Newsgroups are no longer popular with the masses as access to newsgroups was not immediately obvious and only available after reading help on how to add a short cut to your toolbar (however no help file was available to access the Newsgroups without adding the short cut).

Application issues aside, it was easy to search through the mass of newsgroups and subscribe to those of my choice. As this was a trip down memory lane, I subscribed to alt.music.kiss - a newsgroup I'd subscribed to in the past.

This isn't a heavily active newsgroups - 1 or 2 posts per week - I also subscribed to alt.games.the-sims-2 to experience more user interaction.

I found that newsgroups have become a home to spam and not heavily populated. With the infinite number of discussion boards available, this interactive format is definitely giving off the air of being out dated.

Below is a copy of the message I posted to the KISS newsgroup about a recent interview with the lead singer, Paul Stanley.



First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak. Epictetus

Module 2: Lists

What are the pros and cons of email lists versus discussion boards?
The battle of the decade is taking place.

Email lists vs discussions boards - which one is better and will rule supreme?

Both offer:

• a community of people who share an interest in a specific topic
• are easy to participate by posting or responding to posted messages
• sharing of extensive information on a shared interest topic
• make it easy to target members to flame
• not able to provide immediate response to posts

Over to the blue team, what makes email lists better?

• offers convenience of information in a standard email format right to your inbox. Recipients can track, save and respond to posts through their email client
• limited to text based formatting to remain cross platform friendly
  
• messages can get lengthy when a topic receives a lot of discussion
• only able to be accessed from email client
  

Now the red team, discussion boards and forums. How do you respond?

• visual format allowing HTML formatting and imagery
• web based interface
  
• easy to view index
• flags new posts and topics
• not limited to operating system
• unable to provide immediate response to posts
• able to access from any internet browser
  

Which one is better? It's not a knockout and depends on the recipient - for users without regular internet access, email lists offer flexibility as the messages will build up until the user reads or removes. Discussion boards can have fast flowing conversation and it can be easy to miss information if you haven't been able to log in.

Are there certain kinds of communication or purposes more suited to one than the other?
In today's internet based society, a large number of communication options are available. Each option has advantages and disadvantages and what works best in one situation isn't guaranteed to have the same 'knight-in-shining-armor' approach in the next.

Email
Not suited when an immediate response is required but perfect for sharing attachments or extensive information to specific individuals or groups. Highly suitable for a business, education or home environment.

Instant Messenger
Suited when an immediate response in required as this allows the user to communicate in real time with specific individuals. Not suited for sharing attachments or extensive information. Best suited for home environments. Suitable for specific education and business environments for internal communications - particularly large organisations where individuals may be in different offices across the city, country or even the globe.

Chat Rooms
Suited when an immediate response in required as this allows the user to communicate in real time with multiple people. Information must be communicated in succinct messages. Great way to meet new people interested in the same specific topic. Not suited for sharing attachments or extensive information. Highly suitable for home environments. Suitable for a home environment but could work in an specific education environment. Unlikely to work for a business environment.

Newsgroups
Not suited when an immediate response is required but perfect for sharing extensive information with a group of people interested in the same topic. Unlikely to be useful for many environments - suitable for specific individuals interested in participating in ongoing discussions on topics. Potential to be completely replace by discussion boards/online forums. Due to lack of input from moderators, these can be an excellent forum for spam.

Discussion boards / Online Forums
Not suited when an immediate response is required but these are an ideal forum for sharing extensive information with a group of people interested in the same topic. Discussion boards can provide useful solutions to specific problems to individuals in a number of industries - the Information Technology (IT) industry definitely benefits from this forum. Useful for specific individuals in a business environment as well as students and home users. Forums are available for just about every topic from weight loss tips through to solutions for software issues or problems. Online forums do require registration and moderators can oversee to ensure there is minimal spamming.

Module 2: Email Tasks

This was like email refresher training. I've been using email since the early 90's, back in the pioneering days when an email application was a basic operation - not like some of the flashy beasts available today.

The principle features haven't changed though - you can still forward, still reply all, still have quotations and still manage to forget things like email signatures and attachments.

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 the header of the email you can see the sender's email address, the recipients, the domain the email came from and the time and date it was sent. You should also be able to view the subject of the email and whether or not any the email has any attachments.

2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the 'cc', 'bcc' and 'reply all functions of email?
The use of cc: is useful to include someone as a 'for your information' on a message and let all parties know. This is a regularly used field in business communication when one department should be made aware of a message but no direct action is required.

The use of bcc: is useful to include a number of recipients without having their email addresses disclosed. This can be useful in situations when it isn't ideal to advertise the details of the other recipients.

The use of reply all is useful when you wish all recipients of the original message to see your response.

3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?
To ensure attachments are easily opened by the receiver, chose formats that are widely accepted across platforms and ensure the encoding is not operating system specific. Preferred formats are .pdf, .rtf or a plain text (.txt) file. If the file is specific to an application (eg Excel), it is a good idea to include in the text of your e-mail message the names of the program/operating system used to create them.

With attachments in general, it's a good idea to make the recipient aware of the attachment, and advise them of the file name.

4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?
Filters and rules can help manage multiple email accounts through one email client or manage busy mailboxes by distributing the incoming messages to relevant user created folders. This can assist with the file management of the incoming mail and make it easy for the recipient to deal quickly with urgent messages.

I use filters to control spam and distribute my incoming mail. For example, I subscribe to a number of mailing lists and have set up folders for these. Filters ensure that my email client automatically files the appropriate messages into the right folders (much like a mail man sorts the mail into the appropriately numbered mail boxes). All incoming invoices or e-bills are sent to another folder to be actioned while design newsletters are dropped into another folder to be read when time permits.

5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?
My folder structure is a series of 6 main level folders with a series of sub-folders. This helps keep everything organised in categories, with the sub-folders adding more specific information where necessary. Eg a Level 1 folder is E-Bills & Receipts with a sub-folder for Optus, one for iiNet etc.

I have set it up this way for ease of access. I'm able to keep personal and work-related emails completely separate. Filters work well for this structure and by cc'ing myself on messages which I need to keep a copy of, they are automatically filed in the correct folder. This structure allows the SENT messages folder to be deleted every 2 to 3 weeks without having to file every message.

Internet Tools

This task seemed quite straightforward to being with. Use internet tools to trace the route from the internet tool IP address to the IP address of choice. This allows the user to discover any issues with the connection and to see at which point data transfer is failing (if it is).

op

rtt

rtt

rtt

ip address

domain name

1

0

0

0

70.84.211.97

61.d3.5446.static.theplanet.com

2

0

0

0

70.84.160.162

vl2.dsr02.dllstx5.theplanet.com

3

0

0

0

70.85.127.109

po52.dsr02.dllstx3.theplanet.com

4

0

0

0

70.87.253.21

et3-1.ibr03.dllstx3.theplanet.com

5

*

0

0

157.238.225.5

xe-4-4.r03.dllstx09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net

6

0

0

0

129.250.2.153

ae-2.r20.dllstx09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net

7

15

8

8

129.250.3.130

as-0.r20.hstntx01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net

8

8

8

7

129.250.3.25

ae-0.r21.hstntx01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net

9

49

50

49

129.250.3.121

as-1.r21.lsanca03.us.bb.gin.ntt.net

10

49

49

50

129.250.5.90

xe-0-1-0.r03.lsanca03.us.bb.gin.ntt.net

11

50

50

50

198.172.90.102

p4-1-1-0.r03.lsanca03.us.ce.gin.ntt.net

12

200

195

201

202.158.194.153

so-3-2-0.bb1.b.syd.aarnet.net.au

13

211

213

212

202.158.194.33

so-2-0-0.bb1.a.mel.aarnet.net.au

14

220

220

217

202.158.194.17

so-2-0-0.bb1.a.adl.aarnet.net.au

15

249

249

244

202.158.194.5

so-0-1-0.bb1.a.per.aarnet.net.au

16

249

247

247

202.158.198.178

gigabitethernet0.er1.curtin.cpe.aarnet.net.au

17

244

244

249

202.158.198.186

gw1.er1.curtin.cpe.aarnet.net.au

18

244

249

244

134.7.16.46

19

247

249

249

134.7.248.65

te1-1.b309-sr.net.curtin.edu.au

20

247

252

250

134.7.179.53

Where the results of my trace route - indicating the IP address of the curtin.edu.au machine to be 134.7.179.53

The average times were
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 8, 7, 49, 50, 50, 201, 212, 217, 244, 247, 249, 244, 249, 250
and there were 19 hops from the tools site to the Curtin server.

In spite of reading howstuffworks.com, I struggled with how to interpret the data. I understood the first column to be the number of hops but was unsure about the next three columns. I finally took the first two of these columns to be the there and back route, the third column to be the avg of these first two figures (rounded up).

Further exploration

Ping the webct site and compare the time with the time taken to ping from the net tools site. Is it less or more than you expected?

Pinging the webct site from network-tools.com took on avg (over 10 pings) 248.2 ms

Pinging from a-Toolbar running off my computer took on avg (over 10 pings) 66ms

This was much faster than I expected. I had assumed that it would be faster from my computer (as it is based in Australia and network-tools.com server would be in the US) but wasn't expecting such a massive difference.

Traceroute from your computer to curtin.edu.au: compare the number of hops with the earlier traceroute. What sort of differences can you observe?

Number of hops = 15 to get to the final IP address as my earlier experiment from a web based site. Avg 4ms so again much faster.

I also found the data much easier to understand and interpret as it was laid out in a more orderly fashion.

I assume the speed difference is due to running from a machine based in Australia and tracing or pinging to another machine in the Australia. I also hazard a guess that using web based tools slow down the process compared to locally installed software.

CAPITALIZATION MATTERS!

Module 1, FTP task. My FTP experience was a little on the odd side.

I couldn't access the server using my FTP client (possibly a firewall issue but giving that FTP client 'access all areas' in the permissions didn't make a different. Ah... would the ol' restart have fixed that trick?)

However, I hit up the FTP site using Firefox. Volia, information at my fingertips in a matter of seconds. I knew there was a reason I preferred Firefox.

A while later...
SUCCESS! I changed FTP clients, ensured firewall clearance, restart of system and volia - it all worked perfectly. I think it's important to use applications with which you feel comfortable. You might have the greatest software on earth but it's useless if you can't use it.

I found browsing the folder structure at the destination site similar to using Windows Explorer to browse folder structure on a local computer. Once the connection was made, the rest of the task was easily undertaken.

To Telnet or not to Telnet?

Module 1, Task A required the use of a Telnet client to search for an author in the Deakin library database computer.

Success! Being a computer user since the days of DOS, this exercise was a blast from the past. The Telnet client was an old friend and the task was finished quickly and successfully with the information being forwarded to my student email address.

I'm comfortable in this environment where tasks are driven using keywords rather than an interface or menu.

I can't admit to having been in a library to use a catalogue database since 2004 but the system didn't appear to be all that different. Admittedly it didn't have the glossy buttons and the flashy menus down the left hand side but the use of alphanumeric characters to select choices was similar. I found it faster than the usual web based system as there was no waiting for multiple images to load. Overall it was easy to understand and use and I'd be opting for that approach again.

Module 1, Task B involved the Telnet client again (hello old friend) and zipping over to towel.blinkenlights.nl to take a look at the innovation of what could be achieved in this less visual medium.

I'm a fan! This was an awesome display of taking what was available and using it to create something 'outside the box'. Alphanumeric characters have never looked so good.

It is certainly a foundation for taking things to the next level. Rather than looking at the boundaries of the medium, take the other approach and see how far you can stretch it. Is that line in the sand really as close as you think it is?

Without innovative thinking we wouldn't have the interface of the internet that we have today. Blinkenlights was animation in its rawest stages and something that has simply been taken and built upon to have the animation seen regularly across the internet today.

A project like this provokes questions. How long would something like Blinkenlights have taken to produce? How many issues were a part of the process? How many times did the developers wish to give up because they couldn't quite make it work or didn't meet expectations?

Each stage of development is not without problems, glitches or bugs. It's about working within the boundaries of those limitations to produce something inspirational to add value to the development and evolution of the creation.

It offers inspiration to expand upon what is currently considered the industry standard - if something so visual can be created within that forum then what possibilities does that offer for the future? Are we limiting ourselves with the interfaces currently available? Is everything becoming too complicated in a bid to make it user-friendly and not simplistic enough to allow for the evolution of the next generation of internet and animation?

Top 5 tips for new bloggers

Success! I have created my blog! I'm now ready to starting journaling my thoughts and progress online. Let me start with some handy hints for would-be bloggers.

Is blogging today's version of the written diary from generations past? Is this just another way that we add to the voyeuristic nature of the reality-TV world we now live in? Should a blog be treated as a personal space or as nothing more than a web based magazine and the blogger a columnist jotting down opinions and experiences for all the world to see?

Tip One: Uncover your purpose for blogging
Before starting your blog - whether self-hosted on a personal website or a part of a blogging system such as this one (blogger.com) - ask yourself what is the purpose of the blog? Who will my audience be? What blogging tools should you use? Where should the blog be hosted? Is this an anonymous series of posts or a friendly interaction with like-minded souls? Are you sharing information or sharing yourself?

Blogging is like anything else. It starts out as novelty factor and can quickly become mundane, boring and yet another chore that we have to fit into our busy lives. Blog with passion. Write about something that drives you. Whether it's a forum to fill your friends in on your day-to-day life or a way to share your favourite hobby with other enthusiasts, it's easier to write about something you know and love.

What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure. Samuel Johnson

Tip Two: Blog with integrity
I see blogging in the same vein as having a conversation with yourself - you wouldn't plagiarize someone else's thoughts or knowing give yourself false information and the same rules apply with a blog.

I also live by the rule that I don't post anything I wouldn't want my mother to read. It's a good tip. You don't know who is reading your blog and what your interaction with them is or will be. It could be a future employer or mother-in-law.

Nothing gives an author so much pleasure as to find his works respectfully quoted by other learned authors. Benjamin Franklin

Tip Three: Make your blog user friendly
Okay, so you've created the blog and posted until you can type no more. Your blog counter is registering minimal hits (and you suspect they are all coming from your mother!). What can you do?

Make your blog user friendly. Tell potential readers a bit about yourself, why your blogging, invite comments. Don't hide behind the anonymity of the internet.

Do:
– Write a short biography
– Upload a photo of yourself
– Give your blog titles that have meaning and summarize the content of the blog
– Label links appropriately click here is only encouraging for the very adventurous or the very bored, the majority of readers want to know what they are linking too
– Don't rely on the archive posts feature for readers to find your best work - set up a
Top 10 of links to your favourite articles. It's not that brilliant if no one can ever find
it again.
– Use a design that's easy on the eye - dark text on a dark background is hard to see.
You won't encourage return visitors reading your blog causes eyesight loss!

Tip Four: Blog regularly
I'm the first to confess I'm a random blogger. I blog irregularly and I lose my audience. Only the steadfast readers (I think it's just my brother) continue to check back often. It's hard to post when you don't feel that you have something to say but it's important to establish a pattern for the readers to follow. If the reader can anticipate that you will update your blog on the first of every month then they know when to check back. If you blog once in January and not again until October, it's hard to establish a regular readership. Set expectations that you know you can meet (or even exceed).

Tip Five: If you are serious about blogging, buy a domain name
If blogging is more than a passing phase for you then buy a domain name - they are relatively inexpensive these days - and set up an easy to remember URL for your blog. Make it easy for people to find you (and what you have to say)

You can find mine at pruedwyer.com/blog.

Enjoy your blogging!