EMAIL 101 by John Goodwin, this is an Alpha test version, your
suggestions will be included in the Beta test versions, and in
the final editions.
This rough version is missing 8 out of 28 chapters and 1 out of 5
appendices.
Copyright (c) 1993 by John E. Goodwin. All Rights Reserved.
You may make and distribute verbatim copies of these course notes for
non-commercial purposes using any means, provided this copyright notice
is preserved on all copies.
For information on taking the internetworking course, contact
John Goodwin (jgoodwin@adcalc.fnal.gov)
P.O. Box 6022
St. Charles, IL 60174, U.S.A.
1
<title> E-MAIL 101
If you like those little machines that give you 24 hour access to your
bank account, you'll love the Internet. I suppose there are still
people who, given a choice, will go to a drive-through teller just so
they can deal with a "live person" instead of a machine. But even those
people will admit that it is nice to have the option of doing things for
yourself, on your own schedule, anywhere. Do you remember what it was
like before automatic tellers? Banks closed at 3 p.m. on weekdays.
Each Saturday you had to guess how much money you would need for the
following week. If you were wrong you had to cash a check at a food
store (and maybe buy something you didn't want). And if you were out of
town? Well, there were always credit cards.
We don't do that anymore. I think many people go to the automatic
teller because they like the privacy of handling their own business
without having to explain it all to someone else. And we like the
illusion of having access to our "own" account anytime we want.
There are disadvantages to using an automatic teller card too--you may
have to pay a fee each month or even for each transaction--and you have
to remember to deduct those fees from your account balance or you will
bounce checks. But I'll bet you feel pretty competent using an
automatic teller and don't lose much sleep worrying over the fees.
This course is designed to give you that same sense of freedom and
competence with the Internet that you have with an automatic teller
machine or the telephone. With a home computer, a modem, and
communications software, you can connect to other computers over the
phone line to exchange electronic mail (E-mail), trade files, or search
for information. Many of those computers are connected to the worldwide
network called the Internet. Some few of them will--for a fee--let
*you* connect to the Internet. From there you can dial any of 900,000
or more computers, send E-mail to any of 25 million people, and access
hundreds of free, informative services.
In short, you are on the verge of a new method of communicating with
people and machines called "internetworking." Internetworking lets you:
o Avoid playing phone tag;
o Sign up to receive special interest electronic newsletters and
journals;
o Access hundreds of information services and document collections in
exactly the same way--no need to have hundreds of sets of different
instructions or hundreds of (expensive) special purpose software
packages;
o Find and communicate with other people who share your interests.
Internetworking is an essential skill for the '90s. Your children will
find it as common as viewing television or using the telephone. It
still has a few rough edges--but we'll explain those.
There is actually no single network owned by one company called the
Internet. Instead, many medium-sized networks have grown together to
create a "phone system" that connects together nearly a million
computers. Many hundreds of these computers allow some form of public
access. You can get the latest news or weather, download information
about Government programs or high-tech products, search on-line library
catalogues and databases, download free software, and do many other
things, with little or no monetary investment beyond the cost of your
home computer.
Using the Internet need not be expensive: you can get on the Internet
for as little as $10 a month if you own (1) a home computer, (2) a $50
modem, and (3) some communications software (under $100). There are
more expensive ways to connect to the Internet, of course. These ways
make sense for businesses or organizations that make heavy use of the
network. But in this course we will discuss methods that cost in the
$10-$40/month range. These methods are suitable for exploring the net
after hours and for casual use. We will provide some basic information
about more expensive methods of connecting (Appendix C) so that you can
make informed decisions if your networking needs should increase in the
future.
Internetworking well means mastering a whole host of skills--connecting
two computers together using the Internet is just the beginning. You
have to learn methods for transferring information from the remote
computer to your own. This is a complex task that may involve using a
file transfer protocol and compression techniques.
Because the information world is so vast, your biggest problem will most
likely not be connecting to the Internet. It will be finding what you
want. Thus, this course covers not only the mechanics of making a
connection and transferring files, but techniques for locating material
as well. And of course you will want to be savvy about the costs of
different connection methods. This means estimating whether it will
cost you more per Megabyte to transfer the information or to have it
faxed to you by a friendly librarian.
This course is intended for the general public--students,
businesspersons, librarians, teachers, writers, journalists--in fact
anyone who needs to find information and communicate with others.
Whether you are researching a paper, writing an article, or trying to
get technical information on a product, you will use these techniques
over and over.
Chapters marked with an asterisk are omitted from this edition.
COURSE CONTENTS
1 : The Past and the Future of Internetworking
2 : What Is the Internet?
3 : How Do I Connect to the Internet?
4 : Who Pays for the Internet?
5 : Internet Basics
6 : Getting on the Internet Step by Step
7 : Programs and Pictures
8 : File Compression Methods for Faster Transfer
9 : What to Do When You Only Have E-mail
10 : Employee Development: How to Get Your Employees Internetworking
Part II Special Concerns
11 : Special for Businesses
12 : Special for Students and their Parents
13 : Special for Writers, Journalists, Publishers, and Printers
14 : Special for Elementary and High School Teachers
15 : Special for Librarians
16 : Special for Scholars
17 : Special for Churches, Synagogues, and Mosques