Felicia and Andy's
SURFING 101
NOTE: THIS PRIMER WILL TAKE YOU 10 MINUTES TO READ AND SAVE
YOU 10 HOURS OF FRUSTRATION AND QUESTIONS!
This page is designed to guide you through some of the advanced basics of
using the Internet with Windows, Netscape, Eudora email,a direct access provider (SLIP/PPP)
and the use of
a 28.8 modem ( though not
mandatory) NOTE: "having a 28.8 modem does not
guarantee a 28.8 connection, this is due to possible noise on the
phone line, when you connect the computer will tell you
at what speed you are at, don't be surprised if it is
less than what you think."
Right now the best access to the NET is through the above configuration.
Online services are good only if you expect minimal usage (4 hours/month).
I understand that they all offer free trials, but now the direct providers are doing the
same and offering 1 month free in most cases. You will find that using the Net
may become addicting at first and therefore you will need a direct connection which
costs about $20 bucks a month on average. To download most programs you
will need this type of access. There are hundreds of direct providers in the country,
you want one with a local access number that supports 28.8 modems, GOOD TECHNICAL
SUPPORT (meaning someone available without too much waiting to answer
questions) ,unlimited time, and maybe a free trial. To find one in your area check
The List. There are a few national providers,
Netcom and Pipeline to name a couple.
(the latter has a free 14 day trial period) They are both about
$20/month and have local numbers in most areas of the US. These are good if you
travel and want to access the net. In the NYC/NJ Area I use
INTERCALL.They are $19/month, unlimited time,
not too many customers, good support and free web space should you be inclined to
publish on the web.
I REPEAT , unless you are not expecting to use the
net that much, DON'T USE THE ONLINE SERVICES....PLEASE!!!!!
Check the AOL SUCKS
page if you don't believe me.
All providers give you access to a web browser like Netscape, Microsoft, or Mosaic, and
free unlimited email. For now the web browsers are free believe it or not. The key
to finding what you want on the net is using search engines such as
Yahooor Lycos.
There are about 20 search engines currently, most can be accessed from
Felicia and Andy's Search
Engine Net. Remember there is no one entity in charge of organization of the
information on the Net, it is currently a free for all, but these searches all use
key words that you input to find what you need. All searches are
free to use and are supported by advertising, NICE!
We have found the most difficult part of using the net is actually getting logged on,
finding what you want, and downloading. I explained how to get logged on above and
continue to stress that you get good phone support because you will need to ask
questions, try for 24 hour support if you can. Support is the hidden value in getting
a access provider because if you are crafty you can get help on accessing the net
as well as general computer questions such as errors that might occur. It can cost
$50 an hour for help from a computer service, you may not need technical
support now, but
you will, I guarantee it! To find what you want you should use the search engines
as stated above or you can go to Felicia
and Andy's Guide to Surfing the Net. This page should link you to the best
current stuff available, it is updated often, too often unfortunately. The third area is
downloading. Below I will explain how simple downloading really is and I have
included a few of our favorite cool programs as well as a link to a great organized
updated daily list of programs to download. I will make it simple, but doing it is
the best education. First a few General Pointers
GENERAL SURFING TIPS
- Getting Started- to get started you must have a minimum 486,100mb hard
drive,4MB RAM, and 14.4 modem, anything less and you will be too slow
to properly use the net.
- New computer purchase will cost you $2000-$4000 depending on system.
NOTE: A 17 inch screen costs 700 odd,(dpi .28 or lower,
the lower dpi the better) I highly recommend it if you can
afford it. In addition a 100 mhz,1 gig hard drive,16 MB RAM, 28.8
modem, WIN 95, sound card, and speakers should cost around $2800-3500 "in the
house." This will link to a recommended system configuration from
Micron, adding a
17 inch monitor and a 28.8 modem makes this system around $3000 delivered.
- Buying a computer is a very simple process, costs only vary with
configuration, all quality is relatively similar. Don't overthink the
process. You can get a system by mail from Micron, Gateway or
Dell, or
you can buy one from a computer store like CompUSA where it will be about $300-500 more.
Technical support is the most important because you will have questions
on set up. This feature plus the guarantee and warranty is what is variable.
Try not to overpay for this conveniance, remember the computer is worth
about $3000, dont pay $500 to insure a $3000 computer with a fancy service
contract.
- Getting online is very simple, pick a provider and they will either
send you a disk with its communications software or you can download
it if you have the access through another service. If you have WIN95
you can use the built in communications software and browser and
get online immediately with an access account.
- A second phone line is preferable, but you can configure your
dialer to disconnect when the phone rings.
- Keep mail program opened an minimized while connected, if you get an
email it will beep or make noise and you can check your mail in the middle
of using other stuff. You must configure your mail tool to check for mail
every 5 or 10 minutes.
- Remember the most valuable part of the internet is its ability to
let you communicate with anyone in the world for the price of a local
phone call and the cost of your access provider period. Most programs
take adavantage of this feature. Believe it, there is no extra charge
for communicating with anyone in the world you may choose.
- The "URL" which is the address www.xyz.com/abc/123 is easy to mistype,
feel free to backspace each section and you will likely see a more
general page as you go back from right to left. It is also a good idea if
you like a page that has a long URL to go back to its creator, in the above
example it would be www.xyz.com.
- Netscape Tips:
- If you are typing an URL, you don't have to type "http://", you
can just type www.xyz.com and hit enter.
- Click on STOP if page is slow to load and maybe try to hit
RELOAD to try again. If it doesn't come go on to the next thing or
wait.
- If you frequent a site during the same session, make sure
you hit "RELOAD" to see the most updated version of the page.
- BOOKMARK anything you may be remotely interested in a think you
might go back to, to bookmark, go to page you want, click on bookmark|add.
- Watch the bottom message line, if it says "contacting host"for a while it
is probably not coming, It is usually worth waiting if you see "waiting for reply."
- Use GO button to go back to a specific page you might have been to
during a session or use the BACK button to go back 1 or 2 pages.
- IMPORTANT: If you have a slow machine or just want to pick up speed,
click off the images by going to options and "auto load images" and click on it
to remove check mark. If you want to see the images on a specific page, click on
IMAGES or click on a specific image.
- To save a page to your hard disk go to FILE|SAVE AS and select a file
name, be sure to save as "TEXT!"
- Use the "options" at the top to configure some options for your browser.
Go to options and just look at the different ones. It will help.
- Change disk CAHCE by going to OPTIONS|PREFERENCES|CACHE and NETWORK
and change the memory cache to half of your RAM (if you have
8MB change the number to 4000k) and change the disk cache
to 10000k assuming you have atleast twice that to spare on
your hard disk, then click on SAVE PREFERENCES.
Don't worry why, but this will help you go faster.
- You can use many online applications at once, but you should
keep the ones you are not using currently minimized to keep things neat.
- USE THE SEARCH ENGINES! The net is not organized very well so use
the search engines when necessary and try to type in as specific key words of
the thing you want to find, if it is not there, broaden the description.
- Keep help phone numbers handy as well as password and user
names, mine are taped under my mousepad.
- Finally a little history: Yes the internet (which is the name of the hardware
connections of millions of computers) has been around for 30 odd years but the
World Wide Web, Newsgroups, and NETSCAPE have only been here for maybe
a year so you havent really missed out by getting online NOW!!!!!!
DOWNLOADING 101
Downloading and installing software is truly easy, please don't overthink the process.
Below I will include the process as well as a few tips. Again don't overthink the process.
NOTE: All files come in one of two forms, zip or exe, a zip file must use a decompression
program like WINZIP, I highly recommend you download
this program first! Just click on WINZIP (shareware) to do so. NOTE: Programs are either freeware which
means they are free or shareware which means you have to pay for them usually
after a free trial.
Let's begin:
- Tip- Create a directory labeled download, and sub-directories for each program
you will load (good file management is very helpful)
- Go to site and click on link to download software
- The viewer will ask you how to handle the file, select save to disk and choose
the directory you would like it in.
- WAIT FOR FILE! You can open a new browser by going to FILE| NEW and continue
surfing, do some email, go to the bathroom, and/or think of how lucky you are to
have Felicia and Andy Guide to the NET!
- When complete, if it is a exe file just double click on it and it will self extract, which
means it will break out into a few files. To see the files you will have to jump out
of the directory and back into it. (I dont know why, just do it) Now go for the exe file (
this will be a different file than the first which will still be there)
and double click on that. This will beging the installation process and the rest
is self explanatory! That's it!!
- If it is a zip file and you have WINZIP (which is mandatory in this case)
just double click the zip file. A WINZIP window will pop up automatically.
Go to extract in the upper right corner and click on it. Thats it! Close the
WINZIP and now double click on the exe file and the installation process will
be self explantory. That's all!!
- Tip- Delete the original exe or zip file after the program has been successfully
installed.
TOP RECOMMENDED DOWNLOADS
-
The following is a list of our favorite downloads. These programs are mostly FREE and more
importantly are extremely EASY to use and install! The list is organized in order
of coolness. Do note that some of the programs are shareware and may require
a fee after a FREE trial is used. So get to it!!!!!!!!!
POW WOW CHAT/Voice Software -FREE This program
allows the user to communicate with other users in several ways including written, voice,
sending files, and even take a group on a world wide web tour of your favorite sites.
Up to 7 people can use the "chat room" at the same time. It is very easy to use and
install. Once started, the window must be opened and a blinking cursor will appear.
To call someone who also has the program opened, just click on connect and type
in the person's email address. That's it! If you have sound you can talk to a specific
person in the group, but sound is not required. The best feature of the typing chat
is that you can see the letters as they are being typed. Believe us, this is a very
nice feature.
-
Internet Phone/Call Anywhere FREE!!!!
Believe it!! This thing works pretty well. The sound quality is that of AM radio.
You can call either someone else you know who is also on the phone or
you can speak to anyone of about 200 people also on the phone. At most
times there are people from all over the world online and looking to talk to anyone
about anything. Once installed you get a trial version which allows for 60 seconds
of talk time. If you want to continue after that you must quit and restart or buy the
thing which was on sale at christmas time for $50. Well worth it!!!!
To use the program you must have a sound card and a 28.8 modem although
a 14.4 will work. Unfortunately having one sound card only allows for half duplex
which means only one person can talk at a time (like a speakerphone)
but if you want to upgrade full duplex sound cards are available for about $150
which allows for a more regular phone conversation. 95% of the iphone users
only have half duplex. When using the iphone the trick is to not talk or make
a sound while the other person is talking otherwise they get cut off. The phone
says when you can talk or listen. Also set the microphone button about 2 bars
in from the left and set the speaker level about 2 bars into the red zone on the right.
(The microphone level is to the right of the speaker level) Try not to scream into
the microphone when talking, make sure the green light is above the bar when
talking and that is optimal. Good Luck, its EASY!!!!!!
NOTE: There are about 5 other internet type phones on the market
, but iphone is currently the best.
-
RealAudio Player/FREE!
This program allows the user to listen to radio programs on the NET. Programs
include live radio (mostly sports) and taped shows from all over the world. Program
guides are at Live Radio and Complete Guide. You will also see various
homepages with realaudio built in. The reason why its great is that you can listen
to the show in realtime without downloading. (otherwise it takes about 30 minutes
to download 5 minutes of audio) You need a sound card and preferrably a 28.8 modem
but a 14.4 will work. The only thing you have to do when installing, is to configure
your browser to launch the application when a realaudion file is accessed. This sounds
confusing to some, but when the browser asks you how to handle the file, click
configure viewer, then browse for the realaudio.exe file. Remember to save options
on the browser after you do this and you wont have to do it again. There are insatllation
instructions to do this before you access any sites, it can be done both ways.
-
Global Chat/FREE!
This is the program that is exactly the same as the AOL or other online service chat
lines. I think most of you know how it works. It simply allows you to select a channel
(or create your own) and start typing away. This tool allows you to see who is in the
chat room and talk to an individual in the room privately if you want. You can see a
list of some of the channels at Chat Schedule/Listings.
There are also some organized chat shows with guests, just like the online services.
You can chat with anyone you want around the world and also create your own
room where you will not be bothered. Response time is good from all over the world.
Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Ultimate Software Resource This will be your one stop shopping for all new and useful software on the net.
The list includes ratings, reviews, prices and locations of download sites. Check the
"whats new" section for the latest upgrades to software (which are frequent). This site
must be checked atleast once a week to keep up with the latest, don't forget!!!!!!!
INTERSESTING FREE ONLINE PROGRAMS (no download required)
Internet Fax/Send Faxes Instanly for FREE!
No Long Distance Charge!
-
Instant Time/Date for Anyplace in the World
-
Send a Holiday Postcard for Free
-
Send An Electronic Postcard for Free
-
Converts Phone Numbers to Possible Names
-
Salary Relocation Calculator
-
NYC Crossstreet Finder
-
Variety of Phone Number Area Code/Exchange Searches
-
Post Office Server/Check Zip Codes
YOU ARE NOW READY TO GO!!!!! ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!
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