Well after a little delay in my studies due to sickness, I have finally got back on board! In regards to the newsgroups I decided to go through my mail server via outlook express. I had a bit of a look around and then settled on alt.photography. Here is a screen shot of the message:

I am hoping to get some response, though not sure how fast, hopefully helpful.

For the lists task I followed the link to the yahoo groups page. I decided to look for a group on photography so I typed that in the search bar 15670 groups appeared! So which one do you choose? CON NO1: Too many groups to choose from, can get confusing.  I eventually decided to join the “Digital Photography” group, joining was simple, and all I needed to do was verify my email address. Yahoo gave me a yahoo.com email address, so once I joined the group all the emails went to that address instead of my main address. When I checked my yahoo.com email there was about 50 new emails all from the group. CON NO2: All new posts get sent to your email if you do not check them regularly then your email box will fill up, and also sorting through them to find other important emails. PRO NO1: Great if you want to keep constantly up to date with whats happening. I also found when I was actually on the website that the posts were in the order they were posted, all the topics in one big list. CON NO 3: Actual website hard to follow the thread as they are all posted together.

Discussion boards differ as all the posts in the thread are grouped together under that thread.PRO NO1: Easy to follow .  You only need to see updates when you feel that you want to by actually going on the site. PRO NO2: View updates and new posts at your own discretion. CON NO1: You don’t necessarily know when the board has been updated so it is not as convenient as email lists. 

Discussion boards offer a more personal type of communication, you feel like you are actual having a conversation with someone despite of course the asynchronous element, and threads are easier to follow.

Lists are different as every time you ‘post’ the update is sent via email to everyone on that list. With the digital photography group  I joined there are over 5000 members, so an question posted and sent to all of those people will give you a wider range of viewpoints and advice so that you can possibly find the answer that suits you, where as a discussion board your question is only going to be answered by those that are interested enough to view that thread.

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?

On first look you get a basic idea of the subject of the email, the account name from which you may be able to determine their identity and also the domain they sent the email from. Unfortunately the user name and domain is not always accurate as it can be falsified, which is usually what has happened when you receive an email that is “Phishing”. “Phishing” is a term that describes an internet scam in which they try to make you believe that they are from a bank for example, and they need you to enter your account details for ’security reasons’ and then use your details for accessing your account. So if you are unsure about an email you can delete it, or check with the financial institution that claims to have sent it. Sometimes if the emails are Fake the institutions like you forward them onto them so they can follow up the origin of the message.

An email can also give you access to the names and email address’ of other recipients of the same email, which can also have repercussions. Other recipients may not want their email well known, for the same reasons that people have private/unlisted numbers, as even the best intentioned users can end up inadvertently giving out email address to scam and spam sites.

If you wish to delve a bit further (instructions relevant for OUTLOOK EXPRESS) you can wrong click on a email go to “PROPERTIES” then click on the tab “DETAILS” , this will give you the server information including I.P. address’ that the message traveled through, the time it was sent and also in some cases it will identify possible spam.

2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the ‘cc’, ‘bcc’ and ‘reply all functions of email?

The ‘cc’ and ‘bcc’ functions can come in very handy. The ‘cc’ is used to send a copy of the email to other interested parties that are not necessarily directly effected by the content but it is required that they have received a copy, or as a common courtesy to others that may have a vested interest in the email subject.

The ‘bcc’ function is a ‘blind-copy’ and the recipient in this case will not be seen by the other recipients. This is useful as many people would prefer their email address to remain private and only available to those that they wish, and also for the reasons stated previously. It could also be used for dishonest purposes for example sending the email to others not permitted to read it, without the other recipients knowledge.

3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?

To ensure that your receiver can open your attachment you should include a note in the email of the attachment file name, type and the program used to create it. Also you can send your attachment in plain text format (ASCII) or RTF (Rich text format) which are common formats that most computers have programs to read them. I would also recommend sending photographs in JPEG format as again this is a widely compatible image format. If you are sending a large file you can “ZIP” it which essentially means compress the file so that it is smaller and will be sent and received faster, but again you need to be sure that your receiver has the correct software to “UNZIP” the file, free software to do this can usually be found at tucows.

4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?

After completing the email tutorial the main filter I have set up is to send emails from E BAY into my “E BAY” folder, I decided on this rule as they tend to send me a lot of emails that I do not find particularly relevant or important enough to sort through immediately but would still like to keep them so when I have time I will read them. Having set up the rule also saves me time as I don’t have to transfer them into the correct folder manually.

5. How have you organized the folder structure of your email and why?

Since completing the tutorial I have organized my email into five different folders, comprising of the main types of email that I receive they are emails form Ebay which are now automatically moved to that folder, emails from the universities, work emails, friends email and the last folder is a general folder for the emails that I don’t get regularly enough to have a set folder. This has made my life a lot easier as until I did the tutorial I didn’t realize you could create more folders, so now instead of wading through all the mail to find the one I am looking for the search is narrowed down to a specific folder.

After a few other failed attempts to trace route curtin.edu.au, I had a bit of a think about it and decided that it is possible that because of my firewall it could be blocking the trace. So switched off the firewall, gave it another try and finally it actually worked.

So from my computer it only took 12 hops compared to the 16 from net-tools, I make the assumption this is beacause I am situated closer. I suppose I was expecting a bigger difference between the two amounts, something similar to the difference in the average time. The average was 52 milliseconds, I stated in my previous post that I thought it would be 50 milliseconds, although not the same it was quite close.

The first part of this task is using Traceroute. From what I understand the Traceroute allows you to see how your data is transmitted over the internet. I used the centralops site my results are as follows:

Tracing route to curtin.edu.au [134.7.179.53]…

So according to my results there were 20 hops, and the average time in was 248 milliseconds. I did find something interesting when I used the other recommended site: http://network-tools.com I found that the results were slightly different and are as follows:

TraceRoute to 134.7.179.53 [curtin.edu.au]

So in this case there were only 16 hops and the average time was 248 milliseconds as well. I did it two more times through this client and got times of 251 and 246, and the average of those three was 248 milliseconds. I did the same with the centralops client and my two other results were 250 and 247, which again averages out to the 248 milliseconds. I thought it was interesting, although probably obvious that the two different clients located in two different places would produce a different number of hops.

I found it interesting to see the path that the data takes before it gets to where you sent it, I found this to be rather enlightening.

The Curtin IP number is: 134.7.179.53

The next part of the task was to ping webct.curtin.edu.au , and compare it to the ping on the “net-tools”site. I made the assumption that I needed to ping from my own computer, not entirely sure how to do that so I had a bit of a search on the net and found this site : http://help.expedient.com/general/ping_traceroute.shtml , found this so helpful.

On average from my computer it took 50 milliseconds, and the time from net-tools took 248 milliseconds. I can’t really say I was surprised as I didn’t really know what to expect, but in accordance with these results the net-tools took the same amount of time to ping, as it did with the traceroute. I would assume that net-tools is further away possibly overseas so that is why it took longer . The nest task is to traceroute from my computer to curtin.edu.au I would like to think that the result will be 50milliseconds, as that would be consistent with the results from the net-tools site.

At this stage I can’t seem to get through estination Protocol Unreachable. Will try again tomorrow.

After reading through my task I proceeded to download my chosen FTP client, which just happened to be the one that was being recommended. I went to FTP PLANET. Had a quick read of the page, and spent about 5 minutes actually trying to find the “download” button, finally found it hidden in the top right corner. Clicked the button and 10.3MB later I was ready to go.

I installed and opened the program, I thought I better do the right thing by looking at the tutorials, but as I was waiting I had a quick scan over the program and saw the address bar. It looked promising so I entered the required details: recall.curtin.edu.au, and then just like magic I was in the right place. I opened up the “MSC” file and then found “readme”. The answer to the question is “CAPITLIZATION MATTERS”.

The reason I stated earlier that it was “like Magic”, is because I really didn’t expect it to be that easy. This could be a handy little program. I am assuming that you wanted to hide the file sufficiently so that it wasn’t easily visible to us and we actually had to search for it a little bit, but I wonder about those other files in there, and if we really should be able to have access to them. There was actually two folders to choose from “ROB” and “MSC” , and I voice the same concern as before about having access to the “ROB” folder. However both folders haven’t been modified since 2005/2006 so they possibly are unused except for these sorts of exercises. I wonder if in later tasks whether we have to go back and use other files from there.

I used my telnet client to go to: towel.blinkenlights.nl , and what a surprise, can’t say I was expecting a ‘STAR WARS’ theme! Wow it looks like a lot of time and effort went into that. I am impressed, however I still prefer the animations of today, and I am glad they don’t look like that otherwise I think I would have a constant migraine, it is quite a strain to watch for an excessive period of time. I wonder if this or something similar was the beginning of computer animations as we know today? Although this is probably not what telnet was originally developed for someone has pushed the boundaries, and created something truly wonderful for its time. It is people like this that keep technology moving forward, and it opens the door for other new and exciting developments.

I also found a rather interesting site whilst surfing the net today: HISTORY

The first task we are given is to connect to Deakin Library’s database computer using a telnet client. I have never used a telnet client before and was not really sure where to start, so I followed the instructions given and typed telnet:// in my address bar, and there it was “Microsoft telnet client”. I found the ‘Help’ function by typing in : ?/help. This gave me a set of commands:

The most appropriate selection seemed to be: o – open host name , after entering that it prompted me with <to> so I entered the required address: library.deakin.edu.au .

Telnet prompted me enter the type of terminal that I was using, this I was not so sure about. There were two options which were : VT100 or NCSA VT100. The NCSA looked familar so I looked back through the task and made the connection that the NCSA option was for MAC users, so I chose the VT1oo option. Once i got through that I was in the library database:

I followed the instructions and searched for an author with the name Bennahum. The library database gave me two options: DAVID A BENNAHUM and NINOTCHKA BENNAHUM. I chose to email the first option to my Curtin email address, and it worked:

Task Reflections

Once I got over my initial uncertainty of Telnet I found the program reasonably straightforward to use. I actually enjoyed completing this task,  it actually reminded me of being a young child at the library and using their computers to search for a book in the database.It’s a bit of an insight to the origins of the internet, long before it became the internet we know today.

Beginning a blog on the internet can be a daunting process for those unfamiliar with the territory. To hopefully help on the journey I have given some thought to “Top 5 tips for new blogger”.
1.CHOOSE THE RIGHT BLOGGING SITE FOR YOU.

There is an abundance of different sites where you can you host your blog, which can make the task of finding the right one for yourself a formidable task. There is a great choice of free blogging sites out there, like this site wordpress , blogger ,blogs 4 me ,even blogs for you dog at dogblogs . The easiest way to find a blogging site is to use a search engine like google and then browse through your options. You should look for a site that is easy for you to update your content and that you are comfortable using. Always be sure to read the fine print as sometimes you may be expected to pay.

2. WHAT TO WRITE

Each entry you make into your blog should be like a short story, it needs a beginning/introduction, middle/body and an end/conclusion. You need to give it some sort of meaning otherwise you will never gain an audience. Make it interesting from the first word to draw people in and keep them reading, and hopefully coming back for more. Write about something you have a passion for or an interest in, that way it is easy to keep going, and like I stated before make it interesting, not mundane. With millions of blogs out there it is hard to stay entirely original but do your best to put your own style and flair into your writing. Remember content is everything.

3. “NETIQUETTE”

The term “NETIQUETTE” covers a very broad area of ethics that concern bloggers and online content. Although not strictly rules I believe it pays to give some thought the area, so as not to offend. The internet and your blog is a public arena, anybody can stumble across your blog and read it. Knowing this an amount of discretion should be used as blogs are a social domain, and many people of all ages, backgrounds, nationalities and religions may read your blog. It is much like a newspaper article, not everybody will agree with your opinion, but as long as you put across your views with an understanding of differences and common sense.. Another important thing to remember is to be nice, you want a good relationship with your readers and be prepared to take on constructive criticism of your writing.

4. LAYOUT

Layout is an important part of online content. Though we can’t all be designers, there are some basics that I think you need to remember. Choose background and text colors that match, but also so that they are easy to read. Just because it looks great doesn’t mean its practical. You don’t want your readers giving up on you because they keep getting headaches from squinting to see your text, not to mention crows feet! I find a site like color matters can help you to choose colors that match. Have a play around and give them a test run in the browser window, maybe even get someone else to have a look before you decide on aparticular color theme. Colors also evoke certain emotions, so think about what sort of vibe you want to put across and what matches your style and blog content. Do some research on this, a good place to start is color matters. The font you choose is another big consideration as I said previously just because it looks great doesn’t make it practical or easy to read. There are many fonts that will not be supported by all computer users, in this case the browser reverts back to a default font which may dramatically change the feel and style of your layout. There are many fonts that are considered “WEBSAFE” the more common ones include: Verdana, Georgia, Times New Roman, Arial, Tahoma, Comic Sans MS, Courier and many others, the site WEB DESIGN TIPS AND TRICKS gives a more comprehensive list of fonts as well as screen shots of different browser views to help you decide.

5. PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is a big no-no. Only ever use your own content, otherwise you must reference the material from other sources including information within your blog even if you do use your own words. If you are unsure about the accuracy of your claims make sure you state so in your blog. A very interesting site is plagiarism.org it gives tips and suggestion on how to go about researching content, and how to keep it original.

I hope that these tips help, and give you the confidence you need to take the leap into cyberspace.

The intention of this blog is to track my experience’s as I complete my University course. This is the first time I have ever created a blog, and I am looking forward to getting stuck into the course!