Read this chapter to satisfy your curiosity about exactly how people reach out and touch one another on the Internet. The answers include the following:
For some, these activities represent all they ever use the Internet for. They don't seek piles of research data; they seek specific answers to specific questions, face-to-face (well, almost). E-mail and its relatives described in this chapter are the
links through which the citizens of the online world relate.
As you'll see, though, basic e-mail can serve as a formidable research tool. Beyond the fact that it gives you a way to query experts around the word, e-mail can supply a steady stream of news and letters—automatically—about almost any topic.
Why do people use e-mail? Well_
Really Curious?
The speed, economy, and convenience of e-mail is achieved by simply copying a computer file containing a message from one computer to another through the network. Boiled down, it works like this (refer to Figure 6.1):
Figure 6.1. How e-mail works: sender types message and recipient's e-mail address; Internet carries message to recipient's computer; recipient reads message on his or her computer screen.
Among the more handy features of e-mail are "forward" and "reply." The recipient can choose the forward feature in the e-mail program, type a new address, and automatically forward the message to another Internet user. If the
recipient chooses the reply feature, he or she can type a reply message immediately, without needing to type the Internet address of the sender—the e-mail software automatically delivers the reply to the sender of the original message.
Really Curious?
The most intimidating aspect of e-mail may be the Internet addresses themselves. They look complicated, but they aren't really. Whether or not you plan to use the Internet, you'll see Internet addresses on people's business cards, in advertising, and
even in paper mail and faxes you may receive. So it helps to understand what the addresses are about.
Like any address, an Internet address includes an individual's (or organization's) name and location information. Unlike postal addresses, the "name" is a made-up name for Internet use, and the location information is a series of
abbreviations that identify a specific computer, on a specific network, on the Internet. For example, look at my Internet address in Figure 6.2.
Figure 6.2. An Internet e-mail address, decoded as: Internet name "at" computer name network.
Did You Know. . .
The first part of the address shown in Figure 6.2 is my name on the Internet, nsnell. I could have made up any name I wanted—I'm especially fond of sparky and athol. But nsnell is easier for me to remember, and it can make finding me easier for
others who want to send me e-mail. I don't have to be the only nsnell on the Internet; I do have to be the only nsnell at the place described by the rest of my address. The whole address, taken together, must be the only one of its kind so that any e-mail
sent to that address from anywhere on the Internet can go only to one place.
The @ symbol means "at," and the rest of the address describes the computer or network I use. The first word is a name for the computer itself, and the remaining words indicate a "domain," which is the Internet's fancy way of
describing the location or network of the computer. Figure 6.2 tells you I use a computer called iquest in the .net domain. (Using .net for the domain also indicates that the computer is part of an Internet-connected network.)
Really Curious?
I, like a growing number of people, use a dial-in Internet connection (see Chapter 5). My PC isn't actually connected to the Internet—my PC uses a modem to connect to another computer downtown, and that computer is connected to the Internet. So in
my address, the computer and domain name describe the computer network downtown, run by my commercial Internet access provider. The e-mail I receive is also stored on that computer until I read it, at which time I can copy it to my PC.
Because the Internet includes so many different types of networks, there are some variations on the basic address format. Also, some addresses can be shorter or longer—three, four, five, or more words separated by periods may be necessary to
describe the computers in complex environments with many users. The typical order, however, remains: name@computer.location.
Did You Know. . .
Here's one last important point about e-mail. Through the years, e-mail users have developed their own set of customs (OK, rules) about composing and sending messages. Most of these have been designed to keep e-mail communication efficient and to
prevent wasting network resources, computer storage space, and the reader's time. (They're also designed, like many Internet customs, to separate the veterans from the novices, condescendingly dubbed "newbies." The Internet is open to all, but
like any community, it has a few who'd just as soon close the borders.)
E-mail etiquette—part of what some call "netiquette," the complete code of Internet conduct—demands that messages be brief and to-the-point, without being cryptic and choppy, of course. Senders are encouraged to type accurate,
meaningful subject lines in the e-mail programs so that readers know what the message is about before they choose to read it. Using CAPITAL LETTERS to add emphasis is gauche and uncivilized, but using smileys (also called emoticons; refer to Chapter 3) to
add emotional notes is acceptable, if done with restraint.
Although everyone appreciates courteous communication, Internet users don't like to waste messages on pleasantries. For example, when someone answers someone else's questions by e-mail, he or she doesn't expect—and usually doesn't want—a
thank-you e-mail back, which simply clutters the computer with messages that have nothing new to say. E-mail users try to save their thank you's for the next message in which they have something more substantial to say.
Really Curious?
E-mail is the principal Internet communications tool. Sometimes, however, people want the immediacy of an interactive discussion in which messages are traded back and forth instantly, as in a conversation.
On the Internet, the principle one-to-one conversation tool is called Talk. Talk sets up a two-way conversation between two Internet users, who, for sake of example, I'll call Sparky and Athol. To begin, Sparky fires up an Internet software tool (see
Chapter 5) that supports Talk and then types Athol's Internet address. The Talk program sends a message to Athol's screen (if he is currently working on the Internet), telling him that Sparky wants to talk with him and telling him how to respond if he,
indeed, wants to talk with Sparky. The required response is typically nothing more than the word talk, followed by Sparky's Internet address, which already appears on-screen in the message.
When Athol responds, both Athol's screen and Sparky's are split in some way. On graphical, "windowing" computers like PCs running Microsoft Windows or the Macintosh, the screen splits into two separate windows. On more basic computers, a
simple line appears across the middle of the screen horizontally, splitting it into top and bottom halves.
In either case, once the screen is split, everything Sparky types appears in one half, and everything Athol types appears in the other. This happens instantly; Athol can actually see each letter appear on his screen as Sparky presses each key on his
keyboard. Even when one talker presses the Backspace key to erase a mistake, the other can see it happen. Athol and Sparky can now babble away at each other until one of them breaks the connection.
Did You Know. . .
Internet Relay Chat (IRC), the other method for Internet conversation, is less common than Talk because someone must set up the Chat before others can join in. Chat sessions allow many users to join in the same free-form conversation, usually centered
(loosely) around a discussion topic.
Like Talk, Chat isn't available from every computer on the Internet because computers need special software to join in. Many can, however, and those that can't may be able to go through computers called "public IRC servers" that will give
them access to Chat sessions.
Users enter a series of commands to find computers currently running Chat sessions. They then get a list of Chat sessions underway; the sessions are called channels (after the CB channels chatted on by truckers and radio buffs) and are labeled by
topic. When users see a topic that interests them, they type a command to join and then type another command to choose a nickname. All of their contributions to the discussion will be labeled with the nickname in the session.
Nicknames allow people in the session to keep track of who's who and to chat with anonymity—which is sometimes a good idea, given the level to which the conversation can sink in Chat groups. Chat sessions are notoriously trivial, and sometimes
degenerate into petty squabbles or sexually suggestive banter—much more boring than it sounds. Chats can be fun and informative, but also they're too often frequented by people who really ought to get back to work or get out more often.
Really Curious?
Internet mailing lists (sometimes also called discussion lists) are exactly that: lists of people who have signed up to receive e-mail related to a given topic.
Earlier in this chapter, you learned that a person can forward to another user e-mail that he or she receives. A mailing list is a special Internet address that automatically forwards every e-mail message it receives to everybody on the list. People
with something to contribute or a question to ask send e-mail to the mailing list, and within a few hours, everyone on the list receives a copy of that message.
Users sign up for mailing lists simply by sending an e-mail message to the list's Internet address, asking to join. Many mailing lists are run completely by computer; even the job of signing up new users is run by computer. These lists, sometimes
called listserv lists or simply listservs to distinguish them from other mailing lists, require joiners to phrase the request in a special word order so that the computer recognizes it as a request to join.
Here's a very small sampling of what's offered, mailing lists catering to the interests of_
Kite enthusiasts
Romania buffs
Hemingway fans
Buddhists
Chemists
Beekeepers
Mathematicians
Drag racers
Baseball fans
Photographers
Accordion players
. . .and much more. There are also many foreign-language mailing lists wherein users from all over the world can exchange news and information in the language they know, love, or study.
Did You Know. . .
There's a danger in mailing lists: They can get too big and too active, burying users in daily e-mail. That's why some people prefer newsgroups, a different way of obtaining the same kinds of information supplied by mailing list.
Really Curious?
Like mailing lists, newsgroups center around a particular topic. They don't, however, send out e-mail to members. Instead, the newsgroup member must go to the newsgroup to read new messages, search for messages on a given topic, or post new messages
(although new messages can be posted through e-mail or right at the newsgroup). Typically, users go to the newsgroup at regular intervals, browse through the new messages and read the messages that interest them, post a new contribution, and maybe reply to
a query that appears in a message.
The advantage to this more passive approach is that a user who gets too busy or goes away for a few days doesn't have to deal with hundreds of messages piling up in his or her e-mail box, as might be the case with a mailing list. The user can ignore
the newsgroup when necessary and then get caught up when he or she has the time. The mailing list, however, provides its own advantage. When something important happens, mailing list users find out quickly. Newsgroup users stay in the dark until they go
looking for news.
Did You Know. . .
You may see newsgroups, as a set, referred to by other names, such as Usenet news or network news. That's because the newsgroups are managed by a subset of Internet computers called, collectively, Usenet. The various Usenet sites handle the job of
managing and administering the newsgroups and of keeping them all updated. Thousands of individual newsgroups exist, some serious (soc.rights.human), others practical (misc.jobs.offered), and still others just for fun (rec.arts.startrek.info).
One great advantage of newsgroups is that the Usenet sites maintain directories containing lists of newsgroup names. With a newsreader or any software program that can search through files of text, users can quickly search the lists for a newsgroup
whose name contains a certain word, and in doing so they can find newsgroups related to a particular topic. For example, one might type spain and find the names of all the newsgroups with spain in their name. Using a newsreader, users can jump right into
any newsgroup they find in the search, sign up, and see what's happening.
Did You Know. . .
Because of Usenet's directory, newsgroups are easy to find; and when it comes to the Internet, "easy to find" is not an often-used phrase.
In particular, people have trouble finding one another's
e-mail addresses so they can easily send a message or initiate a Talk session. Unfortunately, there is no all-powerful, all-encompassing White Pages in which a user can look up another user's Internet address.
Not to state the obvious_OK, I'll state the obvious_for getting the Internet address of someone he or she already knows or the address of someone at a known place of employment, an Internet user's best bet is to pick up the telephone, call the person,
and ask. It contradicts some of the wonders of Internet use, but if the user writes the number down, he or she won't have to call again.
Users can also get addresses from e-mail they receive and from newsgroup messages, both of which show the Internet address of the sender in the header blurb at the top of the message.
There are, however, Internet facilities that can help. Many Internet computers have on them the software to support two special commands: whois and finger.
The whois command, the more powerful of the two, allows users to find contact information about another Internet user by name. Doing so involves using the Internet to access another computer (see Chapter 7) and running the whois program there. Nearly
100 computers are available for this purpose, and their records about users vary—so whois is far from foolproof and far from complete. For those who are running out of options, however, it's a start.
The exact way a user operates whois varies according to the computer running the whois program. But typically, the user accesses the computer and types whois and the name of the person. If that computer has information about that user, it will display
the information. Sometimes the display includes not only the desired user's Internet address, but also his or her work mailing address and telephone number. The whois command can also supply information about a specific computer or network on the Internet.
The finger command is less powerful, because the user has to know the Internet name of the computer used by the person being sought. To put it another way, if the user knows the part of the address following the @ symbol, finger can help him or her
find the first part to complete the address. That's not much help, but it's something.
Failing all else, users sometimes leave a message in a newsgroup called soc.net.people, requesting information on the Internet whereabouts of a particular user. They don't often get a complete answer, but they sometimes get close enough to then use
whois or finger to find the rest.
The Internet opens a world of interpersonal communication, and it supplies this communication in several different forms:
You also know that communicating on the Internet depends heavily on knowing the Internet addresses of others. The Internet does not, alas, supply an easy way to track down any individual user. There are, however, several directory services that help
Internet users find one another.
