Tuesday 22 May 2007

Final Entry

Well, Ive completed the essay. I'm not sure of its quality and the mark it will attract but it's done. I'll give it another read tommorrow night. I've had the last 2 days off for this assignment, sick kids and a funeral, so hopefully it makes some sense.
This will probably be my last entry on this, my first ever blog. Hopefully it too attracts at least a pass mark. I've looked at other student blogs and there is some fantastic quality out there. Well done guys! I'm jealous of your talents but I live in the hope that one day soon I too will be at that level. Anyway, I'll have the rest of tonight off, veg in front of the tv for a while and then have another look at the essay tommorrow night, submit if ok and then on to studying for next weeks exam on another (totally unrelated) Uni subject.
I wish there was a week off in between study periods. It would be more than welcome from other OUA students.
Thats it for a totally boring entry. I know this was a boring one but i'm pretty drained and tired.
Thankyou

Friday 11 May 2007

Comments

It's been a while since I've posted comment or even looked at my blog. Assignments from this subject and a 2000 word essay for another have taken most of my study time. Fortunately I think I'm on top of this subject at the moment. I'm re-reading through Module 5 in more depth and getting ready to begin the essay. On top of this I have many readings to do for my other subject and also my wife has started a community action group that is lobbying our local council not to shut down our childcare centres. If anybody is interested you can click on this link http://www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/in_council/policies_and_plans/management_plan_feedback and about 1/2 way down the page you can see as space for comment:
Part B: Proposals identified for further investigation only(not contained in draft Management Plan)
Council has also seeking community feedback on several other potential service level variations which have not been fully investigated or costed to date. This means the full implications are not clear at this time. Any savings would be dedicated to infrastructure maintenance backlog unless otherwise indicated.
Child Care Centres
Investigate : Alternative commercial or community-based service providers for this service.

Please feel free to help us in our fight. Mainly, we are arguing that childcare is not an under utilized council service and is an essential social service. Privatization would only increase the financial burden on already struggling families.

Anyway thats what I've been up to away from uni. Looking forward to the essay and fighting the good fight.

Thursday 26 April 2007

Module 4 Tasks - Evaluating the Web

In your own words, write an annotation for the source which could communicate to a reader both your 'judgement' of the site according to what you have learnt from the tutorial, and also the following information:
the reliability and authority of the site / source / article
the main ideas or subjects discussed in the article
the purpose for which the site was written (this might include any apparent external interest, intellectual motivation or contextual information).
Record your annotation in your learning log.


I originally chose http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/ which is an Advanced Internet User Tutorial from an organisation called CIESE (The Centre for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education). Although the site appears to be commercial it has the suffix .org which suggests that it is a non-profit organisation but this is not conclusive. CIESE was founded in 1988 with the goal to improve K-12 science and mathematics education through the use of technology. It seems to be a reliable site. It recieves funding from grants issued by various US government departments. It provides links to journals written by their staff or about the organisation by others. It also lists awards and recognitions that they have recieved. The tutorial covers various procedures and aspects of the browsing on the Internet. The procedures are divided into individual subjects that have browser specific instructions and practice exercises.
After using the tools learnt in the tutorial exercise, I believe the site is a valid source. It comes highly referenced, gains government funding and has been around for quite some time. These factors along with the tutorial itself, lead me to conclude that this is an appropriate site to recommend for the Advanced Internet User.


Compare your final analysis and annotation with the material you saved for the last task, and think about these questions (you may wish to discuss these questions in your group)
in terms of your own future use, which 'body ' of information (ie. the original 'snapshot' of the site, or your own, annotated, analytical version) would be most useful to refer back to?
I definitely believe my second annotated format on the web site is more useful. It is more thorough and uses the skills learnt in the tutorial. The annotated format covers purpose, who authored the site, links and references and a more detailed look at the content. The previous version gave a quick review of what the site contained and what CIESE stood for.


In term of external users (i.e. if you included this site as a hyperlink or resource on a website) which body of information would best help them judge if the site was useful or of interest to them?
The tutorial page has the main body of information that suits an Advanced Internet User looking for information. It has the tutorials, exercises and browser specific instructions to perform the task at hand. To validate the site for the user, the "About Us" link shows where CIESE is from, their mission and how they operate. It gives validity and credibility to the site and its information.

Tuesday 24 April 2007

Module 4 Tasks - Organising search information task

First, choose the best three sources found in the previous task (and be aware all these sources and information can be contributing to your resource bank assignment!)
Using whatever software or tool you think appropriate, record the following information about those sites:
URL.
author,
institution,
blurb/ summary / screen shot (this can be a direct copy of an appropriate abstract or introductory paragraph on the site: but make sure you record and reference it as such)


Again, using any useful software you have downloaded, or utilising your existing software, record this information on your computer in the way that you think will be most useful to you in terms of preparing for your third assignment (that is, in terms of how easy you will find it to access, retrieve, understand, contextualise and recall why you saved it - and with what!).

Record this information in your learning log, and also detail how you saved this information, what software you used and why.


For this task, I downloaded Bookmark Buddy. It downloaded really quickly and I had it running in no time. I firstly saved 3 bookmarks as instructed. I did this by creating a new folder in Categories. It was then a matter of fetching the url bookmark from the browser and adding it as a bookmark. I then found how to make notes and save the information. I think this is an especially useful tool for this subject in that you can make notes to refresh your memory later on. It also tells you the url, when you accessed the site, the number of times you accessed the site along with your 'rating' and comments.

The only downside to this is that its on a 20 day trial.

Monday 23 April 2007

Module 4 Tasks - Boolean Search Task

Taking the same key words of your last search, think about how you would best search for the following:

  • the biggest number of hits relating to these key words
  • sources relating to skills-based information on these key words.
  • information coming only from university sources
  • Discuss your strategies with the class and record the exact search terms you used in your learning log
The biggest number of hits would be by using the 'OR' function. This function would look for results containing any of these words. Google came up with 2,620,000,000 hits.

To find sources that relate to skills-based information on these key words, I used inverted commas with the AND function. "Advanced Internet Users" AND "Skills Based". This only came up with 18
hits, but funnily enough many were NET11 related. Go NET11 team!

To limit the search to information coming only from university sources, I made a rule to only look for those results with a .edu domain. This still resulted in 829 000 hits. I then tried using Copernic with the search: Advanced Internet Users.edu. This resulted in 20 hits.

Module 4 Tasks - Search Engine Task

1. Choose your most commonly used internet search engine and do a search for the words: advanced internet users.

  • record the first hit and number of hits in your learning log:
I used Google to do the search and it came up with 118 000 000 hits. The first hit listed was:

Advanced Internet Users Tutorial - CIESE
www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/

2. Using copernicus or similar, set it up to search at least three search engines (including one that will search the 'deep web') and repeat eactly the same search

  • record the number of hits in your learning log, and compare to your first search. What differences did you notice? Why? Which search, on first glance gave you the most promising results?
Using Copernic for this search I came up with only 55 hits. I only have the free version which doesn't allow you to nominate search engines.
The difference in result to the Google search is astounding. 18 million on Google down to 55 on Copernic is amazing. The Copernic program runs a meta search, which is much more refined than Google which trawls billions of sites listing words.
I think the Copernic i s most promising because the results are in a managable number.
The first hit listed was:
1. Global Advanced Media WeBlog » Internet Users
http://weblog.globaladvancedmedia.com/category/internet-users [Wisenut, Ask.com]



3. Save at least the first 5 hits of both searches.

Google search:
Advanced Internet Users Tutorial - CIESE
www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/

Advanced Internet Users Tutorial - CIESE - Keyboard Shortcuts
www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/shortcut.html

Advanced User's Internet Training Resources
www.vicnet.net.au/training/advance.html

Advanced Internet Users, School of Continuing Education

www3.uwm.edu/sce/course.cfm?id=6835

News @ Cisco: China Supports Advanced Applications for Internet

newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/global/asiapac/news/2005/pr_09-21.html



Copernic Search:

1. Global Advanced Media WeBlog » Internet Users
http://weblog.globaladvancedmedia.com/category/internet-users
2. Advanced Internet Users Tutorial - CIESE
http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced [Ask.com]
3. Advanced Internet Users Tutorial - CIESE - Saving Web Pages
http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/saveweb.html [Ask.com]
4. Finding People on the Internet?
http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/findingpeople/Finding_Pe... [About.com]
5. Msen Advanced Internet Users Links Page
http://www.msen.com/1997/adv_links.html [Ask.com]




Module 4 Tasks - Tools for Using the Web

Try downloading at least two unfamiliar programs (if you do not already have them: for those who have most or all, offer alternatives, or make sure you have the most up-to-date copy). Find out what the programs offer and spend a bit of time familiarising yourself with their operation (do not spend too much time on this, as some of these programs will be utilised in later tasks).

In your learning log record which programs you downloaded and note which (if any) facets you think might prove useful.

Real Networks Real One:
This is a media player. It also downloaded Firefox, which I've only had limited exposure to. I used Firefox to view my blog and interestingly it showed it in a slightly different way to Explorer. The fonts were slightly different and spacing was also different. But from reading posts on the discussion board, I will give it a go and see if I like it or not.

Copernic: This took quite a while to index the files that it wanted. But I think the wait now will save time in the future. I think it will come in handy especially for my wife who always has trouble finding files she has saved.

Friday 20 April 2007

Module 3 Tasks - WWW Blogs

Take a screen shot of your blog and paste into your learning log





In your learning log, record your ‘top five tips for new bloggers’ :
  1. Make your content useful and unique to your readers. Constantly ask yourself, is the blog useful? This content could include - education, entertainment, information, debate, news or communtiy.
  2. Post Length. Keep in mind the reader and their attention span. Studies have shown that the typical web reader has an attention span of 96 seconds per blog.
  3. Use titles effectively. First impressions count - to people and search engines. Slow down their scanning and grab their attention with meaningful, simple titles that use key words.
  4. Make posts scannable. Web readers scan for content and dont read word for word. Use lists, bold writing, headings, sub-headings, pictures, borders and spaces to make your content stand out.
  5. One topic per post. Keep the post to one topic. This prevents you from getting off the subject and rambling on about anything that comes to mind. Keep focus.

The above tips were sourced from Problogger. http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/14/blogging-for-beginners-2/

Accessed 20/4/07

Module 3 Tasks - WWW Standards FTP

Try uploading your web page (or your draft info bank or learning log) to your student web space in Oasis or your own web space provided by your ISP if you have one using ftp.



Well wasn't this little task a mission! I found the part of uploading the Index file vial ftp easy enough. Below is a screenshot of the ftp program.

Connecting to the web page was another matter altogether. I downloaded the vpn client - no problem. But connecting to the page Web Address: http://student.curtin.edu.au/~13778811 proved altogether impossible for me. I was connected via vpn but it wouldnt work. I checked posts on the discussion board and it seems many people were having problems.

So, the task here was to upload via ftp. I suppose it was a success in that regard but not being able to access it is not a desired result.

Anyway, I did manage to upload the page to the Presentations area of Webct. Below is a successful screenshot of that:

Module 3 Tasks - WWW Standards Legal Issues

Obviously when writing for the web, we need to be aware of the sorts of legislation surrounding ‘published material’: most obviously copyright and Intellectual property.

Consider these questions:
have you used images or words on your web page or website that contravene copyright laws?


The words and images that I have used on my web page would not be considered to have contravened copyright laws. The strongest argument to defend this would be that the material comes under the banner of 'fair use' or 'fair dealing'. Fair dealing under the copyright Act of 1968 applies to limited use of materials for educational purposes. It would be difficult to argue against this in this case. In addition, the material for the Volcano web page was obtained with permission and again used for educational purposes.


Would you be in breach of copyright if you put the Curtin logo at the top of your web page for an assignment?

Using the following paragraph, taken from the Curtin University Copyright statement, it would not be a breach to use the Curtin Logo at the top of web page that is used for an assignment. This page was accessed 20/4/07. Site address: http://global.curtin.edu.au/legal/copyright.cfm

"Under the "fair dealing" provisions of the Commonwealth of Australia Copyright Act 1968 an individual may make a single copy of a "reasonable portion" of the material on this site without prior permission or payment, provided it is for the purposes of research or study, criticism or review."

Since writing the above I have found a specific Curtin document relating to use of the Curtin Logo. Procedure Reference A002/P1.2 states that the logo is a registered trademark protected from unauthorized use and may only be released upon approval by University Marketing. Source: Procedure Reference A002/P1.2 http://www.policies.curtin.edu.au/documents/Logo_use.doc Accessed 26/7/07.

Thursday 19 April 2007

Module 3 Tasks - WWW Standards W3C Validation

Test your web page according to the W3C standards by going to their ‘validator’ page. If your page does not conform (it probably won’t!) record in your learning log why you think this is: try and identify the particular tags or code that are causing trouble. Are the problems related mostly to display, usability, or accessibility?

At the first attempt my webpage came up with several errors. Most of these were 'typos' by me. Others were mistakes that I could best describe as 'syntax' errors. The page still worked and looked how I wanted it to but the validator still found error. I discovered that if I changed the location of some of my tags, they still worked and passed with the validator.

Still there was one error that I couldn't figure out. I tried swapping a few things around but I couldnt get rid of it. The page looks how I want it to, so I'm not too worried.

I have attached a screen shot of the error. If anyone can suggest anything, you are more than welcome.

Thanks.

Wednesday 18 April 2007

Module 3 Tasks - WWW Standards

Make a summary of what you believe are the 5 most important ‘rules’ for writing online. Think about any differences between the articles: for example, is the advice in Nielsen’s paper -- written in 1997 – still current?

  1. Keep a simple design: Speed has always been important to web users. An impatient web user may decide to pass on a page that takes too long to load.
  2. Keep a consistent design: Keep link buttons in a consistent location and provide links to the main page.
  3. Use Meaningful Hyperlinks: Hyperlinks are well understood nowdays but the important thing to remember is to make them meaningful. They must clearly indicate to the reader where the link will take them. Again time is important to web page readers. They don't want to waste time on useless links.
  4. Use Bold headings and point forms: This will give the reader an overview of your website quickly. Don't use jargon, just explain clearly and concisely the point.
  5. Put Extended text on linked pages: Don't put all the text onto one page. It will make it too long to load and too much to read. Use the headings and point forms in point 4 to direct to the full text. Also provide printable pdf format for text that may be printed.

While these are not extensive rules, I believe that they cover the most important points that make a web site usable for everybody.

The rules written in 1997 by Jabob Nielsen closely reflect those written in 2003 by Dennis G Jerz. This shows that these rules are still relevant in todays web world. While many people have fast broadband connections, there are still people using dial up modems with very limited speeds. One of the tenents of designing web pages is to ensure that the content is available for all users of the internet. Not just the latest technology.

Sunday 15 April 2007

Reflection

I believe reflection is an important part of learning. I originally chose this subject thinking it would be easy and a low workload. A rude shock naturally came my way but I think I am adjusting to the workload ok. I have though, missed some pre-arranged chat sessions with my fellow students. This is mainly due to my terrible memory and the distrations that come with weekends.
The discussion board had been especially useful throughout this subject. I've had discussion boards with other subjects but I found they were dominated by a few wannabe professors. This subject encourages and achieves widespread opinion and participation. There are many posts to go through but since most of it is relevant at some stage or other, it's not such a chore. I've tried to contribute where I can but mostly I'm out of my depth for giving advice. I'm more on the asking side than answering. So we keep moving along...

Module 3 Tasks - HTML tags

This task was one of the most interesting and practical that I have done. I really learnt a great deal about HTML and enjoyed making the Volcano page and modifying the page I had already started for Assignment 1. The only drawback I found was that I had used "PageBreeze" to originally create the Presentations page. So I spent a fair bit of time modifying and deleting the PageBreeze tags and trying to make it mainly my tags that I have learnt so far. I have cheated a little by leaving the page colour tags in but I plan on learning about them by modifying and playing with the settings. Overall it took quite longer than I anticipated but totally worthwhile. Below is a screenshot my Learning Log in its latest incarnation. No doubt it will change as I progress but at the moment I'm pretty proud of what I've achieved. Thanks goes to our tutor and of course my fellow students.



Wednesday 4 April 2007

Module 2 Tasks - ICQ

An assignment due last week kept me away from this subject for a while so I have some catching up to do. Like most other students I couldnt find the 'advanced netstudies' ICQ. I did try the ICQ number 337-293-557 which didnt have what I was looking for.

Anyway, because I'm way behind I didnt have an ICQ chat with anyone but at work we have an intercompany chat program that I use quite often, sometimes even for work related matters. You create a list of people from the database and it tells you if they are on line or not. I actually use it to see if my boss is in his office or not. Mostly though I use it to catch up with an old school friend who works for the company I've just joined. Its a useful tool that is not intrusive and you can work around having a conversation. I find its slower than having a verbal conversation but still handy all the same.
Time to get on with the self evaluation.

Sunday 25 March 2007

Module 2 Tasks - Newsgroups

The following is a screenshot of my post to an Arsenal newsgroup. Arsenal are a Premier League Football (soccer) team in England. I have supported them for as long as I can remember. In a trip to Europe in 1996 I went to their ground "Highbury" and managed to sneak on to the ground with the workers. Last year Arsenal built an new stadium called "Emirates" and have now moved there. My post is just a question regarding what will happen to Highbury.

Module 2 Tasks - Lists

What are the pros and cons of email lists versus discussion boards?
Email List pros
  • You don't need an immediate answer
  • You know who you wish to communicate with.
  • You can attach files
  • You get specific information that you subscribe to.

Email List cons

  • You can recieve large amounts of SPAM (unsolicited email).
  • Impersonal
  • Mail box can become clogged with too many messages or take up mail box storage space.

Discussion Board pros

  • Threading of the discussion makes it easy to pick up and see through to its conclusion.
  • A more personal environment.
  • Easy to find and participate in.

Discussion Board cons

  • Threads can sometimes get too long making it difficult to find what you are after.
  • Threads can mutate into an entirely different subject.


Are there certain kinds of communication or purposes more suited to one than the other?

Email lists seem to be better suited to the spreading of information that doesn't necessarily need discussion. Discussion boards are most suited to this. Email lists spread the information as effectively as discussion boards but replies tend to be personal as most recipients are bcc. Businesses try mass email lists in marketing campaigns but the effectiveness of getting sales from this is minimal with response rates of 0.25 to 0.50 percent or less (Source: Email Marketing Services Buyers Guide, accessed 25/3/07, address http://www.buyerzone.com/marketing/email-marketing/buyers_guide2.html)

Discussion boards make ideal platforms for like minded people to have an open discussion on a common interest. The discussion can be followed and is open to all members to join. Email is much more closed than this.


Email lists work well when you have a group of users interested in the same subject matter. This group of users is able to read the information at their leisure, or respond to the group if appropriate.
Discussion boards work well in creating an online community which is great when you have a group of people who are unable to participate in face to face discussions.

Friday 23 March 2007

Module 2 Tasks - Email Tasks

Friday night and I'm doing uni work.....


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?

An email tells you who it comes from via the email account (the first part of an email address) and the origin of the email via the domain. I use Outlook and further information can be gathered from View, Options - Internet headers. Below is an example from an email I recieved tonight. I have put x's in the names to protect the innocent:


Return-Path: <XXXX@internode.on.net>Received: from
ipmail02.adl2.internode.on.net
([203.16.214.141]) by
imta01ps.mx.bigpond.com with
ESMTP id <20070323095203.YELW27201.imta01ps.mx.bigpond.com@ipmail02.adl2.internode.on.net>
for <shoey72@bigpond.net.au>;
Fri, 23 Mar 2007 09:52:03 +0000Received: from
ppp242-44.lns3.syd6.internode.on.net (HELO [192.168.1.2])
([121.44.242.44]) by ipmail02.adl2.internode.on.net with ESMTP; 23 Mar
2007 20:22:01 +1030X-IronPort-AV: i="4.14,318,1170595800"; d="scan'208,217,147";
a="101241567:sNHT91265349"Message-ID: <4603A33F.90303@internode.on.net>Date:
Fri, 23 Mar 2007 20:51:59 +1100From: Chris K User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.10 (Windows/20070221)MIME-Version: 1.0To: ">xxxx@internode.on.net>User-Agent:
Thunderbird 1.5.0.10 (Windows/20070221)MIME-Version: 1.0To: Subject: Today
is a special dayContent-Type:
multipart/related; boundary="------------000709040801060300040707"

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

The "cc" (carbon copy) function is good when including someone on an email that is not addressed to them but the information still should be shared with them.

The "bcc" (blind carbon copy) function is useful for emailing to a number of recipients without them knowing the other recipients.

"Reply all" will share your response with the original recievers of the email. It should be carefully use and not used when the response is personal.


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

There are several steps you can take to ensure that an attachment will be easily opened by the receiver. These include:


  • Communicate about your computer systems and share information on how to open the attachment.

  • Convert to ASCII text. This is easily read but takes away many formatting options that give a document it's feel.

  • Convert to RTF (Rich Text Format). RTF is readable across programs and platforms and as such should always be used when in doubt.

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

I always look both ways before crossing the road. But with my email I havent really done much with rules. The only rules I have set include playing a tune when email is recieved from certain people and always empty the deleted items bin on closing of Outlook.


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

I have numerous folders to store emails in. These originated just through what I believe I frequently recieve and the possibility that I may wish to retrieve them later on. Below is a screen shot of my folders:




Wednesday 7 March 2007

Module 1 Tasks - Internet Tools

Traceroute
By coincidence I was only recently shown traceroute and ping by a colleague. On that occassion we used MS DOS prompt (called tracert), which seemed fairly simple once you knew the little tricks. This time I used Network-Tools and achieved the following results:
As you can see below, it took 17 hops from network-tools to curtin.edu.au

The average time in milliseconds (ms) was 248ms.

Interestingly the curtin.edu.au IP address was 134.7.179.10 which is different from the answer in the 'self test'. Many other students also got this result so either we are all wrong or curtin has changed the address, server or something similar.





Ping
As suggested in the text, I downloaded A-Tool bar last night and had a bit of a play with it. It has heaps of functions, many I probably will never use, but it seemed fairly user friendly.
For this task I had to ping the webct site from my pc and from net tools site. Like others I had trouble with the webct site so I just did a ping to curtin.edu.au
I have posted both results below:

network-tools Ping time Results
Ping 134.7.179.10
[curtin.edu.au]
Round trip time to 134.7.179.10: 249 ms
Round trip time to 134.7.179.10: 249 ms
Round trip time to 134.7.179.10: 249 ms
Round trip time to 134.7.179.10: 249 ms
Round trip time to 134.7.179.10: 249 ms
Round trip time to 134.7.179.10: 248 ms
Round trip time to 134.7.179.10: 249 ms
Round trip time to 134.7.179.10: 248 ms
Round trip time to 134.7.179.10: 249 ms
Round trip time to 134.7.179.10: 248 ms

Average time over 10 pings: 248.7 ms


PC Ping time Results



Average time over 10 pings: 69ms

The ping from my computer was much quicker than the ping from the net site. This is probably more due to geographical reasons more than anything. Network-tools is located outside of Australia, so it has much further to travel. I expected the time to be shorter and this proved to be the case. While the Internet makes the world a smaller place, distance can still be a factor, even if it is only at a micro-second level.




Traceroute Comparison

I thought that running the traceroute from my pc would take less hops than the Network-tools website.

Below are the results.


A quick comparison shows that
Local
20 hops and 70ms average
Network-tools
17 hops and 248ms
This was a suprising result for me. I'm not entirely sure its correct but I did test both ways several times. One possible reason for more local hops could be that it takes my ISP more hops to get onto the backbone. The longer time from Network-tools could be due to its location outside of Australia.
Overall these were interesting task that challenged me learn and try to explain some unexpected results.


Module 1 Tasks - File Transfer Protocol FTP

This is one of those internet things that I've seen but never took the time to understand. I downloaded WS-FTP and found it to be a really easy and powerful tool. I began by doing the tutorial that showed the features of WS-FTP and how to use it. It was then really easy to connect to the Curtin FTP and find the README txt file and then the missing word - CAPITALIZATION.
See screen shot below for view of WS-FTP in action.

Tuesday 6 March 2007

Module 1 Tasks - Telnet

Now I'm getting into the fun stuff.

First task is using telnet. I've never heard of this before let alone used it. Fortunately one of my fellow students has provided some easy instructions on how to use it in MS DOS. There is a real sense of community in this subject and everyone is keen to help those (like me) who are not at their level. Luckily I got the result below which seems to be close to the mark.



I even got the right answer in the 'self test' (see below). I loved the Star Wars 'movie' at blinkenlights (4 stars from me!) but I still prefer a more conventional web based search.



In the Beginning.....

After going away for the weekend I was most shocked when I logged in on Monday night to find literally dozens of Blogs already started. Righto, Rob. Stop mucking around and get onto it. So firstly I must thank my fellow students for getting me into gear and going. This my first blog so its going to be an interesting learning experience. But I am nervous about my ability to do this. I'm not an internet expert. I mean, I can surf and google and stuff but getting into making sites and blogs, up to now, has not really been my thing.
Well, here we go.....