Tips Ngenet

Even Internet Hitler hates Kanye West

2009-09-16T12:33:00.000+07:00

Finally, the Web finds something that makes even it recoil in disgust

YouTube.com

Even the greatest monster of the 20th century (as portrayed by Bruno Ganz in the 2004 film "The Downfall") is horrified by Kanye West's behavior at MTV's Video Music Awards.

Link Exchange 'OTOMATIS'

2009-08-26T10:03:00.003+07:00

Link Exchange 'OTOMATIS'

Internet Surfing Tips

2009-08-14T13:57:00.000+07:00

Internet Surfing Tips
From CASI's Using The Internet Section.
By Jesse Ferrell.

The Internet is a wonderful place. I've said this before but I'd like to say it again. It really is. I'd be bored out of my brain if not for the Internet. I've logged an estimated 18,000 hours awake and connected to the Internet (40 hours a week at work and sometimes 40 more at home) including "real" work (3 years of web development); probably just less than half of that time doing non-development work (surfing, emailing, etc). If that sounds nerdy, well, it is, but I've had a lot of fun at it. And I've learned a lot.

Having been on the Internet since 1991, (before the Web even, (see History of Weather and the Internet) I would like to think that I have accrued some efficiency techniques over the years that may help you surf more effectively. Now that the Internet is too big to surf in one lifetime, your time online must be spent effectively. Power users may already know some or most of the information below. If this is you, congratulations. If you are new to the Internet, this page is a must read. For this tutorial I assume that you have successfully connected to the Internet and have your Web Browser open. NOTE: Most of these tips are PC-oriented. If you have a Mac they may work or they may not.

1. Know how to look for information.

First Love : Finding the site you need - via the Web Address: First of all, if you are looking for a particular site, try typing in the company name or key word into your browser's "address" area. You should always keep this address area visible, it will help you out throughout your surfing experience by telling you where you are. If you are using a recent Netscape or Internet Explorer type in www.whatever.000 where 'whatever' is what you're looking for. and '000' is the domain name extension. If you are looking for ford, typing in www.ford.com will get you to the Ford website because 'com' stands for 'company.' But typing www.whitehouse.com won't get you to the Whitehouse of the US Government, in fact I don't even want to tell you where it will go. An enterprising lowlife company purchased that address to get hits from the unsuspecting viewer. But you know better. Why? Because the 'com' doesn't make sense - the US Government is not a company, it is a government. Change '.com' to '.gov' to be taken where you want to go. (www.whitehouse.gov). Same for Educational sites (not www.psu.com but www.psu.edu) and non-profit organizations (not www.weatherwatchers.com but www.weatherwatchers.org). By the way, don't worry about that little http:// that keeps popping up in front of your Address - that is the Internet terminology for "Hypertext Transfer Protocol" which means "this is a web page, not an FTP page or a GOPHER page" to power users. Most modern browsers don't require the http:// to be typed in but will keep slipping it in for you. If you get around to making your own web pages, you'll need to include that code.
Hey! That didn't work! What now?: If your browser gave you an error message (see here for an old page I made with details on Netscape Error Messages, some information may no longer be accurate). That doesn't necessarily mean that the site address doesn't exist (see here for details) but it does mean that you can't get to it, and that's what matters right now, eh? Next step is to try to find the object of your desire with a Search Tool. I'll leave that discussion up to the "Finding What You Need" section.

2. Understand browser 'tricks.'

The power of CNTRL-F.: Did you know that at any time when you have text in your browser window (even the view-source window) that you can search through that for text? That's right. Pick Edit/Find from your browser's menu, or press CNTRL-F, that's "hold down the Control Key then press F then release both." Note: this won't work for images. How can you tell text from images? This might sound easy, but it's easy to make images that look like text, and CNTRL-F won't work through these. Right click (click with your right mouse button, a very powerful tool) over the area containing the text/image. If "View Image" (Netscape) or "Save Picture" (Internet Explorer) appears then it is an image.
More about this Right Mouse Button...: There are loads of things you can do with the Right mouse button (or "hold down only button" on Macs) menu. You should use it frequently. It allows you to interact with the page. Let's say you want to open a link in a new window without making your current web page go away. Right click over the link and pick "Open In New Window." When you're done with that window you can close it by using the menu "File/Close", the keyboard shortcut for that (CNTRL-W) or the Windows 95 "X" button in the upper right hand corner of the window. Clicking on a non-linked portion of a page will give you a menu from which you can pick other useful things without having to navigate the menus at the top of the browser, such as "Add to Bookmarks / Favorites," "Back/Forward," "View Source" (important for learning HTML), and others.
Don't be fooled! Where does this page / image come from?: One of the bad things about the Internet is that it is easy to fool the novice user. You've got to keep in mind when surfing that things aren't always what they seem. Let's take an example. Go to this example page. I'm going to open it in a new window for you so you don't have to close this one. When you are done with this lesson you can close it by using the techniques listed above.; What do you see on that page? Well it looks like this web page, done by me, has a Surface Map of the United States on it. If you wait around another half hour and reload the page, the image will have updated. How neat! I have an updating surface map on my page. I'd better bookmark this right? No. I have fooled you into thinking that this is my image. If you bookmark this page, instead of the real source, you may be disappointed to find the image gone in the future. I am incorporating another web site's image into my web page. How can you be sure? Use the right-hand mouse button trick I described above to "View Image." When you do this, watch the Address window as it changes from http://www.weatherwatchers.org/blahblah to http://www.weather.com/blahblah. The address change means that you have left my website. This image is owned by weather.com, which is the Weather Channel, and I have no rights to it. I won't go much more into the morality or legality of doing this type of thing here but will reserve that for the "Make Your Own Web" section in case you are wondering about that type of thing. [Note: In Internet Explorer, this checking is much harder to do (which is why I don't use MSIE much). You will need to right-mouse click and choose "Image Properties" then compare the address that shows up in that window with the address.] Q: What if you wanted to see what else Weather.com had to offer? I cover this in the "Finding What You Need" section. It is called "Directory Descending." HINT: To find "Directory Descending" in that page, use the CNTRL-F trick I told you about above.; Part II. : More Better Foolin'. There are also more technological ways to fool the user with text instead of images... take this page as an example. Again, it should open in its own new window. Look at the address. This is still at the CASI site, www.weatherwatchers.org. And there is a tremendous list of weather sites which I claim to have compiled. Should you pat me on the back for a job well done? No! In fact I have stolen the entire list from Mike's WeatherNet site. But I didn't have to expend any effort to do this because the information is still on his site. How did I do this? A more technological form of fooling the 'newbie' user can be accomplished by using Frames. There is a frameset document which directs your browser to display first my document at the top then, remotely, bring in Mike's weather list below it. Notice how his list has a second scroll bar which is independent of the whole window. This indicates that it is a frame. To check for originality, you can right-click with the mouse again, and pick "Open Frame in New Window." This will open the frame in a new window and you can check the Address area. Notice that the URL is no longer weatherwatchers.org but the WeatherNet site at http://cirrus.sprl.umich.edu/wxnet. Unfortunately, in Microsoft Internet Explorer (up to version 3 anyway) there is no way to check for originality in frames. All of this said, I don't want to make out frames to be a bad technology. There are many valid uses for frames, including framing your own pages. I even frame outside sites in the CASI Weird Weather section so that all information can be on one page, but I make it clear in the top frame that the bottom frames are not mine.

Backwards and Forwards : Where to get Where You Have Gone Before: OK so you went to a great webpage recently and you didn't use the Bookmarks/Favorites to save it. Now what do you do? Well if you remember much about it, you might be able to find it using Search Engines, but they don't have everything and it might take a while. If it was recent enough, it could be in your "GO" menu. Hit "Go" at the top of your browser. Holy sites, Batman! There are the last dozen or so sites that you went to. If it's not in there, and your cache hasn't expired it, look in your History file. In Netscape, hit CNTRL-H. Holy mega sites Batman, there are the last several hundred sites you visited! Double click on any of them to visit them again. (or use CNTRL-F to Find!) (Tip within a Tip - if you don't want a site to appear in your history highlight it then hit the Delete key on your keyboard). One additional trick (which works in the 4.0 versions of the browsers) is to start typing the front end of the web address into the Address window and see if your browser can guess the address. Don't fear it - it's not reading your mind, it is just looking in your History file for matches. Type http://www.weatherw into the Address window right now if you have a 4.0 browser, it should finish it out with http://www.weatherwatchers.org (unless you've been to www.weatherw followed by anything else recently).
Additional Tricks: Too lazy to keep hitting those BACK and FORWARD buttons? Use ALT<-- (hold down ALT while pressing the left arrow key) and ALT-->. Want a quick way to View the Source of a document? Type view-source:address in the Address area of your Netscape browser, where "address" is a valid web address. For example (Netscape only), view-source:www.weatherwatchers.org will show you the HTML 'guts' of the CASI Front Page. Want a quick Javascript command window for command line input? Type javascript: in your Netscape Address area.

With these simple tips, hopefully you are on your way to surfing successfully. If you have any tips for me or questions, you can email me at netnerd@weatherwatchers.org

Safety Tips for Surfing the Internet

2009-08-14T13:56:00.000+07:00

PEOPLE YOUR CHILD MEETS ON THE INTERNET ARE STRANGERS
Remind your child that people she meets on the Internet are strangers. Just as she
should not give out her address, her telephone number, her name, the location of her
school, or any other information to a stranger, she should not give out personal
information to people she meets on the Internet.
TALK WITH YOUR CHILD ABOUT WHAT HE SEES AND DOES ON
THE INTERNET
Encourage your child to talk to you right away about anything on the Internet
that makes him feel uncomfortable.
ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT THE PEOPLE SHE MEETS ON THE
INTERNET
Make sure that your child talks to you directly about anyone she has met on the
Internet who wants to meet her in person.
MEETING “FRIENDS” FROM THE INTERNET IN PERSON REQUIRES
ADULT SUPERVISION
Establish a firm rule that your child may not go to meet someone he met on the
Internet unless a parent or other responsible adult goes with him.
E-MAILING PERSONAL INFORMATION SHOULD BE DONE ONLY WITH
PERMISSION
Explain to your child that it is not safe to e-mail pictures of herself or any other personal
information without first checking with you. Let her know that just as it is
important that you know who her friends are and what she does with her friends, it is
important that she talks with you before beginning an e-mail friendship with a new
person.
HAVE FREQUENT DISCUSSIONS WITH YOUR CHILD ABOUT CONVERSATIONS
AND MESSAGES HE RECEIVES THROUGH THE INTERNET
Encourage your child to talk to you about any messages that are mean or make him
feel uncomfortable. Reassure your child that he is not to blame if he gets a message of
that kind. Urge him to confide in you, reminding him that you are on his team.
SET CLEAR HOUSE RULES ABOUT INTERNET USE
As with all media, set limits on Internet use. Be clear about your rules and expectations,
and let your child know that you want her to enjoy the Internet for the wonderful
resource it is. Emphasize that the guidelines you have set up will enable her to
enjoy the Internet safely.

10 top ten tips

2009-08-14T13:48:00.000+07:00

Surf the Web: Top Ten Tips
Despite the wide availability of high-speed, broadband Internet service, some people still access the Web with a dial-up account. Waiting for media-rich web pages to download can be frustrating. To make Web surfing more satisfying and productive, we offer these tips:

Get a faster connection.

If you still use a dial-up account, it's time to upgrade. Consider getting a high-speed service such as DSL or a cable modem. It may cost a bit more, but it will greatly improve your experience and productivity.

If you have a slow connection, use the Stop button.

When you access a website, what you are actually doing is downloading digital files. You can see how the download is progressing by looking at the status bar located at the bottom of your web browser. If you get tired of waiting, click the Stop button to view the files that have already downloaded. Then you can decide if you want to continue. If you do, click the Reload or Refresh button.

Increase your cache.

Files you download are stored in a cache (pronounced like "cash") on your hard drive. That way when you return to a site, you don't have to download the files again from the server, just access them locally from your cache. After a while though, the cache becomes full. Your web browser automatically deletes old files as you continue to surf the Web. But if you visit many of the same sites regularly, you can speed up access by caching more of them. To do this, increase the size of your cache. 10 MB is optimal.

With Internet Explorer 7.0, click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options. On the General tab, under Browsing history, click Settings. In the Disk space to use text box, type the amount of disk space (in megabytes) that you want to be set aside for temporary storage space, and then click OK twice.

With Firefox 2.0 or later, under the Tools menu, select Options, then click Advanced and then the Network tab. Now type in the amount of cache you want to allocate.

Save keystrokes by using Bookmarks or Favorites.

Web addresses or URLs can be unwieldy. Worse, if you type them wrong, you get an error message. To avoid these problems, save the addresses of sites you want to revisit. For details on how to do this, read the Bookmarks and Favorites article.

Use the Find feature of your web browser.

Once you've accessed a web page, use the Find feature under the Edit menu to quickly locate a particular term that interests you. Don't take the time to scroll through the entire document.

Pick two search engines and learn how they work.

With the vast amount of online content, the biggest difficulty is finding specific information. Although dozens of search engines are available, pick two, then take the time to learn them well. For more on this read Searching the Web. In case you're interested, our top choices are Google and Yahoo!.

Choose your own home page.

If you want to begin surfing by reading a daily newspaper or better yet, Learn the Net, why not start there first? Here's how to select the home page of your choice.

Open a new window or use tabbed browsing.

While you are downloading one web page, you can access another by opening a second browser window. With Internet Explorer 7.0 under the File menu select New Window. With Firefox 2.0 under the File menu select New Window.

Both Internet Explorer 7.0 and Firefox 2.0 have a feature called tabbed browsing. Instead of opening a new window, you just open a new tab with a new window. You can have multiple tabs open at the same time and easily switch between web pages. A word of caution: Although you can open multiple windows or tabs, this will slow down your computer, so don't go overboard. Remember to close the additional windows to free up disk space.

Surf during off-peak hours.

Commuters experience rush hour, when highways bog down with traffic. The same phenomenon happens occasionally on the Internet--although not nearly as often as in the past--usually in the late afternoon and early evening, when people log on to check e-mail, chat and play games. If you want to avoid the slowdown, go online in the morning or late at night, when traffic is lighter.

View sites in text-only mode if you have a slow connection

Sure, web designers spend a great amount of time creating wonderful graphics, but it can take quite a while to download large graphic files. If you only have a dial-up and you want to speed things up, turn off the images in your web browser.

With Internet Explorer 7.0, under the Tools menu, select Internet Options, then click the Advanced tab. Now uncheck Show Pictures.

Thoughtful designers include something called an ALT tag, a written description of the image. If you want to see a particular image, click on the tag with your right mouse button and select View Image. For Mac users, just hold down the mouse button over the graphic.

source : learnthenet

making it useful for people

2009-08-10T13:32:00.000+07:00

Sometimes people seem to make a choice between making their site pretty for search engines or making it useful for people. I am always fascinated when I hear this discussion. In fact, it is interesting to hear someone say "I'm removing my Webring because will get annoyed" or "I'm deleting my links page because god, uh, won't like it", or "search engines don't use meta tags, so I took them all out". These comments all ignore the basic datum about the internet. It's about PEOPLE! The internet is not about some silly, stupid little robots, or some faceless idiotic rules enforced by their creators. The internet is about communication.

Yes, search engines are a part of that communication, as it is one (and only ONE) want of getting people to your site. But there are an infinite number of other ways to get people to your site, from viral marketing to Webrings to link exchanges to contests to newsgroups to whatever else you can think of.

But if your site does not cater to PEOPLE, it will fail. Period.

Yes, it's a good idea to make sure your site is known to the engines and known well. But that is NOT the purpose of the site. The purpose of the site is to communicate. Pure and simple.

--Richard Lowe, Webmaster, Internet Tips And Secrets