May 24, 2007
Finshed
THE END
May 13, 2007
Module 5: Info-Communication Concepts
One of the things that struck me was that the users drive the collaboration and convergence of technology in to the future where it allows us to share information more easily.
Case in point is peer to peer . I dont use it, although know others that have and I tried out a flavour, as in morpheus http://morpheus.com/
Interesting concept of leaching and bandwidth sharing but I felt it unsafe and that it doing more than sharing files or that I'd be in some kind of trouble or danger ... in fact I worked out that it was just using my bandwidth for other nodes while I wasnt using it - I didnt like this and thought about the security aspects. In hindsight, it found most of the stuff I looked for and was sometimes good and sometimes painfully slow.
Other research lead me in to Internet 2 territory which looks like a decent attempt at building an architecture and series of backbones that offer the highest levels of efficiency ... is ground up redevelopment is my summary - definately one to watch.
A recap of all the concepts and I think Ive got the right idea for the essay.
Interesting experience studying again, one that I hope that getting through the unit with all the externel pressures Ive had around new job, car, house, moving etc have made me a stronger and more dedicated academic to study more about the things I thought I knew everything about ... thanks for the experience !
Apr 25, 2007
NEWSFLASH ! NEW JOB !!!
Apr 11, 2007
NET11 - Module 4 - Tools for using the Web
RealPlayer
Cost - Good marketing to get you to download the paid version - I had to look carefully but found a Free version.
Ease of use - After checking the system requirements and finding Vista not supported, I went to my XP machine and used it there. Again marketing played a big part, it was all about getting you to subscribe to content - I un-ticked all the options to save a spam deluge. Quite a bit of setup and config options were considered during installation and careful to not let it 'take over' all my defaulted other applications. Once working and played with it for a while, its smoother and faster playback than Windows Media Player for mpeg and mpgs and also includes alot more scope of features too - I like it - I think I'll keep it as my new default for these ... for a while anyway.
Functionality - Definately offers more functionality than Ive seen in other players.
Utility - Its faster to load and play the files definately - it also downloads files from the net differently using Windows settings which provides a better indication of time to download, not automatically trying to stream it on the fly.
Commonality - Windows Media is the standard because its an included application as part of the operating system installation and updating process but it need not be, just as the European Union has found against Microsoft. I would say that Realplayer is a contender for being a standard but it needs to almost reinvent itself like Google did with search engines.
Copernic
Cost - Various options, used the free one.
Ease of use - Again didnt work on Vista, found it took some time to configure and luckily referred the webct forum which helped.
Functionality - It worked and showed results but I think Google beats it without having to install the agent and results were 'as good'.
Utility - cant say it increases effectiveness
Commonality - it may have its merit with different kinds of users but not a general 'standard'.
Searching the Web
Advanced Internet Users Tutorial - CIESE
www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/
Results 1 - 10 of about 107,000,000 for advanced internet users. (0.12 seconds)
Advanced Internet Users Tutorial - CIESE
Choosing a link below will bring you to a web page that describes a specific procedure or aspect of browsing the internet. This tutorial ultimately directs ...www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/ - 16k - Cached - Similar pages
Advanced Internet Users Tutorial - CIESE - Keyboard Shortcuts
The following are a list of keyboard strokes that are commonly used. Keyboard shortcuts are the same for all versions of both Internet Explorer and Netscape ...www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/shortcut.html - 16k - Cached - Similar pages[ More results from www.k12science.org ]
- Advanced User's Internet Training Resources
VICNET Internet Training - More Advanced Users. Been connected to the Internet for a while? Want to get more out of the services it offers? ...www.vicnet.net.au/training/advance.html - 18k - 12 May 2007 - Cached - Similar pages
Advanced Internet Users, School of Continuing Education ...
Advanced Internet Users. Nearly everyone knows how to use the Internet, but are you an expert? Can you find the number of people currently living in the ...www3.uwm.edu/sce/course.cfm?id=6835 - 13k - Cached - Similar pages
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/global/asiapac/news/2005/pr_09-21.html
Professor Li Xing, deputy director, of the CERNET Network Center said, "With the increase in the number of Internet users and the development of advanced ...newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/global/asiapac/news/2005/pr_09-21.html - 48k - Cached - Similar pages
Copernic returned 42 results
http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/
http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/saveweb.html
http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/usingwindows/internet/tips/advanced/2advanced_list.asp
http://www.softstack.com/advink.html
http://www3.uwm.edu/sce/course.cfm?id=6835
Results from Google were definitely higher in number. Google also gave search results for the individual words – not just the exact phrase. Google seemed to find more interesting and relevant results.
Boolean searching task
The biggest number of hits relating to these key words
> 'advanced+internet+user' - 292M results
Sources relating to skills-based information on these key words.
> 'advanced internet users skills based learning' - 1.15M results
Information coming only from university sources
> 'advanced internet users and site.edu' - 834 results
Organising search information task
1.
URL. http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/
Author : unknown
Institution : Stevens Institute of Technology
Screen from Stevens Institute of Technology : http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/
2.
Launch URL. http://data.webjunction.org/wj/documents/898.pdf
From here : http://webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=898
Author : Nancy Riesgraf
Institution : Hibbing Public Library
Summary : The PDF link is a community technology awareness program developed by the Library as a course outline.
3.
URL. http://www.vicnet.net.au/training/advance.html
Author : Unknown
Institution : Vicnet, a division of the State Library of Victoria
Summary :
Screenshot of webpage taken from : http://www.vicnet.net.au/training/advance.html
Evaluating the Web
I have chosen the VICNET link http://www.vicnet.net.au/training/advance.html because of its content and that the publisher is a trusted source of information - the State Library of Victoria. Its relevent to Internet training and covers alot of the course content that we have learnt as part of Net 11. The main purpose is to teach and inform the community about the internet and advanced use - extending the experience of the users. It does well to inform the audience of further uses of the internet, what they stand for and how to apply them and why they are there.
The snapshot of the site would be most helpful in future as its clear and identifies the summary of content. The description is also very appealing and concise "Been connected to the Internet for a while? Want to get more out of the services it offers?Here's a select list of the many excellent Web-based courses you can work through at your own pace."
NET11 - Module 3 - FTP
http://www.student.curtin.edu.au/~13777766
Apr 10, 2007
NET11 - Module 3 - Volcano
Instructions on opening a web page were not wide ranging enough to cater to other browsers and the setup of having 2 blank pages open, that wasnt needed.
Apr 9, 2007
NET11 - Module 3 - WWW Standards
1.Chunking - this means breaking down the information in to small blocks where the concepts are clear, concise and set out in a format that most understand in sequence. This caters to the way that people read information akin to the F sequence.
2.Linking - its essential that the links to further information do actually contain information that is relevant to the topic and that do provide additional information that stays 'on topic' and doesnt introduce other potential competing theories.
3.Layout - most people fall in to 1 of 4 categories in the 4mat model. This model caters to the 4 different ways that people like to receive, perceive and process information. All of these audiences must be considered. Additional reading http://flexways.flexiblelearning.net.au/learning/4mat.asp
4.Content - in order to keep the audience interested, its essential to present your most relevant and interesting information at the beginning of the article.
5.Consistency - navigation is critical to the user experience of getting the information they need including page and home links.
Legal issues
Have you used images or words on your web page or website that contravene copyright laws?
No - I'm aware of copyright laws in my job.
Would you be in breach of copyright if you put the Curtin logo at the top of your web page for an assignment?
Yes, without permission you would be - you must specificly ask the marketing in a formal request. Outside agencies include student use too - so no way unless its otherised.
FTP
Apr 8, 2007
NET11 - Module 3 - HTML tags
NET11 - Module 2 - Chat
No problems with installing, but pulled my hair out trying to find the icq number quoted ... it just wasnt there. After reading the dicussion forum I found the correct number and can report the answers to the task as :
1. The advanced netstudies icq # is 337293557.
2.Authorization seemed to be given automatically
3. The about section contains the following text
'This is the icq identity I use just for my advanded netstudies students'
ICQ has changed quite a bit, I was impressed but glad to get this one finished because on the incorrect information and finally uninstalled it after having a chat with one of the students.
I looked at the IRC additional task and have to conclude that my favourite is MSN. It integrates better in to Windows and is a standard app really with good documentation. Since starting this course Ive made a few conversations with students and is really easy to use and user friendly, even my folks are now using it and we're having chats all the time.
Mar 29, 2007
NET11 - Module 2 - Newsgroups
It was interesting to see some newsgroups were after a fee to join.
I replied to my chosen newgroup, about my motocrosser http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/CR250/
and saw my message with the below headers :
From mattymagic01 Mon Mar 26 05:21:56 2007Return-Path: <sentto-2151899-1267-1174911725-mattymagic01=yahoo.com.au@returns.groups.yahoo.com>Authentication-Results: mta113.mail.re4.yahoo.com from=yahoogroups.com; domainkeys=fail (bad sig)Received: from 66.94.237.30 (HELO n28b.bullet.scd.yahoo.com) (66.94.237.30) by mta113.mail.re4.yahoo.com with SMTP; Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:29:49 -0700Comment: DomainKeys? See http://antispam.yahoo.com/domainkeysDomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=lima; d=yahoogroups.com; b=jPMS/IAJtrBC9nO5o0K9jU3Wpe7UHwGpT/pTISCFm6ritmtv/vhFy9MbN/6t8pgo2MJFEjPwJm73hcx5EE4/qAwV57LYtzqAjVYuRGe/1d9kMWbc/b3PWM15cSlZUpA9;Received: from [66.218.69.4] by n28.bullet.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 26 Mar 2007 12:22:08 -0000Received: from [66.218.67.108] by t4.bullet.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 26 Mar 2007 12:22:08 -0000Received: (qmail 40342 invoked from network); 26 Mar 2007 12:22:04 -0000Received: from unknown (66.218.66.70) by m44.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 26 Mar 2007 12:22:04 -0000Received: from unknown (HELO n15c.bullet.sp1.yahoo.com) (69.147.64.120) by mta12.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 26 Mar 2007 12:22:04 -0000Received: from [216.252.122.217] by n15.bullet.sp1.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 26 Mar 2007 12:21:58 -0000Received: from [66.218.69.1] by t2.bullet.sp1.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 26 Mar 2007 12:21:57 -0000Received: from [66.218.66.81] by t1.bullet.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 26 Mar 2007 12:21:57 -0000To: CR250@yahoogroups.comMessage-ID: <eu8dt4+uh3d@eGroups.com>In-Reply-To: <ehok78+af6s@eGroups.com>User-Agent: eGroups-EW/0.82From: "mattymagic01" <mattymagic01@yahoo.com.au>Sender: CR250@yahoogroups.comMIME-Version: 1.0Mailing-List: list CR250@yahoogroups.com; contact CR250-owner@yahoogroups.comDelivered-To: mailing list CR250@yahoogroups.comList-Id:
In this message :
From: mattymagic01
Yo dunno,Didnt forget mate - 96 CR 250 Pics now up in Photo's section.As for the oil, I changed mine last time after 4 rides (8 hrs) - was still 'as new' - might make it every 10-12 hours next time.Matty--- In mailto:CR250%40yahoogroups.com, "dunno"
Mar 26, 2007
NET11 - Module 2 - Lists
What are the pros and cons of email lists versus discussion boards?
Email List Pro's
public many-to-many conversations
all list members can see interchange
connect people with shared interests
Email List Cons
lists and the reply option don't work well together
you need to use your instincts for what kind of reply is required
Lists and attachments, formatting etc also don't mix well.
Discussion Board Pro's
Good collaboration and information source
??????????????
Discussion Board Cons
Topic can get diluted and go off on tangents
??????????????TBC
Are there certain kinds of communication or purposes more suited to one than the other?
????????????????????????
I got a bit stuck here as there wasnt enough material on discussion forums. I researched some of the following sites :
I googled 'discussion board cons' and all kinds of variations. Most results launched directly in the a forum or discussion.
The Webct forum shows that someone has read a post of mine and is showing the group their newfound knowledge ... funny using define: in Google.
Mar 20, 2007
NET11 - Module 2 Tasks - Email
Ive been finding it hard to keep up with the forum and all those posts - I can honestly say there are some people with nothing better to do than post ! Keep it real people, no need for the 'ok thanks' and 'here's my story' or 'arent I smart' - I'm a very direct person, keep it relevant to all and get the point fast; if there's no point, dont waste my time ! I suppose thats why I do sales - Ive been trained to hunt relevence and facts. Sorry, I'll frame that even more - I'm not going to spend as much time getting in to every discussion, I'll skim more and spend less time on it unless I need to research a topic more.
Anyhow, email is something I just cant live without - now I think of it, I run 9 email addresses constantly !
2 work email addresses
1 motocross news group email address
2 yahoo emails - 1 for IT news and 1 for technology news
1 hotmail - for absolute rubbish and competitions
1 gmail for my Curtin studies
1 home email and bills
1 home email for my kids
Is that excessive - in my opinion - NO.
I can keep them all seperated and it helps me keep them organised and relevant to the topic at hand! It works for me.
I use an application called Poptray http://www.poptray.org/ I let the discussion board know about it as it might save them some time too !
Email Tasks
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?
Many things !
In basic format we can identify :
The Sender (or username) that sent the message
The format in which the sender structures the username (ie first initial dot surname) - this could also help you identify the usernames actual name
The Generic Top Level domain type ie .biz, .com ... interesting reading here http://www.iana.org/gtld/gtld.htm
The time that the user sent the message
The Subject
The message
The username contact details, phone number
The username company privacy policy (if included)
By viewing the headers via View 'Headers' on the message toolbar., you can also find out alot more interesting details - referring picture below.
This message identifies
The local IP address of the machine the username used to send the message
The smtp server address and ip address
The return path
The mx record (mail exchange http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/support/hostreg/faq.html#MX)
The content type, the character set used, the mail server software used (Exchange 6.5) and much more if you like !
Quiz :Which of the following elements must be included in an email address? choose oneUsername (or account name)DomainBoth of the above
Correct answer: [NOTE: Score is not recorded]E-mail addresses always include the username (or account) as well as the domain name of the computer(s) that provide mail services.
2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the 'cc', 'bcc' and 'reply all functions of email?
Several cases :
cc - (carbon copy) when you want to send a copy of your message to someone else.
bcc - (blind carbon copy) - 2 forms of use - when w message is sent without other people knowing about it or secondly when a large audience is being sent a message it helps protect the privacy of the userma,es.
Reply all - would be used when you are sending a reply to all of the people that the message was originally sent to.
3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?
Firstly, communicate about your computer system and seek information from them to assist in the opening of the attachment.
You must understand that a message attachment is encoded and that not all recipients can take delivery of the encoded attachment. Also to be understood is that the format of the attachment itself may cause problems and that some applications cannot read the files saved in that later version. You should try and use 'rich text' or as a last resort, you could use a text file with the information copied in to it.
4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?
One of the primary purposes of sorting emails with filters and rules is to aid in the retrieval of the information. My doing this, it makes it more effective to categorise the information and know where and how it can be retrieved.
In my poptray application I have the messages in each email address in a different colour. This helps me quickly relate which email and what type of email the email is. For instance my motocross emails always come in to the poptray inbox as red. The IT news stories are in blue. My personal emails are in brown.
I block spam senders in hotmail using their spam filter and on my wifes PC - I have her using spam assasin whcih identifies blocked senders and deletes their messages before any chance to open them.
I also use an autoreply rule when I am out of the office for the day - this informs my customers, both internal and external of my whereabouts and how to contact me.
5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?
Example - my most complex email account - my work.
At work, I have every email that I have sent and received for the last 7 years !
I have it categorised in the following way :
Each year I have a sent items folder as in 'sent 2007' - everything sent, goes in this folder as soon as my exchange box total reaches 45MB.
Replies from customers go in to 'customers 2007' folder.
Important internal communications are either deleted or filed under the sender or topic name in a personal folder. Sometimes similar topics are grouped. For instance - all messages relating to a certain version of software go in to a folder under its version number. There is much more to this but this works for me and is the general drift of it all.
Mar 8, 2007
NET11 - Module 1 Task - Internet Tools
Traceroute is a way of tracing hops or computers between you and the networked computer you are trying to reach.
Task
Next find a site that provides the common internet tools (traceroute, ping) some examples include http://webct.curtin.edu.au/SCRIPT/305033_a/scripts/student/button_bar/305033_a/mod1t.html?STATIC+1590035366# or http://webct.curtin.edu.au/SCRIPT/305033_a/scripts/student/button_bar/305033_a/mod1t.html?STATIC+1590035366#
Using the traceroute tool, answer the following questions:
Traceroute from the chosen site to curtin.edu.au - cut and paste the entire list of 'hops' from there to Curtin. > see below
How many ‘hops’ are there? 19
what is the average time in milliseconds from the tools site to the curtin server?
It seems there was 19 hops and an average of 246 ms.
Further Exploration
A-ToolBar 3.1
4C Software · www.metaeureka.com
INSTALLING FREEWARE - Risks
I've been burnt so many times installing stuff on my pc that trashes it.The first thing I always do is create a restore point in case it installs something I dont like, possibly spyware, some kind of deep rooted unremovable registry stuff or worse still, has an incomplete installer. I then visit the vendor website and walk through a few screeenshots and if I'm still not sure about what it does, I'll download the installation guide or the product manual. I know this sounds paranoid - but all it takes is one click and before you know it, there could be a whole heap of consequences - loosing data, viruses, spyware, malware, identity theft, fraud etc etc etc - I avoid it.
A toolbar, oh no, theyre usually pretty dodgey kind of apps but doesnt look too bad, actually looks quite useful (love all those buttons and icons - what do they mean!) - but it doesnt say it supports VISTA and secondly going to the parent site no information about the product or anything else.
This will just have to be what we call in the software industry a 'suck and see' exercise. Here goes ...
This exercise didnt really need to install the toolbar and it was one those dodgey programs that left crap in the registry including startup and registry items - its taken me a good while to hunt them all out. I may have thought the course preparer may have researched these apps more in this regard - but on a another note - it shows this application isnt very well packaged if they couldnt get this right ... some may even call it sloppy. I could have just used a DOS prompt - maybe I'll read ahead in the whole question next time. The toolbar seems interesting though - particularly the sniffer - I think I'll keep it for a while and check it out when I get a moment. (take 2 - half the stuff just doesnt work!).
THE RESULTS
The traceroute showed the following, which was a bit of a surprise, as it hopped the same amount of times (19) but the average time was faster - I blanked out the first line to hode the identity of my home network !

Learning resources :
Network-tools.com
A toolbar from Eureka
Command prompt
Course notes
NET11 - Module 1 Task - File Transer Protocol (FTP)
Task issue 1
Every time you have to install an application to Vista - you think, is that application going to work. It casts more doubt in your mind than good. I remember Ann Belle mentioning a Vista client in the discussion forums - so I used it instead, Simple FTP Client. Ive used WS FTP before to place product patches/Flex licencing managers where customers could download them. The latest version also isnt free. Simple FTP is REALLY SIMPLE.
Seem to get here easily, but having troubles navigating.
Issue 2 - cant find the readme! Is it me or is it the connection or the application. Anyhow try again ok good, seeing more, oh its hung again, nothing happening, restart, more entries, here we are, found the right folder, ok downloaded it locally, snip it!
Note - readme now on my pc.
The missing word is CAPITALIZATION !
Mar 5, 2007
NET11 - Module 1 Task - Telnet
Definition : Telnet is a protocol used to logon to a remote computer. The method provides a remote console allowing resident commands to be implemented.
I had to use this about 6 months ago when I was trying to get some client side, voip RTP data for my voip provider. I started using voip to save money on our phone bill as we were running at about $200 a month and I noticed many short calls a day to my wife's parents STD number. The problem with the voip was that it was glitchy so I complained. The tech guy got me to Telnet in to my modem to capture some TTL numbers - this gave him enough info to agree with what I was complaining about so hence he re-routed me to a closer server. This improved my glitchy calls and Ive now lowered the monthly phone bill to $75 !
I can see the value that Telnet provides as it allowed us to remotely capture the information for the remote device.
Finding Telnet on this Vista thing - ok found it, but what were the commands again. Ok use ? - open - nup, cant get it to work. Putty is heaps better anyway, I asked the tech guys last week what they use http://putty.shortcircuit.net.au/download.html.
Download and install away - great, just a standalone app, no installer.
Opening Putty and typing the address for the Deaking libray : library.deakin.edu.au.
Doing the search for Bennahum produces 2 results.
I sent the results to my personal email because we cant receive external emails through our student accounts.
You searched for the AUTHOR: bennahum
2 AUTHORS found, with 2 entries; AUTHORS 1-2 are:
1 Bennahum David A 1936 ................................. 1 entry
2 Bennahum Ninotchka .................................... 1 entry
Extras : I went to the towel.blinkenlights.nl address - STAR WARS, thats alot of work & patience and I tested out the dialogue - its spot on !
Telnet seems to be an industry standard to remotely connect to certain interfaces. Today, it appears clunky but does the job. I like the updated clients, as they automate the process of applying commands and environmental variables, are easier to use and often include additional connection types.
NET11 - Introduction
My first online course, NET11 and what a nice experience.
Ive spent the last week or so going through the process of :
- Orientation and familiarising myself with the online tools
- Introducing myself to the group
- Reading through the course content, curriculum and notes
- Trying to keep up with the discussion board (in 3 days there was over 150 messages ... wont leave it that long from now on!)
- Seeing if I can help anyone with my basic skills
- Setting up this blog / deciding what format use
- Buying a new monitor for study purposes of course !
- Updating my Microsoft Office
- Installing/ configuring and playing with MSN messenger
Wikipedia is a very UNreliable (originally I had this as reliable but the postings to the board made me revisit this!) source of information, I refer to it alot because its easy to understand, lays out the information in a consistent and aligned format. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page .
My First issue - The information source.
Doing Google searching produces heaps of potential answers & results, but alot of the results are based on sometimes what I call 'misinformed opinion'. Unfortunately we rely upon and believe other peoples opinions on the web, which is their interpretation of the actual fact, and not the actual fact itself ... get what I mean !
Here I raise my first issue with the Internet - the information source - do we believe it or not and is it the information the stuff we really want ? (Ed note - refer module 4)
I'll give you an example :
Go to wiki and type in router or follow this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Router - a nice, clear explanation of what it is.
Now go to http://www.google.com.au/ and type in Router. The first entry I see today is www.ozcableguy.com/routers.html - this isn't what we want! With Google searching you have to be quite a bit more specific on what you want to search for.When the results are presented, you have to question the source and the content. I use the format in Google of 'define:router' - this gives me quite a few definitions from what looks like more reliable sources than 'ozcableguy' !
Anyhow, reading the content and Wiki'ing away at the titles to get the full understanding and setting a few bookmarks, I got sidetracked here for a few hours in computerworld, learning about a wireless networking concept and yep, the latest mobile phones !
Nothing here really I don't understand, I practice alot of this stuff daily in my job, to friends, experimenting and at a course I did 8 years ago at Interim covered these topics so its been a great refresher to rid myself of 'misinformed opinion'.
Observations
Like what I'm doing so far - will step up the pace!