 
Internet Tutorials
|  | Major Training Exercise 5 |
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Week 1
Tutorial 1
Tutorial 2
Tutorial 3
Tutorial 4
Week 2
Tutorial 6
Week 3
Tutorial 7
Week 4
Tutorial 8
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Downloading Software
Background Information
WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DOWNLOAD? The Internet is an amazing international multimedia resource. After you've explored the online world at its basic level for a while, you'll want to enhance your computer's capacity to take advantage of all the Internet has to offer. You may wish to view movies, play interactive games or download the latest virus protection software (this is an essential skill). You may wish to add plugins to your browser, to make it capable of performing extra functions. For instance, there is a plugin that allows you to view macromedia animations on particularly sophisticated web pages. Without the plugin, you simply can't see these graphics in the way intended by the web page designer. Another plugin is 'real audio'.
WHAT'S THE GOLDEN RULE? NEVER download anything from the Internet without recently updated virus protection.
WHAT CAN YOU DOWNLOAD? You'll need some basic knowledge about your computer before you proceed to the downloading stage of Internet use. First, you must know the specifications of your computer. Is it a Mac (Macintosh) or is it a PC (Personal Computer)? If it's a PC, you'll need to know what operating system it is using (e.g., Windows 95, Windows NT or Windows 3.1 are some possibilities). You'll also need to know about your computer's processor - is it a Pentium 3 or a 486 (there are many, many options here)? You'll also need to know the amount of memory your computer has (this can be upgraded by purchasing and installing more memory, if this is a problem).
The specifications of your computer will limit the type of programs it can run, or run with reasonable speed, and therefore the type of software it's worth downloading. There's no point downloading software that your computer simply can't support, or runs so slowly it drives you crazy.
A common type of download is a patch. A patch is well described, in that it's a piece of software that fixes, i.e., patches up, a known problem or glitch in an existing software program.
Another common download you may need to make is a driver update. A driver is a piece of software that enables a peripheral device (e.g, a modem, scanner or printer) to communicate with your computer. Driver software is located on your computer. At times, you may need to update or renew your drivers, such as when you update your operating system or replace drivers lost due to hardware crashes, etc.
You can also download shareware and freeware, or download software that you purchase over the Internet.
GET ORGANISED. Get organised before you begin. Create a separate downloading directory as a first step. This way, you won't get the newly downloaded files mixed up with other programs or files on your system. You will see the benefit of this when you download your first compressed file (these explode into lots of separate smaller files once they are decompressed, creating an obvious file management problem if they're all mixed up with your other material.
DOWNLOADING PLUGINS AND HELPER APPLICATIONS. Plugins and player/helper applications are two types of add-on programs that enhance the software already on your computer, usually so that you can take advantage of multimedia formats on the Internet. The difference between plugins and player/helpers is that the first operates within your web browser (like a shockwave movie player) and the second operates outside the web browser (like real audio and real video).
As web browsers become more sophisticated, they are able to cater better for the multimedia functions available on some web pages. However, occasionally you do still get files which simply don't work at all unless you have, or add, special plugins or helper applications.
Usually you will be presented with a link, which you should click. You will then be told it will take a few minutes to download the extra software you need. Often your browser will also direct you to a web page of the program or software you need to get, and you just follow the links until you get to a download option. You then click on download and save the file onto your computer.
If you are using Netscape, you can check that you have installed the plugin by clicking on the Help button and then clicking on 'About Plugins". In order to see helper applications on Netscape, click on 'Options', 'General Preferences' and then 'Helpers'.
WARNING! Only download BIOS upgrades for modems, motherboards, etc., if you are 100% sure of what you are doing. If you make a mistake on this type of download, your motherboard or modem may become inoperable.
USING A DOWNLOADED FILE. What you can do straight away with a newly downloaded file depends on the type of file it is, and its file extension. Some files are so big they have been compressed and so must be decompressed in order to be usable.
SOME WEB SITES TO GO TO GET FILES TO DOWNLOAD. Here are some useful sites. All of these contain software which you can download at no cost. Some of these sites also offer shareware (see earlier reference to 'shareware') and some offer freeware (see earlier reference to 'freeware'). Some sites simply provided by hardware and software manufacturers to upgrade their products. Some of the site also contain hyperlinks to other sites where you can purchase useful software, using your credit card.
www.winfiles.com/
This is one of the best web sites for obtaining driver updates.
www.winzip.com/
This is a web site where you can download the WinZip compression/decompression utility. This is the most popular software of this type for PC users.
www.neoworx.com
This is a web site where you can download NeoTrace, a great utility which shows how your Internet search request travels around the world.
www.mcafee.com
This is a web site where you can update McAfee virus protection (you should do this at least every two months).
www.adobe.com
This is the web site where you can download an update to the Adobe Acrobat Reader. This viewing software is necessary if you want to read PDF files.
www.microsoft.com
This is the official Microsoft site. Here you can download patches and updates to Microsoft software products. Have you updated your Microsoft software to make it Y2K compliant? Here's where you can obtain the necessary Y2K patches. This is also where you need to go to update your Microsoft Internet browser (if that's what you're using).
www.netscape.com
This is the Netscape web site. Click on the 'Download' icon to update your Netscape browser to the latest version or to obtain any or all of the 200 plugins available to Netscape browser users.
www.sybergen.com
At this web site you can download, among other programs, a trial version of Sybergate. This is a software program that enables you to share one Internet connection over your entire computer network (you could do this at home if you have several computers and they are networked).
Antivirus
Software available at this web site will enable you to update your Norton antivirus software, if that what you are using.
www.mirc.com
This web site is where you can download Internet Relay Chat (IRC) software, which will enable you to 'chat' to people all over the world, via the Internet.
web.icq.com
This web site is where you can download the ICQ (I Seek You) software which will enable you to chat to identified friends or strangers online. According to the onsite description, it will enable you to 'chat, send message, files and URLs, play games or just hang out with your fellow Netters while surfing the 'Net'.
www.vocaltec.com
Here you can purchase VocalTec's Internet Phone, which is software for Internet telephony. The latest version of this software is suitable for Macs and PCs and can be purchased for $US99. With an Internet phone, you are able to phone someone overseas, even if they have a regular phone. This is done by connecting to a 'phone gateway'. One interesting Internet project is Free World Dial-Up which allows people to make Internet phone calls using existing phone networks.
www.speakfreely.org
This is where you can access the software, Speak Freely, which enables you to talk over the Internet. Although it may be slower than the regular telephone, Speak Freely is completely free.
Further information on downloading can be obtained from the SOFWeb site at www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/internet/downld.htm
Vocabulary
ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM. This is software which is installed to continually monitor a computer for new incoming viruses. Antivirus programs notify you, and usually destroy, the offending viruses before any damage is done. They must be updated frequently (every two months at the absolute minimum), as new viruses are invented daily. Overlook this at your peril!
BANDWIDTH. This is a measure of the speed at which data can be transmitted to, or from, your computer.
COMPRESSED FILES. Compressing files is a way of storing many files into one smaller manageable file, which is quicker to download. 'Zip files' and 'exe files' are names for the compressed files used by PC users.
DOWNLOAD. This is the process of moving digital files from one computer to another. You can download email from a mail server; you can download software and other files from an Internet site.
FREEWARE. This is software that can be downloaded at no cost. Generally, the only condition attached to the download is that you can't re-sell, re-label or alter the software in any way. Freeware authors generally retain all rights to the software programs they have created.
FTP. File Transfer Protocol is a system by which files can be sent from one computer to another.
PDF. This stands for Portable Document Format. PDF is a file standard used by the software, Adobe Acrobat, to display any type of document, on any computer. In order to view PDF files you must first download a PDF 'reader'. PDF has been used in the early 'transition' days of the Internet to post traditional 'paper-look-alike' documents onto the Internet. The use of PDF is based on the presumption that readers will not screen read (or indeed, be able to), and will necessarily want/need to print out, or look at, Internet files in a traditional paper format. The justification generally used for the use of PDF is that the person who posts the file can be absolutely guaranteed that the format sent is identical to the format received. (Non-PDF files (e.g., HTML files) are received slightly differently from recipient to recipient, depending on the settings and capacity of their respective web browsers - this makes them generally unsuitable for fill-out forms which must eventually be printed out on paper of a particular size, e.g., A4).
PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE. This is software that can be downloaded for nothing. You are generally (but not always) allowed to copy it, re-label it, or do virtually anything you like with it.
SHAREWARE. This is generally inexpensive software you are able to download on trial, usually for 30 days. If you decide to keep it, then you're honour bound to pay the author a shareware fee, if this is requested.
Training Course Revision
Further detailed information on the Internet and its use can be found on the Microsoft site at
www.microsoft.com/insider/internet/default.htm
'Internet Training Course for Principals'. APAPDC 2000 (c) Copyright. Course design by Debra Brydon and John Brydon, CyberText. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the APAPDC.
- Although the use of Adobe Acrobat is a remnant of the Paper Age, when everything on screen had be printed out on paper, many sites still include files which can't be read at all unless you have an Acrobat Reader. If you don't have this software at all, or if your version of it is older than Acrobat 4, then download and install version 4 from the Adobe site.
- Download and install Winzip. If you already have this installed, check that you have the latest version (version 7).
- Update your virus protection. Download and install the latest 'dat' (data files) for the virus protection you are already using.
- If you haven't done so already, install RealPlayer so you can hear the news broadcasts by Ananova.
- Download one other piece of software of your choice. Write down why you chose this one and note down any problems you encountered during the downloading process.
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