Bootup

Get the most from your Internet connection.

If you are a beginner to the Internet, or just want to get further information on what it's all about, take a look at the Internet Guide, or The Beginners Guide to the Internet. Both are good starting points for learning the basis of Internet survival.

It's worth taking the time to read The World Wide Web FAQ, which is full of many frequently asked questions and answers.

The Extended Guide to the Internet is another comprehensive, but slightly more technical, guide to the many different aspects of the Internet.

SEARCH
One of the first things you need to do is find yourself a favoured 'Search Engine' - a site that catalogues other web sites allowing you to search them by entering a name or short phrase. Unfortunately, you'll more often than not be inundated with information and a listing with over 100,000 sites can be a tad overwhelming!

The secret to success is to be a little more specific in what you're searching for. Imagine what other words may have been used by the author on their site; and use this to narrow down the search.

The best search site (in our opinion) is google. It's extremely easy to use, and also includes searches against newsgroups, images and a number of ever-increasing other areas. The Cybervillage 'Super Search' is another alternative.

EMAIL
One of the most important aspects of having a Internet connection is without doubt being able to use email. Here is a beginners guide to effective email.

Anonymous email? If you've ever wanted to send email to someone without them knowing who you are then look here.

Email address codes. If you've ever wanted to know where that email from '[email protected]' came from then look here.

Looking for someone or perhaps you want to see how many people have the same name as yourself? Try using Whowhere.

USENET
USENET or Newsgroups as they're more commoningly known are a valuable source of information and advice on virtually any subject on or off this planet! Basically they consist of millions of people writing articles which are sent out from your computer like email but each article is made public.

Each article is literally copied in its thousands to the far corners of the World in seconds and can be read by anyone. The article remains for about a week or two and then it is deleted forever. But there are a few web sites that take a copy of each article and store it for up to 3 years to allow anyone to refer to it if they so wish.

To make some sense of all these articles they are sorted into 'groups' and you're only suppose to write about a subject related to that group. You'll not be surprised that there are over 40,000 groups and this number grows virtually every day!

Now with over 40,000 groups talking daily about every subject under the Sun, this makes it probably the most important feature of the Internet after email. But it's surprising how many people don't realise just how valuable this resource can be to them!

You can ask about virtually any subject and get a reply back within minutes from a real person who may be willing to help you from across the other side of the Planet. That is pretty amazing when you think about it...

Or if you think someone must have came across the same subject then you can do a search on that subject and find out what other people have said. Be it for Work or for Pleasure you can ask the 'Planet' for advice!

Basically to read Newsgroups the easy way you can use a Newsgroup program on your computer or via a web site if you don't have one of these. Speak to your Internet Provider or Internet software seller to see if they can supply you with the software to do this.

As a stop-gap you can use a web site, but it's slower and you have to be online all the time to read the articles.

The best web based Newsgroup reader is at Google Groups.

Why not give it a try and try to find the recipe for Haggis....

As you're writing a public message which will be seem by many thousands of people. It's a good idea to be familiar with what makes a good message and what is considered a bad message before you write it.

See the following links for a few starting pointers.

101 ways to be obnoxious on Newsgroups. What not to do in a Newsgroup message!

An explanation of what Newsgroups are and how to participate!

ACORN / RISC OS NEWSGROUPS