 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group A Net beginner's tale Ron Wilby |
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Hi there, everybody. Something new for you this month! A while back, in the dead of night when most of you were sleeping (or should have been), the great idea came. The Beginner's Tale, my first contribution to PC Update, was extremely popular (it ran about two years). Do something similar about the Internet, Ron, the voice whispered. Maybe you can make a series (what, another one?) Maybe you can learn something, Ron! Maybe you can even use the Net. Endless exciting possibilities.
Ron at the starting gate (What, Bill again?)
How to get started? Get a book, of course. Prompted, and warned, by Ash's review (PC Update, April 95), I phoned through my order. Next day I was the proud owner of "The Australian Internet Book - Your Information Highway Toolkit." This is the work of prominent Australian journos Geoff Ebbs and Jeremy Horey, and is Australia's first book for Internet beginners. Being an Australian book is very important, it presents the Net from our perspective. As Ash wrote, "most authors appear to assume that readers live in their (the authors') country. This book is no different, which achieves the desired result for us." The popular talk about the "Information Superhighway" you can discount. We don't have it yet by a long way (sorry Bill). But what we do have, the Internet, is a step along the way. It contains all the basic ideas of the faster and much more powerful plans people are presently touting.
What is the Internet?
Well I didn't even know the answer to that, so dived gleefully into the book. To save space, I'm going to call the book AIB from now on. The answer (from AIB) is that the Internet is a network of millions of computers. These are linked, to exchange messages, files, video and sound. When I'm connected, I can sit in my office in suburban Melbourne and use (other people's) computers in Los Angeles or Paris or Canberra. It's often described as a network of networks, but the network boundaries are invisible to you when you're "surfing the Net."
Getting on
It doesn't come to your door! You have to make contact through your modem. You don't have one? Well, that's essential, so if you're not modem-literate, go off and buy one or forget the Internet. Buy at the top end of the available speed range. 14,400 bps (known as fourteen four) or 28,800 bps (twenty-eight eight) are the ones to look at. Mine's fourteen four, Ash told me that would be OK for a year or two.
With your computer you can explore the Internet. Your phone line and your modem (and some software on disk) bring the Net to your door. First, you need a Service Provider, through which you can connect to another computer which is connected to the Internet full-time. This other computer looks after you when you're not connected, like when you're using your computer to write letters or play games or whatever.
Service providers
Since you're most likely a member of Melb PC, contact the office. A form to fill in (what, another one), from the March issue of PC Update, and some kind of money, will start you off. There are lots of other providers, AIB tells you about some of them and the book includes the required software. Follow the instructions and you'll have an Internet account in minutes. Beware of the costs involved, they can be pretty steep. Melb PC is very good value here.
What have I learned?
A hell of a lot, and as usual I still don't know anything. First you need to set up your connection with the software, usually supplied as part of the deal. I'm downloading mine from our own BBS (Bulletin Board System - you need a modem). Your software allows you to move around the Net. It's the window through which you look and it's got the controls for navigation.
Browsing
You need Windows for the Net. You can manage very well with just two tools from the toolkit your software (and AIB) gives you. These are a World Wide Web Browser and an electronic mail package for e-mail. When browsing, if you find something interesting, you can transfer it to your computer. You do this using FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
The book (AIB) tells me about many other exciting things, usually with strange names like Gopher, Archie and Telnet.
SLIP and PPP
These are protocols. What's a Protocol? It's a set of rules for making a connection between modems (or between computers). If everybody sticks to the rules, the parts can work comfortably together. All the data sent via the Internet is stored in packets carrying the address of the computer to which you want to send that data or of course your return address.
SLIP is Serial Line Internet Protocol. It's an older standard used to connect you to the Net. In many ways, SLIP is not as good as the more modern PPP, but it works.
PPP stands for Point to Point Protocol and is used to carry multiple protocols over a single link. It's more secure, more stable and faster than SLIP. There's lots and lots more to learn here, but this is a beginner's tale. What I'm telling you is what actually happened to the faltering footsteps of this beginner. Those footsteps have so far only led me through the book, actual connection to the Net will come next.
Bye till next month.
Reprinted from the June 1995 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
