A: Losing your password to a Web site, a piece of software or -- God forbid -- your Internet access provider, is like losing the key to your house -- nothing makes you feel more helpless. Before we delve into the specifics of MSIE, here's some software that can help you avoid 'password panic' by keeping track of your passwords.
I suggest you grab ZD Net's indispensable Password Pro. (Shameless plug!) This freeware is one of those must-have utilities that helps you keep track of the avalanche of user names and passwords you now need to get around the Net. Password Pro will even create random password replacements for you. Check it out and you'll never need a Post-It or long-term memory again. Password Pro is free when you register with ZDNet
Now, to your specific problem. Thankfully, there is a solution, albeit an arcane one. Let me lay this out for you step by step (thanks to Paul Balle, product manager of the applications and Internet client groups at Microsoft, for help with this answer).
If you're running MSIE, quit out of the program (you can either print out these instructions or view them through Netscape).
Click the "Start" button on the taskbar, then select "Run" from the menu that pops up. Type in the word "regedit" (without the quotation marks) in the box and click "OK." The "Registry Editor" (otherwise known as RegEdit) will appear.
Using the left-hand window of RegEdit, navigate to the following directory:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Ratings</tt><p>
In the right-hand box, you should see a file called "key." Delete it (either by clicking on it and hitting the Delete key, or by right-clicking it and selecting "delete").
Start MSIE. The program will probably tell you that it could not load your home page because it does not have a rating. Push "cancel" if this happens. Do not be alarmed.
Under the "View" menu, select "Options." When the Options window comes up, click the "Security" tab.
Click the "Disable Ratings" button. MSIE will prompt you to create a new supervisor password (make sure you write this one down in a safe place) and disable the Content Advisor for you.
TIP: If you want, you can make your password a blank by clicking "OK"
without typing anything when you're prompted for a password. However, you
will still have to remember that your password is a blank.
Illegal operations
Q: I seem to perform a lot of "illegal" operations online, and
they shut me down. What's up with this, and how do I make it go away?
A: One of the most annoying -- and scary -- error messages, "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down" is more commonly known as a GPF (General Protection Fault), and it essentially means that your computer got confused. Don't worry, you haven't done anything that can land you in the slammer. Chances are all you need to do is restart your browser (or whatever piece of software it was that crashed). If you find your computer performing inordinate numbers of illegal operations, you might want to re-install the software that's having problems.
Scary technical explanation:
When a programs starts up, Windows assigns it a certain area of its
RAM. Everything goes fine, as long as all programs only use their own assigned
memory. If a program uses memory assigned to another program, it can make
your system unstable, causing crashes. Therefore, as a protective
measure, if a program tries to tries to access memory addresses outside
of the range that Windows has given it, Windows shuts it down.
What makes your normally-upstanding browser want to dabble in illegal memory? Unfortunately, it could be anything from a lack of hard disk space to a problem with your Operating System to a corrupted piece of browser software -- the specific source is notoriously hard to track down. If you really want to get the bottom of it, your best bet is to Click "Details," which will appear in the same box that says "This program has performed..." and write down all the information you see. Then, refer to your ISP's tech support, Microsoft's tech support or the support line for the company that made the crashed program.
Error message
Q: I notice lately I'm getting a lot of "404 Not Found" error messages
when I try to get to Web sites. Is this a transmission problem, software
problem with my Netscape Navigator, or what?
A: If suddenly you're running into a barrage of 404 Not Found messages (that's the excuse your browser gives when you request a file that it can't find), it could mean that indeed those files or links don't exist anymore. But running into a rash of them could mean a problem on your end.
First, check the URL carefully. Upper- and lowercase make a difference -- one character off and you're lost in 404 land. Then, try to load a page you know is working is a good choice), to check your connection to your Internet service provider (ISP). If you think your ISP is the problem, try hanging up your modem and reconnecting.
If, after all that, you're still getting 404s, the problem could be that Navigator's buffer size is set too small to handle the site you're trying to load. Under the Options menu, select "Network Preferences," and click on the "Connections" tab. This will show you your network buffer size. Raise it to at least 4 or 5 kilobytes (or higher if you've got a hot-rod computer). You'll need to quit out of Netscape Navigator and start it up again for the changes to take effect. Once you're back up and running, try the sites that were dealing you the 404s again; if they're still out of commission, the problem is probably on their end.
Error message
Q: What are all these error messages I keep getting? 404? 403? DNS?
Help! Is it me, or is it my computer, or is it the Internet?
A: You'll see a couple variations of this "404" business with "404 Not Found" or "404 Access Denied." "404 Not Found" occurs when the Web page you're trying to get to doesn't exist anymore (whether temporarily or permanently). The first thing you should do is something Homeric (as in "Simpson," not "blind genius writer of Greek epics"): check to make sure you've got the right address. You should also make sure you've typed it in correctly, going over the exact spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and spacing, just like your seventh-grade English teacher would. Also, remember that the Internet is essentially held together with duct tape and bailing wire, and sometimes it just decides it doesn't want to work. Hit "reload" a couple times, just in case the site is "having a moment."
If you still get "404 Not Found," it's possible that site doesn't exist anymore, at least not at its old location. Try running a search for the site's name through yahoo and see what comes up -- it may have just changed locations.
"403 Forbidden" means you've tried to enter a government-restricted site. Within hours neither you nor your family will ever be heard from again.
Just kidding. "403 Forbidden" is what you get when you try to access a file that hasn't been set with "read permissions." All that scary jargon really means is that you can't view the site because the person who maintains the page has either set it up incorrectly or doesn't want you reading it. Like death, taxes, and Barney, there is little you can do about it. Your only recourse is the old standby: check the spelling of the address and hit "reload" a few times.
DNS error messages usually show up dressed as "Server does not have a DNS entry." This does not refer to the scullery maid but rather to the Domain Name System or Server, which is the means used to look up the Internet addresses for the name you entered. It could mean temporary network slowness or other Net problems. You should also bear in mind that your browser can sometimes mistake its own problems for problems at the site you're trying to reach. While you will get a DNS error if a site does not exist, you'll also get one if your connection to your server is faulty (your browser is just too proud to admit that it might be having a problem). Check with a site you know definitely has a DNS entry (such as this one). If you still get a DNS error, there's probably something wrong with either your connection to your ISP, or your ISP's connection to the Internet. Try hanging up and reconnecting. If that doesn't work, it's time to get out the chicken bones and flour and try a little voodoo.
Delete Netscape's history
Q: If I nuke Netscape Navigator's file listing everywhere I've
been, don't I cause any kind of damage?
A: The History file in Navigator keeps track of where you've been on the Net. If you don't want people to know what those places are, you may not like the fact that it exists. The good news is that although you can't set Netscape not to keep a History, this file cannot be damaged by erasing it.
Yes, it's true, Web fans, zapping this file does not a whit of damage to Netscape (although you probably don't want to nuke it while Netscape is running). Netscape will automatically create another one the next time you go anywhere on the Web. This History file is called "netscape.hst" if you're using Windows, and you'll find it in the Netscape directory. If you use a Mac, it'll be labeled "Global History," and you'll find it in the "Netscape f" folder, which is in the "Preferences" folder, which is in the "System Folder" folder.
Slowing down the download
Q: When the Net seems to be taking a long time to do anything, how
can I find out whether my modem or my ISP is causing the trouble?
A: Until recently, there were few ways to diagnose what cynics call the World Wide Wait. However, Net.Medic, a product from VitalSigns Software, lets you find out exactly what's causing the bottleneck -- your PC, your modem</a>, your Internet service provider (ISP), the Internet backbone, or the Web you are downloading from.
Net.Medic sizes up how well your ISP is performing, calculates your average call connection rates, and notifies you of any service failures that might prevent you from accessing Web sites. It also gives you a heads-up on your total connection time, and total data sent and received. When you load a page, Net.Medic informs you how quickly it is downloading (and what your optimal speed should be), as well as what percentage of the retrieval time is due to the server or the network itself.
Too many users
Q: In the last month I've been getting a message I haven't seen
before: 'Too many users.' Why am I getting it?
A: Congratulations, Bill, you've stumbled across one of the incredibly rare instances in which an error message actually says what it means. Quite simply, there are too many users trying to access whatever page you're trying to view. Due to the intense stream of traffic, the group's Web site coughed up the "Too many users" message to all but a handful of the millions of people trying to access it. If you receive this message at your favorite Web site, try it again in the off-hours (early morning or late at night).
Internet congestion
Q: I have a 28.8Kbps modem that works really fast most
of the time. Sometimes though, downloading and even surfing from one URL
to another takes forever. This especially happens at night. Does it have
to do with Net traffic? What can I do to prevent this?
A: Just as your souped-up Lamborghini can be held to a crawl by a traffic jam, your hot-rod modem won't do you much good when the Net is congested. As you might imagine, you'll get better results if you don't surf during rush hour. Net use is highest from about 6:30pm to 8:30pm on weekdays.
Where's the congestion coming from? According to the latest CommerceNet/Nielsen study, 23 percent of people 16 years and older in the U.S. and Canada now use the Internet, double the number that were using it in 1995. All these people are jamming up everything from the Web sites you're trying to access to the phone system itself.
Is there relief in sight? The Federal Communications Commission has convened a motley crew of high-tech firms, telecommunication Goliaths, and consumer groups -- informally labeled the Bandwidth Forum -- to assist the government in relieving the congestion. In the meantime, there are stop-gap solutions, 33.6Kbps 56Kbps modems along with the blazingly fast.
Shockwave memory problem
Q: I'm a regular Shockwave monkey, but a lot of the time when
I try to view a Web site using Shockwave, I get an error message that tells
me I don't have enough memory
A: Like any government official testifying before Congress, the
problem is one of memory.
Shockwave, for those whose immune systems recognize and filter out
PR hype, is a plug-in introduced by Macromedia in 1995. Since then, more
than 17 million Shockwave players have been downloaded, and several thousand
sites have been designed using Shockwave, allowing for interactive news,
sports, games, and information. It's available in Windows or Mac formats,
and for the leading Web browsers, including Netscape Navigator and Microsoft
Internet Explorer.
Before I forget, while I had said the problem may be one of memory, it could also be one of conflicting versions. If you're using anything earlier than the full, shipping versions of Internet Explorer 3.0, Netscape Navigator 2.02, or Netscape 3.0 (in other words, no beta versions), you may get volatile results.
When you originally set up Navigator, the browser established its cache, the memory or disk space it puts aside for temporarily storing Web pages. Having a cache means that when you click back and forth between pages, the browser doesn't have to keep re-loading like Custer at Little Big Horn. The cache stores a copy of the Web pages you've seen, so you can see them again quickly. Think of it as keeping a photocopy of a document instead of having to re-type the whole thing from scratch each time.
But the question is: is your cache big enough to handle Shockwave-enhanced pages? You'll probably want to take a peek at your current settings. Most people will tell you *not* to tamper with these, sort of like those foil seals on over-the-counter medications. In this case, however, you may want to increase your dose.
Here's how:
1) Close out any programs you're running at the moment (other than your browser, of course).
2) Open the Options menu.
3) Click on Network Preferences. You'll see a row of areas across the top. Click "Cache."
4) You'll see what the current settings are for Memory cache and Disk Cache. Write these down before you begin. This may seem like just a little tinkering, but you always want to give yourself the option of going back, Streisand-like, to "The Way We Were."
5) Try setting the disk cache to 10 MB (that's 10,000 Kilobytes).
6) Go though your normal paces for loading a Shockwave page. If this doesn't work, try upping your Memory cache to 12-14 MB or higher (assuming you have that much to devote to it). See if that smoothes out the wrinkles.
7) If all of the above doesn't work, try performing a Stalin (or Disney) -esque purge of your memory and disk caches. This not only ensures you're getting the most recent pages but helps speed up your browser. While your disk cache speeds up your surfing by letting you quickly load previously viewed pages, it also can slow you down if it gets too cluttered. The more pages in your cache, the longer it takes your browser to trudge through all of them. You'll find the Clear Cache functions in the same Cache area of your Preferences.
Stop getting disconnected
Q: Can you help me stop getting disconnected from AOL and my ISP? Is
my phone line doing it?
A: While phone line static can break your connection like a bad lease, chances are you're being kicked off by AOL or your ISP for being idle. At least what *it* thinks constitutes "idleness."
AOL flashes an irksome "You have been online [X] minutes. Do you want to stay online?" message that comes back at you like a bad meal every 46 or 47 minutes. The implication is that you've been idle and they want to clear you off the system to make room for others. How considerate -- except oftentimes you *have* been active downloading files, chatting, or emailing. The only thing in your humble Guru's experience to actually qualify as being active on their system is using the AOL browser. Of course, you have the option of clicking "Yes" when AOL nudges you, but Guru has noticed that if you're away from your PC for a moment during a long download or even if you click "yes," you can get still booted off.
Regular ISPs kick you off like a Rockette after a certain period of
supposed inactivity too. Of course, they also would say that they have
limited modem ports for their users (meaning 1 modem port for every 15
or 20 users), so they're only trying to be fair to everyone. Guru responds
this way with all his love...*get more modems!
Definition of DNS
Q: What does DNS stand for? My librarian patrons ask, and
I have no idea.
A: DNS is shorthand for the "Domain Name System," the whole enchilada of Internet formats and rules for assigning names to Internet sites and for translating those names when you look for them into numerical network addresses.
Computers deal with numbers very well and couldn't give a whit for pretty names such as www.surf-guru.com (to pick an example at random). Humans are just the opposite. You can think of the DNS as the translator between the two. When you go on the Net and surf over to www.surf-guru.com, the name of the site is translated to a numerical network address (four sets of numbers, each set separated by a period, something like 206.335.116.5) by computers called name servers, which look up these addresses and then help route you to the site. There is probably a DNS server close to your access provider that does this yeoman's work.
Thankfully, most of this process is usually invisible to us when we
surf. That is, except when you are handed back the dreaded "no DNS entry"
error when you try to access a site. This error simply means that the domain
server couldn't find an entry for the domain you typed in. This error occurs
for several reasons, which can range from a site being taken down to your
Net connection being temporarily disconnected.
Link Rot
Q: I'm starting a Web site and I have been told I should monitor
for something called "link rot." Do I need to worry about this?
A: "Link rot" is a problem that affects Web sites when their links are not monitored and updated periodically. Over time, sites disappear or change location. If the links to places outside your site are not maintained, your visitors could be stuck with galore.
If you don't have the time or energy to check through your links periodically, there are several services which will test a given page or even an entire site. They try each link to see if it is working properly, then issue you a report. These services are especially useful if you have a large site (after all, the median size for a Web site is 300 pages). Net Mechanic is one example of this type of service, plus it has the added bonus of being free.
And if you're checking out your pages, don't stop with the links. There are similar services which check your page's HTML code to make sure that it's all in order. Called HTML Validators, these services are widely available (Net Mechanic offers this as well). Validating your HTML ensures your Web site will look good for all of your visitors, no matter what browser they're using. Some browsers, such as Netscape's, will make allowances for some bad coding in your page, but not necessarily all of it. To find more of these services, check out yahoo Validation and Checkers page.
Definition of intranet
Q:Could you please define the term "intranet" for me?
A: An intranet is essentially a miniature version of the Internet for use by a particular company (and that company only). Think of them as a walled cities in the middle of the pastoral countryside of the Net. Intranets are typically used to disseminate company information, share documents, and promote communication and collaboration between employees (at least that's what the people who sell them claim). They are really just private computer networks that companies or organizations set up, which use the same protocols and software used on the public Web -- but they are only for use by a particular company's employees.
<p>Intranets also allow companies to set up PointCast like technologies that broadcast messages to their employees such as company news, announcements, or brainwashing inducements to work longer hours for less pay. There has been inexplicably high levels of hype surrounding intranets, in light of the fact that they are primarily of concern to the IS managers at large corporations and not that interesting to the public at large.
Bandwidth
Q: I have been online for about seven months now and I have picked
up the Internet stuff pretty well, but I don't know what bandwidth is.
Can you help?
A: Bottom line: the bigger the bandwidth the faster you can download. It may help to think of your Internet connection like a garden hose. If you have a skinny hose, you can only get a relatively small amount of water per second. However, if your hose is wider, you can get more water more quickly. Bandwidth is a measure of how much data you can stuff through your online connection at a given rate. It's measured in bits per second or kilobits per second.
Now imagine that the water is data, and that you modem is the hose. If you have a 9600 bps modem, you can only bring a maximum of 9600 bits into your computer per second. If you have a 28.8Kbps modem, you can bring 28,800 bits into your computer per second, making it a much fatter hose, and you a much happier surfer.
To put all of this in perspective, a regular page of English text is
about 16,000 bits, whereas full-motion, full-screen video is a glutton
that needs about 10,000,000 bits per second to work properly. Several technologies
such as ADSL, and cable modems promise to give us the equivalent
of fire hoses into the backs of our computers, to enable such multimedia
luxuries, but those technologies seem to lurk tantalizingly over the horizon.
Q: What's a "Web ring"?
A: A Web ring (or Webring, depending on your spelling preference)
is a group of Web sites with related themes or topics that use a program
to link them together. Site A links to Site B, which links to Site C, and
so on. You can surf from site to site within an interest group, eventually
circling back to the first one (hence the term "ring").
Unlike other matters associated with rings, you're not bound, legally or morally, to stay in one place. A navigation box at each site of a ring lets you surf forward or backward, skip over several at a time, or even choose to visit sites at random.
As I mentioned, anyone can start a Web ring. To be listed at RingWorld, you need have a minimum of five sites that will be linked together.
Q: What is a digital ID, and do I need one?
A: A digital ID (also known as a digital signature or a digital certificate) serves much the same purpose as a driver's license or passport -- it's a reliable way to prove you are who you say you are. A digital ID is a secret code used to verify whether an electronic communication was sent by the person claiming to send it. Digital IDs are interpreted by the encryption software embedded in a Web browser or e-mail program to make this determination.
Do you need a digital ID? Well, "need" might be too strong a word. Currently, they don't possess the legal force of a physical signature, (except, apparently, in Utah). Indeed, the Clinton administration has asked Congress to put national digital signature legislation on the back burner, believing -- probably correctly -- that's its way too early in the game to be making hard-to-change laws about a technology that changes so quickly. Besides, in the cases where it matters most -- such as online financial transactions - the commercial companies you deal with will set it up for you. For example, the online brokerage E*Trade is moving toward using digital certificates for trading stocks because they're convinced they're an improvement over plain old user names and passwords.
Then, of course, there's the issue of what kind of digital ID you should
get. And as usual in this industry, there's several companies vying to
vouch for your identity. For example, a Zions Bancorp, of Salt Lake City,
recently became the very first financial institution to offer digital certificates
for business-to-business transactions. MasterCard and Visa agreed on a
digital ID standard in 1996 called SET (Secure Electronic Transactions),
which will work with your browser to make buying on the Net safer. Meanwhile
Microsoft Corp. joined forces with one of the head honchos in the digital-certificate
field, VeriSign Inc., to make its Web-server products safer for electronic
commerce. Other companies providing similar technology include GTE, VeriSign,
Xcert, and RSA Data Security.
Q: What's the difference between bits, bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes?
A: Think of bits and bytes as just the inches and feet and miles of the digital world.
A bit is simply the smallest unit of information in computers. Bits aren't very useful by themselves, however, since they only store a single piece of binary information, representing a yes/no or on/off. When bits are grouped together they become far more useful. Eight bits make up one byte (a rule of thumb, like "12 inches equal one foot.") Anything measured in bits is abbreviated with a small "b". Anything measured in bytes is represented with a capital
One byte is the unit of measurement computers use to represent a character such as a letter ("A"), a number ("7"), or even a typographic symbol ("@"). In other words, it takes at least eight bits (or one byte) of information for a computer to be able to represent even the most minimal of data.
A kilobyte (KB) is about a thousand bytes (it's actually 1,024 bytes, but feel free to round off). A megabyte (1MB) is slightly over a million (1,048,576) bytes, while a gigabyte (1GB, pronounced "gig-a-bite") is around a billion (1,073,741,824 ) bytes. Typically, you'll see your PC's cache measured in bytes ("256K cache"), its memory measured in megabytes ("32MB of RAM") and the amount of hard disk space in gigabytes ("3.2GB hard disk"). Modem speed is one of the few measurements that involves bits instead of bytes, as in 28,800 bps (bits per second), or 28.8 Kbps (Kilobits per second).
Q: What is Lynx?
A: Lynx is a text-based Web browser (links/lynx,
get it? ) developed at the University of Kansas in the early, text-based
days of the Web. Lynx runs under the UNIX operating system, and unlike
Netscape's Navigator and Communicator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, it
can't show you graphics or deal with newfangled Web inventions like Java,
style sheets, Shockwave.
What does the key on browser mean?
Q: I use Netscape Navigator 3.0, and the key
in the bottom-left corner is broken. Does this mean that something is wrong
with the program? Just what is this key for?
A: The "broken key" isn't a sign that anything's amiss with the program. Quite the contrary, it's a sign that your browser is working as it should, informing you of the status of your Net connection's security.
When you see the broken key, it means that the site you are looking at is insecure and unencrypted. Encryption deters hackers who might try to abscond with your sensitive information by scrambling all communications between you and the site you are connected to. Only you and the site can unscramble the transmission, so information such as credit card information, or your name and address are kept secure. In short, it's probably not wise to conduct any kind of commercial transaction on a site with an broken key.
On the other hand, when you see an unbroken key, that means the site is protected by encryption and other technologies that should prevent sensitive data such as your credit card data from being swiped. Netscape Navigator will also display a blue bar across the top of the screen when you are connected to a secure site.
Fingering
Q: Can you please explain the term 'finger,'
and how it is done.
A: Finger is a piece of Internet software that can be used to find out basic information about the users of a particular system.
When you "finger" someone, you can scarf up such tidbits as their full name, office (or computer terminal) location, the time they were last on the particular system, and what's known as their "plan."
<p>If you're successful in fingering someone, you'll get back a response like this:
<blockquote><tt>
Login name: cbpappas<br>
In real life: Charles B. Pappas<br>
Directory: /data/Lkr_Usr_/cbpappas <br>
Shell: /bin/sh<br>
On since Jan 5 19:39:42 <br>
28 seconds Idle Time on ttypd from max12.HiWAAY.net<br>
No Plan. <br>
</tt></blockquote>
<p>"No Plan"? That's what my parents (relatives,
girlfriends, pals, minor acquaintances, and the people who send out the
"Publishers Clearinghouse" sweepstakes envelopes) used to say about me.
In this non-judgmental context, though, a plan (or, more properly, ".plan")
refers to a file that holds information you want to make available to people
who finger you. Typically, it contains news about you, a pithy quote, information
on your whereabouts, your...plan.
If you try fingering some of your friends, you'll
find out that many ISPs don't allow you to finger their users. Your best
bet for finding finger-able people is try with .net (network) and .org
(organization) accounts. You won't see it much on .com (commercial)
accounts.
MIME type
Q: I am not quite a newbie, but I still don't know what 'MIME'
is (as in MIME attachments).
A: Yes, you guessed it, MIME is another of those endless computer-world acronyms. It stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions and is a standard for attaching non-text files such as sound, graphics, or photos to the regular e-mail that you send over the Net.
If your e-mail program is MIME-compliant, it can send and receive files using the MIME standard. If your program isn't MIME-compliant, put down your club, leave your cave, and find one that is. See the end of this answer for a list of compliant programs.
The e-mail system the Net uses was originally designed to send text-only
messages back and forth. In other words, it wasn't built to handle
the media-rich environment the Net has become. When you send non-text files
using a MIME-compliant program, the files are actually converted into text
files -- although if you were to view them, they'd look like gibberish
(like that symbol for The-Artist-Formerly-Known-As-Prince). Thankfully,
you don't have to worry about that, because the e-mail program on the other
end will handle converting the files back into their original form.
Q: What's the difference between the Web and the Internet?
A: The Internet evolved from a Defense Department project in the late 1960s, and has grown to be a world-spanning network of at least 60,000 smaller, independent computer networks linked by satellite, coaxial cable, and phone lines. All these computers are considered part of the Internet because they speak a common tongue -- or protocol (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol -- or TCP/IP). TCP/IP is what makes it possible for your desktop PC to effortlessly parley with a supercomputer on the other side of the world.
The subsection of the Internet we call the World Wide Web has two main advantages over the rest of the Net. First, it allows software (such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer) to display media-rich content (such as sounds, pictures, and video) from the network on the fly. The second and more important difference is its use of <a hypertext, which allows any part of the Web to be linked to any other part quickly and easily.
As you probably know if you made it to this site, hypertext is just
text that contains links to other documents on the Web. These are the words
or phrases (usually highlighted in blue or red) which, when you click on
them, jump you to other documents elsewhere on the Web. If your only
experience on the Internet has been on the Web, you may not think of hyperlinks
as being very exciting -- but they have revolutionized the business of
navigating the Net (just imagine trying to get around without them).
Q: How can I tell when I'm connected to a secure server?
A: Both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer provide graphical cues when you are in secure mode. In Netscape, you'll see a blue line across the top of the page and an unbroken key on a blue background in the bottom left corner (you should have a broken key on a gray background there now). Explorer alerts you by displaying a yellow padlock in the bottom right -- locked for secure, open for insecure.
<p>Another way to tell that your connection is secure is by looking at the Uniform Resource Locator ( the part that starts with http://. If it reads https:// in place of http:// (notice the extra "s"), that means you are dealing with a Web site using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). SSL is the technical wizardry which insures that your online information is sent in encrypted form, untampered with, and unavailable to prying eyes.
Automatic disconnect
Q: I work on and off during the day in Microsoft Internet Explorer,
but sometimes I forget to disconnect. Since I prefer not to fund my Internet
service provider any more than necessary, is there a way I can disconnect
at prearranged times?
A: There is a way to avoid paying cold cash for your inattention, but only if you are using Internet Explorer. To avoid loansharkesque ISP rates, just perform the following steps from within Internet Explorer to instruct it to log off after a certain amount of time.
* Select "Options" under the "View" menu.
* Click on the "Connection" tab.
* If you don't see a check mark in the "Disconnect If Idle For ___ Minutes" box, put one there by clicking on it.
* Now, click the "Up" or "Down" arrows at the right of this box to change the disconnect time to the length you want. Make sure you leave yourself enough time to read the pages you visit. Nothing's more annoying than your browser logging you out between mouse-clicks.
*Now, click "OK" and you're done.
Q:What is an extranet?
A: Any time you connect two or more private
networks -- called intranets -- you have yourself an extranet. Extranets
typically link intranets in various locations, allowing workers to communicate
more easily with one another.
So what's an intranet? An intranet is nothing more than a company's private internal Web site that lets only the people inside that company exchange and access information (although it can look and feel pretty much like any other Web site you've seen on the Net).
In order for more businesses to create extranets and to make them seem just as easy to use as other Web sites, companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Netscape, and Sun Microsystems have declared their support for a basic set of technical standards for the software and hardware involved. Such corporate support is no surprise. A recent study by Spiral Media of 100 Fortune 1000 executives whose companies were using intranets and extranets found that 29 percent said extranets had given them the best return on their investment
Internet Explorer version
Q: I know this probably sounds stupid, but how can I tell which version
of Microsoft Explorer I'm using?
A: Finding the serial number or version of any product is usually
an exercise in severe eyestrain and frustration, so I hardly consider this
a reflection of diminished mental capacity. Usually, people wish to identify
the version of the browser they're using when they want to download and
install a new, updated version of it. Here is a quick and painless way
to find out:
In Internet Explorer, click the Help menu, and select "About Internet
Explorer." A dialog box will pop up, which will show you the version number
you're using. Possible version numbers you could have are 2.0, 3.0,
3.01, 3.01a, and 3.02, with 3.02 being the most recent release.
Firewalls
Q: What is the purpose of Firewalls? Are they really necessary?
A: A firewall is a combination of hardware and software that protects computer networks from unwanted intrusions. Often, private networks -- sometimes dubbed intranets -- erect firewalls to make sure no one can access sensitive company data except those who are authorized to do so.
Let's say the Acme Co. has a private intranet that only its workers are supposed to use and have access to. Acme may want to allow its employees to access information on its servers while the employees are on the road. If Acme's firewall works as it should, only authorized users will be able to access their system, and unauthorized users will be kept out.
But public Internet sites -- the kind you surf to every day -- can have firewalls, too, that prevent people from accessing the areas that might store credit card numbers or customer lists. Just like the private networks, these public ones use special programs that limit the sorts of connections that can be made to their systems and the people who can make them.
v.34 vs 28.8
Q: A friend asked me recently if my modem was v.34 +. Naturally I said
"yes" rather than look stupid. But I always thought modems were just called
14.4, 28.8, etc.
A: You're right: modems are usually referred to by the number of bits per second they can transmit, such as 14.4Kbps (kilobytes per second), 28.8Kbps, 33.6Kbps, and so on. However, they also can be referred to by the protocol they use to communicate with one another. And therein, as the man said, lies the rub.
To make sure all modems can communicate with one another, the Internet Telecommunications Union-Telecom issues sets of specifications for modems and how they communicate with one another. All 14.4Kbps modems run on the v.32 bis standard (catchy name, huh?). When 28.8Kbps modems were introduced back in 1994, a new standard was needed for the higher speed. Thus, the v.34 spec was born.
Flash forward to 1996 and the introduction of 33.6Kbps modems. These 33.6 modems went faster, so they needed their own standard, but it turned out that the spec is really an extension of the v.34 spec. Thus the 33.6Kbps standard is called v.34-1996.
If you're not confused yet, you should be. As you've probably
figured out by now, referring to modems by their protocol is geeky and
confusing (no offense to your friend). Simply referring to the modem's
speed in Kbps is not only sufficient, it's also preferred.