eed a little "spice" in your life? Getting bored with
the usual surfing products on the net? Want a little different
slant on the Web? Dr. Bob Lade spends a bit of time each day surfing
for those unusual yet entertaining Web sites he thinks most of
you CyberNetters might find amusing. Some of these links are serious,
some just plain fun. We'll try to update the listing monthly,but
if a hot URL shows up, it will be added ASAP.
ecent back issues of this news letter:
September 1995
December 1995
January 1996
February 1996
March 1996
April 1996
May 1996
July 1996
August 1996
First, you have to download the thing. From my experience perhaps ten percent of the netizens currently surfing the net know what that means and less actually know how to execute a download. "Geez, Martha, I know the darn thing is somewhere on my hard drive but darned if I can find it!"
But actually, downloading it is simple and so is the installation to be truthful. Now here's the rub. In order to call up someone using this thing I need to know his IP address. Assuming you're using dialup access to the net, your IP address is dynamic, that is, each time you log onto the net your ISP assigns you a new number. So you want to call Joe Blow in Kokomo? How do you find his address? Well, you can call him on the phone accruing a nice long distance phone charge for a conversation like this.
Joe: Hey Bob, long time no see.
Bob: Yeah Joe. Say I'd really like to hang on and chat, but I need your IP address so I can call you for free.
Joe: Er, Um, Hang on a minute and I'll turn my machine on and log onto XXX.net.
---Time Passes---
Bob: You logged on yet?
Joe: Almost, been getting a lot of busy signals lately, but I can usually get on by the 15th or 20 time.
---More Time Passes---
Joe: OK, I'm on! Now what do you want?
Bob: Your IP address, what's your IP address?
Joe: My what? Oh, you mean those funny numbers with the decimal points between them?
Bob: Yeah. What are they?
Joe: Hmm, I used to see them when I used Trumpet Winsock, but since I changed over to the Windows 95 dialer they don't show up anymore.
Bob: Click Start | Run and type in winipcfg.exe
Joe: OK--Wow. It's 204.117.207.52
Bob: Alright, stand by.
---keyboard clacking sounds---
Joe: It's ringing, I hear it ringing!
Bob: Click Answer
Joe: I did, but nothing is happening on this end.
Bob: Hmm, you *do* have a pentium chip don't you?
Joe: Yeah, remember you helped me pick out the machine right after they came out. It's a Pentium 60.
Bob: A 60? Rats guess this experiment won't work after all. Nice talking with you Joe. Send me an email once in awhile. Bye.
Yes, believe it or not, you need at least a Pentium 90 to run Internet Phone. So what if you have one of the later chips and don't want to fool around with winipcfg.exe? In the course of installing the software, you are asked to pick a search service for the purpose of registering your email address (actually your ISP's domain name). I picked SwitchBoard because it is one of the bigger services. Now, if you want to call me, just search for Bob Lade and you'll get my email address, my actual address (sometime I wonder which is which), my home page URL and a link to my Internet Phone number. By simply clicking on the icon you can place a call to me. If I'm online and have my browser running my "phone" will ring and we can talk.
In spite of my negative feelings about all of this, it really does work. The other day I spent a good bit of time talking with my granddaughter up in Milwaukee. I must admit that this took place after spending a good bit of long distance time on the phone with my son who is no slouch when it comes to computers!
What if you looked for my phone number via BigFoot, or one of the other search services? Well, you wouldn't find it. So I spent another hour or two making sure that I am listed correctly with all the search services. Now this brings up another interesting question...
It seems that every time I check my mail at AOL I have a deluge of junk which takes quite a few minutes to dump (no mass delete is available with their mail client). AOL tried blocking all mail coming from offending domains, was prevented from doing so by the courts, then allowed to continue the practice. The culprit simply changed the domain name of his(her?) server and the mail continues to flow! In the process of blocking the guilty domain, all litigimate emailers from that domain are also blocked from emailing to all AOL subscribers. I'm afraid that like the US Postal Service, junk mail is here to stay.
There is, however, another aspect of security that has not yet been addressed, but which is on a lot of people's minds. Just the other day I was speaking to one of my clients encouraging her to get on the internet and move into the 20th century before it is too late! Her comments were interesting and typical of those who worry about personal security. She simply doesn't want her name, email addresss, or anything else about her "floating around in that cyberspace thing". With that in mind, I clicked over to BigFoot to see what my listing revealed. I guess I was in a mood to type when I filled out the form, because not only is my name, email address and snail mail address there, I also listed my phone numbers, High School, Colleges attended, Places of employment and hobbies. Now I'm not one to worry about these types of things, but I can see that if you wished to have even a modicum of privacy, you may want to be careful about what you list in these things. On the other hand, if you are like me and think that the internet is synomomous with communication, and communication means making it possible for people to reach you, then the more info the better.
I'd like to hear what you, my loyal reading public think about this issue. Feel free to email me with your comments. Who knows, maybe I'll add your remarks to my next newsletter (you may remain anonymous if you choose ;-)
I've got lots more "fun" topics to explore, but they'll have to wait until next time. In the meantime, if you run into something you would like to have me add to this list, give me a URL and short description via e-mail.
ew schedules for the introductory
internet course are being drawn up. If you have an interest in
this class, or know of someone who is, drop a note to
me,
or give me a call at 772-1663. Have a friend interested
in joining the fun on the internet? Have him call me and we'll
get him started with an introductory package.
In addition to the introductory class, I am also available for personalized instruction on the internet, Windows95, Word Processing, or what have you. My rates are $20/hour. Reasonable for individual instruction, I believe. Give me a call at 772-1663, or send me an e-mail message and we can talk about your particular needs.
Comments about this page should be sent to Dr. Bob Lade. Reactions, positive or negative will be carefully considered. You're also invited to visit my Home Page to learn a little more about me, my family and our lifestyle.
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