Modems ~ To connect to your Internet or e-mail server, you need a modem. A modem is a device that connects your computer to other computers through the phone line. (Modems are also what is used when sending faxes.) Modems can be internal (meaning they are inside the main case of the computer, and already connected to the computer) or external (meaning that they are separate objects, connected to the computer by a cable). A phone cord comes from the main case of your computer (or from the modem itself, if it’s external), which you plug into a telephone jack. When your computer dials the Internet or e-mail server, the computer is actually placing a phone call, and you cannot make or receive any other calls during that time. Your computer most likely already has a modem, but if it doesn’t, they sell starting at around $50.

ISP’s ~ In order to access Internet and e-mail, you need an Internet Service Provider—called an ISP—(like a phone company—someone to "connect" you). Some popular ISP’s are American OnLine (AOL), The Microsoft Network (MSN), CompuServe, Prodigy, and many others. Juno is a popular e-mail only provider, which is completely free.

If you are going to go with the Internet (includes e-mail), I recommend finding a local ISP. Most of the larger ISP’s (like AOL, MSN, and CompuServe) have some nice features, but tend to be very busy—with AOL especially, it is basically impossible to get online from 7-10 p.m. at night. If you want e-mail only, Juno is my top recommendation.

AOL ~ I asked a few of my AOL friends what they thought of AOL, and here’s what they told me… What they liked about AOL was the ability to "chat" and send IM’s (instant messages, sent instantly to those online). One thing they didn’t like was the fact that you get a lot of UCE/Spam (UCE stands for Unsolicited Commercial E-mail—it is commonly called Spam, because most people like UCE about as much as they like Spam ( ). Another was the length of time it takes to do things (they said sometimes it is completely impossible to even get online).

Juno ~ I also asked a few of my Juno friends what they thought of Juno, so here’s what they told me… Juno’s features that they liked were that it was very simple and easy to use, was fairly fast, it cost absolutely nothing, and was just plain a good e-mail program. What they didn’t like about Juno was that technical support wasn’t free, the banner ads, and a few incidences of "communication problems" and "time outs". They said that there were times when it wasn’t as fast as usual, but that didn’t seem to be too big a problem.

The Internet is a global network of computers, to which you connect using your computer and modem, and then can view any web pages you wish, from organizations all across the world. World Wide Web (WWW), Cyberspace, Web, Net, etc. are basically just other names for the Internet. On the Internet, there are millions of "web pages" (or files, in a sense) that you can access from your computer, via the Internet. When you view a page, it is downloaded from the Internet, and placed in your Temporary Internet Files folder (located on your hard drive, in c:/windows). These web page files are stored on your computer while you view the web pages, and are usually automatically emptied from your hard drive after about twenty days. (You may want to check your computer’s settings on this, because they take up valuable hard disk space when they pile up for a while.)

Web Browsers ~ Web browser applications (programs) are, in a sense, like your Television screen—using your Television screen you view what’s on Television; using a web browser, you view what’s on the Internet (i.e. web pages). Some popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, and Spyglass Mosaic. I’ve always used Microsoft Internet Explorer and have been very happy with it, but most any will do. Your ISP’s setup software will most likely include setup files for Microsoft Internet Explorer or another web browser.

Favorites List ~ If you like a web page, and want to come back to it again, you can tell your web browser to add it to your favorites list—that way your computer keeps the address on file, and you don’t have to try to remember it each time!

Safety ~ Because of the many different people that are on the Internet, it is recommended that you never give out any personal information (such as name, address, and telephone number) on the web. (Extra caution should be used with young children—don’t allow them to give out any such information to a stranger.)

Also, when downloading files, be sure that you know the source is trustworthy. Viruses are not fun things—they can delete everything on your hard drive—so you want to make sure you aren’t downloading a virus!

Have Fun Surfin’! ~ The Internet is a wonderful tool, when used correctly, and is utilized by millions of businesses, schools, churches, families, and other organizations throughout the world. A vast amount of information (and fun!) is right at your fingertips! So, get connected today, and have fun surfing the net!

E-mail is an abbreviation for electronic mail—mail sent electronically to other computers, via your modem and a phone line. Sample e-mail address: j_smith@aol.com. (Read as: j underscore smith at aol dot com.) Most e-mail addresses consist of a user name (j_smith), the at symbol (@), a host name—the name of your ISP, or whoever handles the delivery of the e-mail (aol), and a suffix identifying the type of organization that owns the "host computer" or company (.com).

Inbox, Outbox, Sent Items, Deleted Items (or Trash), & Other Folders ~ In your e-mail application, many folders/mail boxes are shown. The Inbox is the "mail box" where your new messages are stored, until you’ve read them and transferred them to another folder. The Outbox is where outbound messages are stored until they’ve been sent; then they’re transferred to the Sent Items folder (in some e-mail programs, such as Eudora, they stay in the Outbox, but have an S by them to indicate that they’re sent). Deleted Items or Trash is where deleted messages are stored until you completely remove them from your computer. Most e-mail applications give you the option to create other folders to organize your messages (i.e. Personal, School, Work, etc.). You can choose to "Sort By" the From, To, Subject, Date, or other fields, for easy locating.

Reply & Reply to All ~ In your e-mail application, when a message is selected, you usually have the option to Reply or Reply to All. Choose Reply to respond only to the author of the message; choose Reply to All to send an e-mail to all recipients of the message. (Note: If you wish to have people reply to a different address than you send your messages from, you can usually choose a Reply To address in your settings/options.)

To:, CC:, BCC:, & Subject: ~ When you go to address an e-mail, there will be several "fields" to fill in. In the To: box, type the e-mail address of the recipient (or use your e-mail address book for ease). In the CC: (Carbon Copy) box, type the recipients to whom you want carbon copies of the message sent. Or, in the BCC: (Blank Carbon Copy) box, you can type all the recipients’ e-mail addresses, and none of them will be able to see that the message was sent to anyone else. (This helps to keep their e-mail addresses private, as well as avoid long headers on incoming messages.) In the Subject: box, type the subject of the message (i.e. "Hi, Mary!" or "Tomorrow’s Meeting"), to give the recipient an idea as to the content of the message.

Color Messages & More! ~ When you send an e-mail in plain text, it’s just that—a plain e-mail message, with no formatting or anything fancy. Using the HTML (HypterText Markup Language) sending features of Outlook Express, Eudora Pro, and other e-mail applications, however, your messages can be in color, with different fonts, using bold, italic, and underline features, colored backgrounds, and more! (Note: Juno users can not send or receive colored messages.)

In e-mail, since there’s not the benefit of voice inflections, we use "emoticons" (emotion icons). Such symbols as :) – colon, and right parenthesis; 8^) – number eight, caret, and right parenthesis; and =-) – equals sign, dash, and right parenthesis, all stand for a smiley face (as well as many other variations!). Reverse them, and you have a frown! Also, <g> stands for a giggle or two, when you just can’t stop laughing :). It adds a bit of fun to the message, and serves to indicate the voice inflections which we would otherwise miss greatly!

To save typing time, e-mail abbreviations are often used. Things such as TTYS (talk to you soon), TTYL (talk to you later), LOL (laughing out loud), IMHO (in my humble opinion), FYI (for your information), and BTW (by the way) are all used, in place of words. It’s a good idea to become familiar with some of the common e-mail abbreviations, otherwise you just might miss out on what the message says!

When sending a plain text e-mail (one that’s not HTML—in other words an e-mail that doesn’t have color or other such formatting), you sometimes need to indicate when a word or phrase is bold, underlined, or italicized. *Asterisks* equal bold. _Underscores_ equal italics or underlined. (All capital letters is not consider good netiquette (Internet etiquette), as it seems like you are shouting, and should only be used when you REALLY want to emphasize something.)

File Attachments & E-mail Viruses ~ Using the file attachment feature in your e-mail application, you can send a word processing document, or any other sort of file, to another person via e-mail. (Note: Juno users can not send or receive file attachments.) However, beware! If you receive an e-mail from someone you don’t know that has a file attachment, or even from someone you do know but there’s no explanation as to what the attachment is, do not open it!

You’ll probably receive a lot of forwarded warnings about e-mail viruses, warning you not to read a certain e-mail message with a subject such as "Good Times", but these are not true! A file has to be executed (started or begun) for a virus to start—you can’t begin a virus just by reading an e-mail message; therefore people with Juno don’t even have to worry about viruses at all, because they can’t receive file attachments anyway. The only time you need to worry about a virus is, as I said above, when you receive a message with a file attachment from an unknown source (or one from someone you do know, but with no explanation as to what the attachment is); do not open these file attachments, because they have every indication of being a virus "bomb". Reply to the message, requesting the author to tell you anything they need to tell you in the body of the message, rather than a file attachment—if they’re legitimate, they’ll do as you ask.

So have fun sending files to your friends, but make sure to identify what you’re sending, or they may be concerned about a virus! And remember, you can’t hurt anything by just reading an e-mail message, so don’t let the real-sounding warnings frighten you.

Getting Permanent or Additional Addresses ~ If you think you may be switching ISP’s frequently, and want a permanent address that doesn’t keep changing along with your provider, or if you want additional e-mail addresses to service your needs better, check out web-based e-mail! Unlike Juno and other e-mail services, you don’t access most web-based e-mail from your e-mail application—it’s web-based. This means that, first of all, you have to have the Internet to access it. You go to a web page, type in your user name and password, and then through other web pages send, receive, and perform all other actions, for your e-mail. Web-based e-mail also means that you can access your e-mail from any computer—not just your own: you can be at a friend’s house, or clear across the world, and still check your e-mail. This is because your messages are stored on the web-based e-mail’s "server" or web page—in other words, your messages are stored on the Internet, not your computer. (Web-based e-mail does have some "bug-a-boos", since you have to be connected/online to write e-mails, thus tying up the phone line and using up paid-for time.) Two of the "big" web-based e-mail providers are Hotmail and Net Address.

TTYS! ~ E-mail is a great way of communication, and will become, I believe, even more and more popular as we approach the 21^st century. Have fun with it, and I’ll TTYS!