Let's spread the word about this wonderful new technology.
Do you believe it?!! There is one appliance that enables you to talk
with friends and family thousands of miles away; do grocery shopping
from home; and send your mail in seconds to its destination?
This same appliance completes your banking and bill payments from home
and delivers your newspaper and favorite magazines on demand. It puts
you in touch with experts such as doctors, teachers, lawyers, scientists
and therapists and enables you to talk with people from opposite ends of
the state without a telephone bill.
It can provide answers to most of your questions. Need to know about a
specific disability or syndrome? Use this appliance! It will give you
advice about buying your next car and help you find the dealer who will
give you the best price. Or it lets you decide how much you want to pay
for an airline ticket for your next vacation. It puts you in touch with
your Local Ag officials, way to communicate across regions to locate
hard to find parts or gives you a voice in what your government is
doing.. What is this miracle machine? It is a computer with an internet
connection (or Web TV)!
What is the internet?
The internet is an electronic communication medium that is accessed
through a computer connection using telephone lines OR through web TV, a
set-top box that delivers the internet to your television set - no need
for a computer!
What can I do with an internet connection?
The internet is many things:
It is electronic mail that enables you to send written messages in
seconds instead of days over the telephone lines to anyone else who has
email! For more information about email visit the Resources for
Beginners Website. You may also want to investigate web-based email.
What is it? What can it do for you? Check out our web site for
additional articles to find out!
It is the World Wide Web, a storage area on the internet for
information of all kinds including such things as: library card
catalogs; shopping; stock market information and trading and financial
planning. Magazines, journals and newspapers; informational sites about
almost any topic you can imagine are part of this information storage.
Transcripts and recordings of radio and TV shows are accessible over the
world wide web. The web is also a place where you can purchase airline
tickets and travel information. It also provides a compendium of
recipes, parenting and medical information as well as household know how
and much, much more! For more information, subscribe to this newspaper
and visit.
Understanding the World Wide Web at our web site.
The internet is IRC Chat, electronic rooms where you may "talk" with
other people in real time. Talking is done via text by typing your
dialogue on your computer or keyboard and reading the dialogue of others
from your screen. This is the feature that enables you to conference in
real time with colleagues, friends and family across regions without
additional telephone bills. I is ListServs, Web Rings or Mailing Lists,
which are free subscriptions to topical interest groups. All
interactions on these groups occur through email. Once subscribed to a
group, any message you send to the group goes to every other member of
the group. You receive all messages sent by any other member of the
group. There are early childhood issues, parenting, livestock,
machinery, crop planning trying new methods and ideas, and many more!
These are the virtual farming and ranch lounges and neighborhood coffee
klatches of the electronic age! They put you in touch with people from
all over the country and the world! If you don't want your email
cluttered by group messaging, a Newsgroup might be more your style!
These are topical bulletin boards where people post messages. You
participate by going to the board rather than the messages coming to you
(via email). They are another way to stay in touch with the world
outside your door or community. For more information on News Groups,
visit The Wonderful World of Newsgroups. If you would like to go through
a tutorial about the internet go to the usfarmnetwork.com switchboard,
click the "web guide" button and Internet tutorial list for a
comprehensive collection of on-line lessons that will walk you through
the many functions of the internet. How do I know how to get around on
the net?
Many times pages and sites are listed in our favorite magazines,
newspapers and journals. These listings usually include an address (URL
that begins with "http://"). This address can be typed into the location
box on your browser. Click the "Enter" (for PCs) or "Return" (for
Macs)
and you will be whisked away to that site. There are several books on
the market that lead you to useful information on the web. The "Yellow
Pages" books are good examples of these types of books. If you need
information on a topic, but do not have an address for it, the search
engines on the web are designed to help you. Click on the "Search"
button of your browser. This action will bring up a search engine page.
Searching the web can be a daunting task with over 4 million web pages
of information and growing daily! For a crash course in how to do an
efficient search on the web, go to Business Research on the Internet: An
On-line Tutorial at http://www.intellifact.com./tutorial.htm. This site
will walk you through using a search engine.
Tip: always use the "tips" or "hints" section on the search engine
page
before running a search as they all work a little differently and this
section will give you necessary assistance!
What equipment do I need to get on to the net?
You need a computer with a modem and web browsing software. You need a subscription to an
internet service provider (or to one of the
proprietary service providers such as America Online or Prodigy). You
can find them in your local yellow pages under "Internet Service
Providers." And you need a telephone line. The line that your telephone
is now using will work fine, but if you find yourself tying it up with
internet activity, you may wish to add an additional telephone line. For
more information about getting online visit Resources for Beginners
sites, web guide button at usfarmnetwork.com/switchboard.html
What if I can't afford a computer?
If you think you can't afford a computer because you believe that they
cost $1000 or more, you're wrong. The cost of computers is coming down
daily. Used and refurbished computers are very inexpensive. It is
possible to find used computers that are internet capable for under
$200.00. If you still can't afford a computer, you can access the
internet at your local public library. Most public libraries now have
computers dedicated to internet use. Many intermediate units also have
internet access. School districts are getting wired and may be places
where the internet can be accessed in off-hours. If you have a College
or University in your area, they too frequently have public internet
accessibility.
What can the Internet vast Web Page resources do for me?
The Net has a web page with most every interest and new features are
coming on line far faster then you could ever explore.! You can access
the net from anywhere and any time. You will find pages on the web about
specific disabilities; illnesses, contact State agencies and
organizations; read newsletters; write to your politicians; and use the
Coffee shop Chat room. You can post messages to the Message Board; join listserv groups or
web ring groups with interests in feeding cattle,
modifying machinery, raising bison. you name it. The Responsive
Classroom, the State Interagency Coordinating Council or Local
Interagency Coordinating Councils. You can contact a farm consultant;
stay up-to-date on upcoming farm shows and conferences; print the most
recent government forms and formats; or order copies of how to books and videos., find the
right farm software. Learning what is ahead and where
the Ag industry is going.. Through the website you can stay up-to-date
on what you need to know affecting your life and what is happening
across the nation.
You may access US Farm Network web page by typing the following address into the location
box on any web browser,
http://www.usfarmnetwork.com/ click on the switchboard for easy web
access.
Where can I get more information?
Most newspapers and publications now include information on a regular
basis about getting onto or using the internet. For the truly dedicated,
there are many books on the market that can walk you through the steps
of getting online and using the internet. The "For Dummies" books are a
wonderfully non-tech, friendly series that is easy to read, in language
that does not require a tech degree to understand! If reading
instructions is not your style, find a mentor who is already on the net
and ask for lessons. Many local intermediate units are conducting
internet workshops. Call them to request a schedule of upcoming internet
sessions. Your local community college is probably offering internet
sessions as well. They typically are very inexpensive courses. Good
sites on the Web include good beginners' information on the switchboard
web guide button. These can be printed out. Internet Instruction Guides
and wonderful tutorial written for beginning audience with sections
about sending email, attaching information to email, getting around the
web, finding information, participating in chat sessions, accessing
bulletin boards, and more!
More next month.....
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