Email, Newsgroups, Chat, Instant Messenger

Material requires a computer with a sound card, microphone, and video camera.

Based on: Either Week 3 of Online Syllabus or http://www.cs.uml.edu/~pkrolak/lab1/lab1.htmlP.D. & M.S. Krolak Copyright 2005

Email Offers

• Immediacy – the email message arrives almost as soon as it is sent unlike “snail mail”, i.e. postal letters.

• Can be sent to one or more people.

• Normally short and single topic.

• Can have one or more attachments for group work

Email

• How does email work?

• Email addresses

• Netiquette in Internet communications.

• Netscape’s Messenger email client.

• Webmail

How does email work?

Email Features

• To: (main targets of the email documents)

• From: (the sender)• CC: (Carbon copy –

information copies)• BCC: (Blind Carbon Copy

– file copies, copies sent without listing them for the other readers to see)

Email features

• Subject: (Tells what the message is about.) It is rude to leave the subject blank and frequently results in the email not being read.

• The body: (the text document). Some email clients allow the use of HTML, i.e. web like documents.

• The attachment: one or more documents that are sent with the text message. The document can be word documents, images, audio and multi-media files, etc.

What can you do with Email?Functions

• Send: Send message to the list of recipients.

• Reply and Reply all: Send a reply to the sender or the whole mailing list.

• Forward: Send it to someone else not on the mailing list.

• Save: Store in a folder for future reference.

• Delete: Discard into the trash bin.

Email Addresses

• An email address has two parts:1. The user_id (whose mail box to store the

message). The user_id is chosen by the user or assigned by the Internet Service Provider (ISP)

2. The user’s mail server’s domain name.

The two parts are separated by a “@”. My email address for example is: pkrolak@cs.uml.edu

Creating an AddressbookStarting from scratch:

Click on [NewCard]  A dialog box will appear that will ask for the individual's information.

Note this can be as simple as name & email address or can include mai address, phone contact information, and information about business and personal relationships. 

Adding addresses from email:Click [OK] when finished.

Capturing email addresses from the email you receive.

1. Use the Right Mouse Button (RMB) and click on the email of the sender or CC: email addresseses.

2. Select Add sender or Add All to contacts. The addressbook will bring up each individual to be added.

Note that the information may have to be modified or expanded to include capturing email address and other information from signature cards 

Creating an email address list

• Address lists allow users to send email to the same list of people on a regular basis.

• Many ISPs and web mail systems limit lists to no more than 25 users.

How to obtain email addresses

Creating or Adding a new individual  Starting from scratch: 

1. Email address gotten by asking, business card or other correspondence, 

2. Using corporate or university addressbooks

3. Using web based email search sites.

4. If all else fail call the person and ask for it.

Netiquette

netiquette -- rules of behavior for persons using the Web and other Internet communications. These rules are commonsense manners that prevent the user from misusing resources, or harming the author, or others.

Netiquette in Internet communications.

• Golden Rule – don’t send anything that you would not want your mother to read.

• The use of bcc, mail forwarding, etc. allows email to have a life of its own. You don’t own it and your boss and many others may read it. In most cases you Do Not have a right to privacy (current law on this is subject to change)

• Corporations are learning that their email archives can be detrimental in court cases.

• Just because you delete it does not mean it is gone. Government and corporations have requirements for retention and archiving email as legal documents.

• Sexual harassment, cyberstalking, and child porn can get you fired and/or arrested.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR COMPUTER ETHICSfrom the Computer Ethics Institute

1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people. 2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work. 3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's files. 4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal. 5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness. 6. Thou shalt not use or copy software for which you have not paid. 7. Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without

authorization. 8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output. 9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you

write. 10. Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration and

respect.

http://www.fau.edu/netiquette/net/ten.html

Seven Sins of Email1. Ignoring – not reading email in a timely fashion can be grounds for

dismissal in some corp.2. Lying – I didn’t receive it. Email leaves a trail.3. Presuming -- Sending email without a follow-up phone call on critical

matters.4. Waffling – Be succinct.5. Blitzing – Sending email to busy people who are not relevant is spam.6. Sloppiness – lazy, incorrect grammar, misspellings, etc. create a negative

impression.7. Tactlessness – Email can be easily misconstrued. Puns, irony, etc. are

lost in text, use emoticons and care, reread before sending, don’t use all caps, and most important never send an email written when you are angry or upset (if in doubt have a trusted friend read it and wait, if possible, to reconsider it when you are in a cooler state of mind).

From:You Guilty? The 7 Sins of E-Mail , Netscape Money & Business

Emoticons

• Emoticons -- Sometimes called "smiley icons," emoticons are used to transmit the author's emotional state which is sometimes difficult to detect in text messages, i.e. : ) for happy, ; ) , a wink or just kidding (Note the ";" instead of the ":"), or :( for sad or disappointed

Samples of Emoticons: ) Happy or Similey ; ) Wink

: O Surprise : o)X Happy Geek

:' ) Laughed till I cried! :" ( Very Sad or Crying

: ( Sad

AbbreviationsCommon Abbreviations & Their Meaning

BRB Be Right BackCBB Can't be bothered -- Not interested or not worth

considering.ETA Expected Time of ArrivalFYI For Your InformationLOL Laughing Out LoudRGRDS RegardsROFL Rolling On the Floor LaughingRTFM Read The F@*%***  Manual. A rude remark that is

used when a new member asks too many questions. Avoid using!

ZZZ Boring --You are putting me to sleep.For an extensive list of emoticons and abbreviations, see : http://

www.thirdage.com/features/tech/netglos/

Web email

• Many web sites called “portals” offer a full variety of services including free email accounts – allows the user access to it anywhere on the web e.g. hotmail, yahoo, netscape.

• Google now offers an account with huge limits that allow user to send and receive images, mp3s, and multi-media.

Newsgroups

• Newsgroups started out as electronic bulletin boards where people posted questions and answers.

• The newsgroup is a server program, called a Listserv®,

• Discussion groups are similar to Newsgroups in the manner in which they work, but normally are restricted in audience.

Google’s historic newsgroup archives

• Google's http://groups.google.com archives nearly a 100,000 newsgroups and over 700 Million messages going back to 1970’s.

• The newsgroup archive is a treasure trove of the new information society.

• Remember that newsgroups are full of information and misinformation.

• Other search engines also can locate messages in newsgroups, e.g. http://www.dogpile.com/

Chat

• Chat rooms work with a variety of mechanisms. The most common is the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) protocol which is one of the TCP/IP protocols.

• The chat defines a channel (Chat Room) that will send all the messages typed by one member of the channel  to all the other clients logged into that channel (chat room). See for instance- http://www.chatlist.com/

Instant Messenger (IM)

• IM is similar to a private chat room, i.e. a conversation between two people with some important additional features:– A buddy list of friends that notify the IMer

when one or more buddy comes online.– Members of the buddy that are online can be

invited into an IM conversation.

IM

• IM had about 50 Million users in 2002 and is growing at about 20% a year.

• IM is popular with the middle schoolers and is growing in popularity with government and industry.

• Family with armed forces members in Iraq can keep in touch at little or no cost.

Instant Messenger (IM)

• AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)

• Historical the first commercial IM

• Users in the Millions and highly popular with the middle and high schoolers.

Yahoo IM

• Yahoo Instant Messenger1.BuddyList

2.Chat

3.Web telephony (voice)

4.Video conference (web cam)

5.Can share images and other files.

6.Can send a text message to a cell phone.

7.Market watch and other features.

The Buddy List

• The Buddy List is created assist you in finding out that your friends are online.

• To add a buddy we create a group that is appropriate, i.e. family, friends, business, etc.

Instructions for Creating a Group and Adding Buddies

• First is to find your Buddy’s user_id.

• Click Add (Plus Sign)• Fill in the user_id and

answer questions.

Yahoo IM

Instructions Messenger WindowInstructions Messenger Window After the microphone is installed: 

Click [Help]/Audio Setup Wizard. This will get the correct microphone volume settings.

Click [Voice] to invite the buddy into a voice chat.

Click the Talk button to talk (Like a CB radio you must key the microphone). If the volume is correct, when you speak you will see the dynamic volume chart (Box closest to [Talk]) with some yellow bars. Red may indicate that you are over driving the speakers. 

Checking the Hands Free will leave the microphone ON and it will broadcast continuously. This may add static to the conversation. Also it will take up unnecessary bandwidth.  [Voice Off] ends the voice chat.

Step 4 Initiate a voice conference:

Yahoo IM (Using Your Microphone)

Instructions Messenger Window After the microphone is installed:

Click [Help]/Audio Setup Wizard. This will get the correct microphone volume settings.

Click [Voice] to invite the buddy into a voice chat.

Click the Talk button to talk (Like a CB radio you must key the microphone). If the volume is correct, when you speak you will see the dynamic volume chart (Box closest to [Talk]) with some yellow bars. Red may indicate that you are over driving the speakers.

Checking the Hands Free will leave the microphone ON and it broadcast continuously. This may add static to the conversation. Also it will take up unnecessary bandwidth.

[Voice Off] ends the voice chat.

Yahoo IM (Using your web cam)

When using a web cam or viewing others -- avoid using it until you establish that you can trust the people to send only acceptable material and that the viewer is

someone you can trust. -- Pornography and Sexual predators are potential risks --

Instructions Web Cam Window To create a video web cam:

1. First hook up the video device to your computer. 2. Set your preferences and view the web cam

output: o Click [Login]/Prefences/webcam

3. After you find an online buddy (the yellow smiley face will be next to the name or you will get an announcement message. Send an invitation to the buddy to view your web cam.

o Click [Tools]/Invite to View my web cam o Type in the names of the buddies using the

Yahoo_Ids and separating the multiple names with commas.

o Click [Send Invitation] button.

The Dark Side of the Internet

• Hackers

• Viruses, worms, and Trojan horses

• Spam

• Scams:

• Phishing

• Identify Theft and the Web

Hackers

• Hackers were originally those people with intense interest and computer skills.

• Hackers are now people who use their computer skills to break into secure computer sites, disrupt Internet communications, steal information, etc.

Viruses, Worms, and Trojan Horses

• A virus is a computer program that is program that can hide itself in the files of a computer. Once in the computer it will replicate itself and infect more files in a manner similar to a biological virus.

• Viruses can destroy the data files and corrupt the disk, in extreme cases actually cause hardware failures.

Worms

Worm -- A program that rapidly replicates and sends messages over a network to create a denial of serve by flooding with the network with useless messages.

Trojan Horses

• Trojan Horse -- A program that seems desirable to bring into the user's environment but has a hidden piece of code that carries out some actions on the user's computer.

• These actions range from harmless messages to destruction of user files, denial of service, or stealing personal data.

• Lately hackers have taken over thousands of computers to launch attacks on other sites.

Spam

Spam is electronic junk that like the fatty canned meat of the same name clogs our internet communication lines at an alarming rate, gobbles up storage, and at best irritates users, costs the ISPs and others a fortune to prevent and/or to remove. At its worst spam is used by scammers, hackers, and others to market and prey on literally millions of users at a very low cost.

Spam

• What is Spam?Junk email – unwanted, resource robbing, and often contains

viruses, worms, and scams.• Why is it an increasing problem?

Spam is the fastest growing component of messages on the Internet that consumes bandwidth, storage, and angers the user. ISPs and some consumer groups are attempting to shut down the worst offenders.

• What can be done about it?– Closing down ISP that permit email relaying.– Apply filters and tools to remove it. – Lobby for federal legislation to create civil and criminal penalties

for those who send Spam. – A recently passed law is being used to prosecute commercial

spammers.

Why Estimate the Cost of Spam?

• Important for policy reasons to know severity of problem –helps in assigning priority to issue;

• To determine which economic actors have to bear costs – alsoimportant in focussing on solutions;

• Spam imposes negative externality on society (similar topollution in the manufacturing economy): economic damageand cost borne by third parties resulting in an overall loss ofwelfare for society;

• If costs of spam are unacceptable then have to put in placemechanisms to change behaviour of producers of spam;

• Market itself does not provide mechanism to correct for costsinflicted by spam. If economic solutions are used to combatspam, cost data can help determine prices applied to reduce oreliminate spam;

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/47/5/26618988.pdf

Impact on Consumers

• E-mail has value to recipient which varies with the content;• Each e-mail entails the same receiving/processing cost for

consumer. For spam the value of the e-mail is negative and to this must be added the processing cost;

• If the amount of spam received is extremely high it could theoretically outweigh the positive value of receiving e-mail;

• Costs to consumers for processing mail are declining as consumers switch to broadband from dial-up (where timebased Internet access charges exist) and because of quicker download times;

• But increase in volume of spam likely to result in net increase in costs;

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/47/5/26618988.pdf

Overall Cost: Some Estimates

• Reduced use of an efficient and cheap means of communications among economic actors – slows down growth of e-commerce and development of digital economy.

Total economic impact of spam – estimates vary:• Global cost “conservatively” estimated at estimated at €10 Billion

(European Commission Study 2001);• Ferris Research (Jan. 2003) estimated that spam cost US

companies $8.9 billion dollars in 2002. The same study estimated the cost of spam in Europe as US$2.5 billion.

• UNCTAD (2003): $20 billion;• Cost to Hong Kong economy $1.3 billion (HKISPA 2004);

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/47/5/26618988.pdf

Spyware

• Spyware – software that gathers information about a person or computer without permission or knowledge.

• Once loaded unto a computer sends data back to the site that launched them.

• Can be very dangerous and used in identity theft and other forms of fraud.

• Can make your computer appear to be slow and unresponsive.

Internet Scams

• Scams over the Internet unlike the fraud and similar crime can be difficult to detect, prosecute, and prevent.

• Email can be used to reach 250 million with a simple program and a CD-ROM with the email addresses.

• Example - The African businessman who offers to split a large sum of money if he can only electronically wire it to your checking account. He also requires a fee wired to his account to bribe fellow country men. Your fee and your bank account are immediately seen to vanish.

• See http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/10/31/ftc.web.scams/

Phishing

What is Phishing?– Using email or web sites to look like authentic

corporate communications and web sites to trick people into giving personal and financial information.

– FBI sees this a fast growing form of fraud and can lead to theft of identity.

See http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Delivered/internet.htm

Identity Theft

• Identity Theft – the acquiring of personal and financial information about a person for criminal purposes.

• Your Social Security Number, credit card numbers, and passwords on your machine can be used to gain information about you from the web sources. Once the information is gained it is used to change large amounts for plane tickets, etc. The person can also assume your identity for fraud and terrorism.

• It can take up to 18 months and thousands of dollars to restore your credit.

See http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/15965.html

Protecting Yourself on the Internet

• Firewalls (both HDW and SFW)

• Anti-Virus & Anti-Spyware

• Never open an attachment that you were not expecting. If in doubt call the person.

• Always backup the critical data