9. Other Services

1. Join in discussions ?

• Newsgroups: You can join a newsgroup and take part in discussion on a whole range of topics on subjects such as the world of art, educational issues, physics, chemistry, social problems, hobbies and leisure.
  
  
  
• Chat rooms: You can join a chat room which are less structured than newsgroups and in which people have discussions on a wide range of topics.

 

Netiquette is very important when using chat rooms or newsgroups.

 

 

 

2. Use Search Engines to look for Information

Google, AskJeeves, Yahoo are all examples of search engines which you can use to find information for you. There are two ways of looking for information.

Doing a Simple Search

You can search for web pages by simply typing in a brief description of what you are looking for and the search engine looks for it, sends the results to your computer and your browser displays them.

 

Doing a complex Search

Sometimes a simple search will return too many results for you to look at. If that happens you need to carry out a complex search with conditions in it that will help the search engine focus on the subject you are interested in and narrow down the results.

The advantage of carrying out a complex search is that it is more specific and returns fewer, more exact results.

 

3. Download Software

There is a wide range of software you can download from the internet. They all have different agreements attached to them. It is important to know the differences between them so you don' t break any copyright agreements.

Freeware

This is free software, but the author still holds the copyright.

Freeware license agreements let you use the software and even make copies of it and given them away to people. It is against the terms of the agreement to change the software or to sell it.

Examples include device drivers for printers and CD-writers and some games.

 

 

Shareware

Shareware software comes with a free 30 day trial period. After the trial period, you should register and pay a small fee for it or delete it from your computer. Once you have done this, you can make copies of the software and distribute them to other people. They then have a free 30 day trial period before having to register and paying.

The disadvantage of this system is that it relies on people's honesty. Unfortunately many people do not pay.

 

Commercial Software

Commercial software is brought across the counter in shops such as PC World or through the internet.

You have to pay the full price up front and license agreements are very detailed.

You are often limited to making one backup copy or are simply allowed to copy the software once on to your hard disk and keep the CD as a backup copy.

Breaking these licence agreements really does break the law - Copyright Designs and Patents Act

 

 

 

 

 

 

What you have to do!

Answer the following questions under a heading "Internet Services" either in your "Brain" or a new Word document.

1. Copy and complete the following paragraph using the words given below.
   Apart from looking at _____ pages, you can use the _______ for having discussions with people using _________ and chat rooms. You can use ______ engines to find web pages for you.
   internet, newsgroups, search, web, eBay
   
   
2. Log on to the internet and open a search engine. Carry out a simple search. Search for 'rivers'. How many pages did you search find?
3. Use your search engine to carry out a complex search. Search for: 'Scottish salmon rivers NOT Tay, NOT Tweed'. How many pages did you find?
4. Is freeware completely free software that you can what you like with?
5. What is the disadvantage of shareware?
6. How many copies of commercial software are you normally allowed to make?
7. Which law is used to protect commercial software?

 

 

What you should be able to do!

1. Provide a few examples of different Search engines.

2. Describe the difference between a Simple and a Complex Search.

3. Explain the difference between:-

   1. Freeware
   2. Shareware
   3. Comercialsoftware

 

Continue to 10. Social & Legal Issues