by Flip Michaels
If you're half-comatose on the couch from holiday leftovers...well then, congratulations, you survived! Happy New Year! Yes, it's 1996. Another baby step forward in the digital decade.
I don't want to sound too much like McDonald's, but the number of people surfing the Internet is growing by the thousands each day. Have you succumbed to your cyber-peers? These days, the Internet is good for more than just entertainment. It's good for anything from sharing copy ideas on an electronic bulletin board and tech-talk in a broadcasting forum to checking out radio station home pages and keeping up to speed on what's happening in the radio industry. If you haven't already, speak with your engineer or an Internet guru and get involved!
Free start-up kits are available from many including CompuServe, American On-Line, Delphi, and Prodigy, each with their own portal to the World Wide Web. Just what is the World Wide Web? Or for that matter, the Internet? Ever heard of a URL? In Cheat Sheet format:
Cyber-terms for the computer impaired:
INTERNET - The infrastructure of the "information superhighway," an information conduit that connects a multitude of various on-line services, databases...allowing people to communicate in the cyber-world. (*Using the word "Net" sounds impressive at management meetings!)
WORLD WIDE WEB - One of the most popular Internet features, the "WWW" lets users post pages of information, including graphics, audio, and text, all of which can be downloaded for later use. To access the WWW, a software program called a "browser" is needed. Common web browsers include Spry Mosaic, Lynx, and Netscape.
HOME PAGE - In WWW lingo, a page on the Net = a location of information/graphics/audio/etc.. The home page is the first page representing a particular sight.
UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR - Referred to as URLs. They are simply the computer addresses for WWW pages. For example, to read a story on how one woman used the Net to gather quilts for developmentally disabled children, go to URL:http://www.cnet.com/Central/Tv/Stories/Quilt/
E-MAIL - Short for electronic mail, memos and messages sent via computer to other users.
And for the Radio-Geeks:
Top Ten signs you're spending too much time with computers...
10. Your blood pressure is 640 over 480.
9. You can't remember the last time you went out with your buddies and got seriously defragged.
8. You turn a night out with friends down because you have to clean your Windows directory tonight.
7. You find yourself each morning looking for CTRL, ALT and DEL keys on your bathroom mirror.
6. Your life has lost its meaning since Intel and Microsoft announced Plug and Play.
5. 900 numbers? Never touch 'em, but your phone bill averages $100 a month from modem usage fees.
4. The Microsoft Natural Keyboard seems like a pretty neat idea.
3. You got more e-mail than Christmas cards.
2. Every time you drown, Bill Gates' life passes before your eyes.
1. You got more than half the jokes on this list!
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