Module 4 Downloading tools / Plug-ins task – Part 1

Our Acer at Home

About 2 months ago I purchased an Acer Aspire One Netbook. You know what they are:a small laptop with an 8 inch screen and weighing in at under a kilogram. It would be mainly used when we travel overseas to stay in connect with friends and family via email and skype. We would utilise some of the many wireless hotspots available.

Computers come with very little useful software preloaded apart form the operating system and some limited use trial software. The first thing that needed doing was to install Firefox. This is my preferred browser. As well as the browser itself there are many add-ons and plug -ins available. This was followed by McAfee Security (I have a 3 machine licence).Having previously experienced virus troubles, I am paranoid, so I take precautions.

The major purpose of this machine is communication with family and friends so Skype and Fastmail were installed. So basically we were good to go. But wait a minute. What about the iPod? ok install Apple iTunes, this automatically installed Quicktime.

Then nearly as an afterthought , Adobe PDF Reader was installed, just in case we decided to use the netbook for other purposes. Then to top it all off I decided to load Open Office. This includes a nice feature that allows you to save files in pdf format.

A few hours of time and the netbook is set up ready to use on the web. Best part about it was all the software is free. (I admit that the McAfee licence cost money, but I already owned the licence so adding the third machine did not incur additional cost).

Just before finishing off this small post I though I had better check whether Shockwave was installed. It was not. Shockwave is a very quick install. The only thing I disliked is that it also wanted to include a Norton’s scan. I am not a fan of this type of cross selling. Usually when installing software the user takes the easy option and assumes that the tick boxes are the recommended install, as opposed to a custom install. If you do not read the instructions carefully you could end up with unwanted software installed.

The Netbook set-up is a slimmed down version of the way our “home” laptops are set up. I did not explore any other software for it as the major purpose was email and VOIP communication. Installation of the software is straightforward and just requires some time to load the software.

In setting up this machine, I took into account the major items mentioned in our course notes, cost, ease of use, functionality utility and commonality. The interesting point of this , I set up this netbook two months before I started to look at this module.

Does this make me clever? I think it means that experience and experimentation has delivered an appropriate range of software for the purpose required. In time I suspect the software will change. But I also think about the saying by French novelist Alphonse Karr “The more things change the more they stay the same.”

 

Module 2 – Reflections on Chat /IM

I decided to have another look at the task requirements for this module as well as the posts I had made . I feel that I covered off the basic requirements but something was missing.

I had never extensively used chat/IM  before. I was aware of IM because  some of my nephews and nieces had been using it for years.I just never felt the urge to be as available to friends and family as they seemed to be. . At work I like to focus on the task at hand without extraneous interruptions. I can hear you say that is not possible. I can assure you that it is not only possible but also the only way I could get my work done and still have a life. All email notifications were off and the telephone diverted and the office door closed,

During the course of this study period, I have installed MSN and ICQ .Both very straight forward to download and install. I have managed to have several one on one text chats with fellow students on both MSN and ICQ, as well as Skype and found the experience satisfying. The drawback for me was the act of typing the message.  Years of training and rereading text before publishing seems to go out of the window as I try to keep the conversation flowing. It is not easy sitting there looking at a blank screen with only the occasional “name” is typing appearing on the screen.

The other thing that struck me was the length of time that a conversation can take. A simple voice conversation covering the same topic may only take several minutes. Text conversation takes much much longer. My daughter tells me that I need to multi-task and do something else whilst waiting for the next text to pop up on the screen. This is difficult for two reasons, firstly in general men do not multi-task well. Have a read of The real difference between men and women. This article although it turns into an advert for brain food,summarises in simple language a lot of the thoughts that you can find online without any sexist overtones found in Men and Multitasking. And secondly, when conversing with someone  I was taught that it was impolite not to concentrate on the conversation at hand.

That bring us to last night (Sunday 4th January). Brett had organised an ICQ meeting for 7pm AEST . In the week preceding I had added  ICQ numbers to my contacts list as they appeared on the discussion board. When I added contacts, I also made sure that I renamed them with their student name , this would make it a lot easier to track who was talking during the group chat. At the appointed time I was added to the conversation along with a dozen others and the fun began.  I was amazed at the speed of the conversation. No sooner had one message appeared and there was another in its place. It was difficult keeping up with the conversation. There appeared on occasion to be several conversations going at the same time. By the time I had typed a message in reply to a point, the screen had moved on. It helps to be a speed typist. I need to look at the keys as I type, not good in a chat that moved as fast as last night.

If this sounds critical, it is not meant to be. The experience was exhilarating and and good fun. I learnt a bit about fellow students and their preferred methods of communications.  In fact this could be a regular feature for the rest of the study period as Tess has set up aNET SP4 Chat Group. This will give us another method of discussing issues that arise in the course of our learning journey.

In summary I have found Chat/IM to be a very easy medium to utilise. I think the drawback is that all your friends need to be on the same platform. It may mean that you need to have several chat programs installed. I have just become aware of Meebo which opens all of your chat accounts in one platform. I have not used it to any great degree, but it seems to simplify the process.

 

Module 2 – Chat -Part 1

I currently use  Skype to keep in touch with friends and family, both interstate and overseas. I use both the written chat and VOIP (skype-to-skype, as well as skype to land line).  Skype was easy to set up ( approximately 5 minutes inclusive of downloading the software) and has not caused any problems with other installed software.

I used Skype to chat to Peter and  Antony. I actually had both conversations going at the same time. I found this to be a little disconcerting. To make matters worse (for me)  I actually typed a message meant for Antony in the conversation I was having with Peter. Not really a good idea and very impolite.

I apparently had Windows Live Messenger installed. My daughter thought I should have this because it meant she could share photos of my grandchildren without having to actually email them . Sort of a shared network folder. She now uses  Facebook to post photos that all the family can share in, so MSN live messenger had not been used for a year or two.

To be true to the spirit of learning , I  decided to explore some of the other  chat options. As a first step I installed ICQ. The installation was quiet straight forward, and an email was received requiring me to confirm my account. The first thing that I noticed was  ICQ  installed its own toolbar

ICQ Toolbar

containing a  search window, in fact it became the default search engine. I had not at any time authorised this. Strike 1 against ICQ.  I then proceeded to add some contacts in both ICQ and Windows Live Messenger that I had obtained from fellow students on WEBCT. Being the Holiday season, it was no surprise to find nobody online and at this stage I have yet to use either of these programs for chatting.

Adding contacts was no effort, just type in the contacts’ email address, send a short message, and job done. The annoying thing for me was the pop up window that both MSN and ICQ display. I realise that both of these services are “free” to the user and that somebody needs to pay the bill for the service, but I find them a pain in the butt.  I do not receive these type of windows when using Skype. I do receive the occasional email advertising Skype phones and other Skype services which I find less distracting.

In fact if you click on the find a friend tab, ICQ looks like a dating service. This is not something I would expect from a messaging tool, but I suppose finding a friend is a legitimate communications tool. In my youth we found friends in the “disco’s and pubs” . Ah, the days pre computer.