By Jonathan Davis

Over the last year, particularly this ast summer, the Internet (or the Informa- tion Superhighway as some twits call it) has gotten a lot of bad press. A prime exam- ple of this would be the issue of Time magazine with the cover ofavery young child staring into a computer monitor with the title “Cyberporn”. This image is in error, and to prove this | am here to show anyone interested in using the Internet as the useful and mature information re- ource itis and should be.

| have been on the Internet for bout three years now, with occasional cess dating back even further. In my ime spent searching through the vast esources of the Internet, | learned a lot boutit. As well as pointing you to items f use and interest, | will also endeavor to ass on to you what! have learned of the nternetsociety.

| will go into my reasons for

nsidering the Internet and its populous ociety another time. For now, for the enefit of the frosh and the unlearned, | ill offer some guidelines to help you keep ut of trouble. Why should you listen? ell, Internet Service Providers (such as he Computer Centre, which houses and ntrols our network and internet access), on't blink at the thought of removing meone's accountif they startcausing rouble. What kind of trouble? Well, here

we go. 1)Never borrow passwords and

play with other people's accounts. Ifyou have any idea how, you could incite a riot

Newspaper

onthe Internet, and loose internet access forallofus. Also, ifyou are caught using someone else's account you will risk loosing your own, as wellas the other

person's.

2)Take it easy with the E-Mail. Sure, it's neatto senda message saying “Hello” to your friend sitting next to you, but this got really out ofhand two years ago. Last year adelay was added, soany outgoing mail fromthe student mailserver was delayed for anywhere from 10 to60 minutes before itwas even sent. Thisis a real pain for anyone who ever had to send amessage and getaresponse in alimited amountoftime.

3)NO NETWORK GAMES|"!!! | cannotstress this one enough. Network games are games you play with other people over the network, like the much- heard-of Doomand DoomIl. The system administrator can find outwhat programs youran, andwhen, for how long, and what the files were even days after you played the game and deleted the files. The reason why these games are so hated is because they will slow down the operation of the entire network. This can really hurt people trying todo assignments and other school-related work. Remember, the student network is for educational pur- poses. Games andthe like are prohibited.

4)No chat programs. Sure, itis fun to have real-time (like a telephone, only

MARKO .WANTS You! |

The Nicer Side Of The Net

typing) chats with people, butthese are banned forthe samereason the games are. Itisn’treally educational, andittakes upa lot of the network resources that other students are fighting for.

5)Stay offthe MUDs and other internet games. Sure, they are fun, but! have personally seen more than five people flunk out because of the MUDs, MUSHs, and other Internet games they played. It really isn’t worth it.

6)I'll only mention the Usenet, or newsgroups, in passing rightnow. When reading Usenet, basically sitbackand shut up fora while. Read what the other people are saying, and learn whatis allowed, and whatisn't. Also, look for postings (messages) labelled “Frequently Asked Questions’ or “FAQ”, this is a file or setof files which may answer whatever questions you have, as wellas setting acceptablilty ground rules for the

newsgroup.

Sure, itmay sound like lam killing your fun here, but believe me, ifyou keep these rules in mind, your time on the Internet will be less rocky than that of

your predecessors.

Comments, suggestions, and ques- tions are welcome at

jdavis@bud.peinet pe.ca

or drop them off at the X-Press

UNCLE

LEARN = INTIMIDATION, \pressure TACTICS,

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