WWW: How To Get On...

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER

				       
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		     Black Graduate Students Association
		      at Georgia Institute of Technology
				       

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 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Actually, it's been here for a little while, I'm just here to tell you how
 to access it. :->
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                World Wide Web
                                --------------

              It's the "Information Superhighway" come alive! No
              more homogeneous text, scrolling page after page...
              We've got colors, lots of colors.  Radiant graphics,
              and melodic sounds! It's as easy as pointing your
              finger (or a mouse). Take advantage of this offer
              while you can!

What is World Wide Web?
-----------------------

It is an internet service for multimedia (text, graphics, sounds, videos, etc.) information distribution.

How do I connect to it?
-----------------------

There are many different ways to connect to the "World Wide Web" (WWW). In a recent survey (http://www.gatech.edu/pitkow/survey/survey-1-1994/ survey-paper.html) conducted by the Graphics Visualization & Utilizatoin center at Georgia Tech, it was found that "Mosaic" is by far the most popular "browser" availible.

     Question 2.       Cello     Lynx       Mosaic    Other     Samba  
     Browser   %       0.08      1.95       97.22     0.38      0.30

This is followed by "Lynx", which comes in a distant second. Lynx appeal is limited, because it is purely text based browser. Nonetheless, both are easy to use and described below. Start with the section on Mosaic, as it introduces some terminology.

[My personal favorite is the new 'netscape'. To buy, call: 1-800-NETSITE. Anonymous FTP to: ftp.mcom.com/netscape]

MOSAIC
~~~~~~

The best way is to get onto the "World Wide Web" (WWW) is to use a program called "Mosaic". This is a graphical program that you can use on most workstations. The program is also available on Macintoshes and PCs. The very first window that should pop up is the NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications) information page about Mosaic. You have to have an ethernet connection to use it.

When running Mosaic, go to the "File" menu, and select the "Open" or "Open URL" menu item. (URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator.) At the prompt, type the following line, then hit return:

http://www.gatech.edu/bgsa/menu1.html

The previous line is an example of how to receive information using the hyper-text-tranfer-protocol (http). The previous http will take you to the Georgia Tech BGSA Home Page. If you see wording that is a different color than the rest of the text (which is usually black), and it is underlined, then this is a hypertext-link (or just 'link' or 'hook'). You can select these links by clicking the mouse button once. And your off...

The best way to become familiar with this tool is just to play around with it. The menus are self explanatory, and provide the necessary information (links) to travel through the web, and even spin your own!

LYNX
~~~~

The browser presents all infromation in text format (with vt100 terminal emulation). Images & sounds will be replaced with their text alternatives. The quick-reference keys are displayed on a 3-line menu at the bottom of the screen. The key 'G' is the same as 'Open URL' in Mosaic. Because lynx assumes no mouse interface, the hypertext links are selected by using the up/down arrow keys. Pressing the down arrow key allows you go the next link, while pressing the up arrow key allows you to go to the previous link.

Pressing the right arrow key while a link is selected, indicates to lynx to follow that link whereever it leads. pressing the left arrow key directs lynx to go to the previous link. To quit is a simple 'Q'.

How popular is the Web?
-----------------------

(Courtesy U. of Hawaii)

        From January to August 1993, the amount of network traffic (in
        bytes) across the National Science Foundation's (NSF) North
        American network attributed to Web use multiplied by 414 times.
        The Web is now ranked 13th of all network services in terms of
        sheer byte traffic. In January its rank was 127. Today there are
        at least 100 hypertext Web servers in use throughout the world.
        Since its inception, the CERN Web server traffic has doubled
        every four months - twice the rate of Internet expansion.

You may be witnessing the birth of TV's equivalent (hopefully, with much better programming :-) on the Internet. Pizza Hut now allows you to order via the Web (in some areas). Home Shopping Network is making plans to allow people to shop through the Web. Before you visit Palo Alto (CA), you can download a map of the city showing the best restaurants, etc. There's more...

Here are a few other points of interest on the net:

  http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/guide/www.guide.html             (getting started)
  http://white.nosc.mil/info.html                               (Planet Earth)
  http://www.gatech.edu/bgsa/blackpages.html           (Universal Black Pages)
  http://drum.ncsc.org/                     (if you're familiar with the Drum)
  http://www-penninfo.upenn.edu:1962/penninfo-srv.upenn.edu/9000/16871.html
                                                   (African Studies at U-Penn)
Is it really useful?
--------------------

Alou thinks so. He has been able use Mosaic to track down professors at Cal Tech, University of Michigan, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and The Nobel Institute in Sweden. He was able to communicate with them by e-mail about their current research and how it relates to his research. For him, it has proved invaluable, and has allowed him to make some pretty wide-ranging connections.

Basically there's information on anything you can imagine, and if it's not there yet, to paraphrase AT&T, It Will Be. Books, restaurants, city maps, cultural events, technical associations, games, education, libraries, indexes, etc.

Effective Use
-------------

Some people see the 'net as a toy. Some see the 'net as a social/political outlet (for example s.c.a.a.). Others see the net as a tool towards their education & profession. It should be mentioned, that entering the Web for the first time can be rather euphoric; for some people it becomes slightly addictive.

It is important to understand what the web MEANS to you in your professional, political, or social life, and to use it accordingly. There is so much to see, so much to do, that one can't possibly do it all. Your time is valuable, use it wisely.

I Welcome Your Feedback
-----------------------

Did any of this make sense? If it didn't let me know.

From: mac@cad.gatech.edu (Alou Macalou)
Subject: WWW: How to get on...
Date: 23 Oct 1994 11:34:10 -0400
Message-ID: <38dvpi$f8s@cae.cad.gatech.edu>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar