Ways of Communication

1
Ways of Communication

• Person-to-person
• Computer-to-computer
• By Anja Smit and Jenny Chang

2
Index

• 3. Introduction
• 5-9. Chat programs
• 10-14. Microphones
• 15-17. E-mail
• 18-20. Forums
• 21. Computer-to-computer title page
• 22-24. LAN/Ethernet
• 25-29. Internet

3

• To really understand how each of these
  communication items work, you need to try them
  all out. I, personally, have tried all except
  AOL. This gets you the inside benefits of
  having tried the programs, and perfects your own
  tastes. A connection to the Internet is mandatory
  in (almost) all cases.

4
Person-to-person
5
Chatprograms
6
AOL

• This is a person-to-person chatprogram in which
  you can only talk to one person in a little
  window. It is very similar to MSN instant
  messenger. They use instant messages (IMs) which
  your computer sends to their computer.
• Specialties/ uniqueness Chat with friends on the
  web and AOL., choose/make a buddy icon to express
  yourself, make your instant messages (IMs) stand
  out with rich text and smileys, transfer files,
  music, or photos while chatting (IMing).
• Source http//www.aim.com/index.adp

7
MSN Instant messenger

• A chatting program like AOL.
• Specialties/ uniqueness You can see when your
  contacts are online, you can chat with 4 of them
  at the same time (in one window), it has an
  automatic typing indicator which shows if one of
  your contacts is typing, you can customize your
  online status (busy, lunch, telephone, etc), if
  you are away for a couple of minutes the status
  automatically changes to away, and it plays
  sounds if someone sends you a message or if
  someone comes online. http//www.udel.edu/physics/
  scen103/XDGS/msnmessenger.html

8
ICQ

• ICQ actually means I Seek You. Usually uses
  instant messaging system (sends a message that
  immediately pops up on an online contact's
  screen). It also lets you send e-mails, SMS
  (communication through telephone messaging) and
  wireless-pager messaging. You can also transfer
  files and URLs.
• Specialties/ uniqueness You get a unique number
  you can enter personal information (allowing you
  to be recognized by others users when you log
  on). It has a people search engine (helps you
  find people). You can also send messages to
  contacts when they are offline, and they will get
  the message when they come online.
• Source http//www.icq.com/products/whatisicq.html
  

9
IRC

• IRC actually means Internet Relay Chat. Lets
  people from everywhere participate in real-life
  conversations. It uses chat clients, such as
  mIRC, Virc, and Pirch. The program does not
  matter because theyre all connected to the same
  network. When youre logged into a chat session,
  you converse by typing messages that are
  instantly sent to other chat participants. To use
  IRC, you need to master some basic commands, like
  logging on, finding a channel, and having private
  conversations. Usually, youre in a channel with
  a couple or many other people who can see what
  everyone else is typing. A private message is
  just between you and the person youre having the
  conversation with, and no one can interfere with
  that. It saves on phone bills and you can get
  many friends. http//www.mirc.com/irc.html

10
Microphones
11
How does it work?

• All microphones work in similar ways, even though
  there are many types of microphones. Noise
  travels through the air as waves. You can relate
  this to dropping a stone in water and see the
  water ripples spread out. Microphones need to
  pick up these waves, so it needs something which
  vibrates when the sound hits it. This vibrator is
  called the diaphragm, which works the same as
  holding a balloon filled with air next to your
  cheek and talking and the balloon vibrates. After
  the diaphragm finds the sound waves, it turns
  them into electric currents. It does this so the
  sound can travel down wires or be recorded unto
  tapes.

12
How does it work? (cont.)

• This involves a magnet, which is connected to the
  diaphragm and surrounded by a coil of wires. The
  diaphragm moves a magnet back and forth, making
  electric currents in the wires. The electric
  currents are turned back into sound by a speaker,
  which is a microphone in reverse. In a speaker,
  the magnet stays in one place and there are coils
  of wires which are attached to another diaphragm.
  As the currents flow around the coils, the coil
  moves by magnetic force (which was created by the
  currents). This moves the diaphragm, which makes
  the air vibrate and makes sound.
  http//www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Technology/O
  riginal/t00014d.html

13
Headset

• A headset is like speakers connected to each
  other by a wire that fits over your head. It
  doesnt record sound from the surroundings, only
  by your voice. This results in higher voice
  quality. The speakers are covered by a piece of
  foam and fit nicely over your ears. Attached to
  one of the speakers is a microphone, which goes
  through another wire to a place near your mouth
  so you can talk into it.

Here is a picture of a headset
Sources http//www.homenethelp.com/buy/item.asp?i
d1825 http//www.communitech.com/telex/usb_prod
ucts.asp
14
Headset (cont.)

• Uniqueness It fits over your head like disc man
  or walkman headphones and allows you to talk like
  you would talk to a person without raising your
  voice.
• Specialties You dont have to hold the
  microphone, you can plug it into your speakers
  and set it up easily, its comfortable and fairly
  cheap, and its very useful when playing computer
  games.

15
Electronic mail
16
How does it work?

• Lets you send messages from your computer to
  someone elses computer. It has many advantages
  over letter writing and the postal service. (no
  uniqueness or specialties needed). 1 its fast.
  You type a message and you send it by clicking
  send, and it is almost instantly delivered to
  the recipient. 2 its easy. When you open up
  the program or website, it shows you how many new
  messages you have received. You can then easily
  respond to it or delete it from your inbox
  (where your incoming e-mails go). You can also
  save the message and print it, and lastly you can
  forward it. 3 you may get a lot of pen pals. 4
  its cheaper than mail by postal service. There
  are services that dont charge you a lot to use
  e-mail. And 5, lastly, its flexible. You can
  send messages to more than one person. E-mail
  does have some disadvantages, though. It lacks
  privacy of first class mail and for some e-mail
  systems you have to sign up. Source
  http//www.wcape.school.za/subject/CS/PHS/telecom.
  doc

17
Types

• There are 2 types of e-mail system servers on a
  server machine the POP3 and the SMTP.
• SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. It
  handles outgoing mail. POP3 stands for Post
  Office Protocol, and it handles incoming mail.
• http//computer.howstuffworks.com/email4.htm

18
Forums
19
Types of Forums

• There are many kinds of forums. There are public
  forums, private forums, guild forums, chat
  forums, and message boards. They all work around
  the same basics, though. You can read a topic and
  reply to it. If you click reply, it is like
  sending an e-mail to everyone who is a member or
  who can view the page (depending on the forum).
  It is also slow chatting, you can post when you
  want and usually from where you want, and
  everyone can reply to what you said, and you can
  reply to what they said.

20

• Uniqueness combines chatting and sending e-mails
  in one. Specialties you can post when you want,
  (if you have access) where you want. Others
  control you you can post what you want, but if
  the moderator disagrees with what you said (i.e.
  foul language, racism, etc.) he or she can change
  the content or delete the post. Examples of most
  common used forums EZ Board, ICQ chat board,
  NeoPets chat boards.
• Resources gathered from personal experience
  mostly http//www.ezboard.com/help/user/faq.html
  

21
Computer-to-computer
22
LAN Local Area Network
23
What is LAN

• A group of computers together in, for example, an
  office building that share a common
  communications line or wireless link. They share
  the resources of a single processor. It usually
  has data stored that other computers need to
  access. A LAN can serve a couple of computers, or
  thousands of them.
• Source http//searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDe
  finition/0,,sid7_gci212495,00.html

24
Ethernet

• The most widely installed LAN technology (both
  wired and wireless)
• Originally developed by Xerox
• Uses a coaxial cable or special grades of twisted
  wires
• 10BASE-T systems provide transmission speeds for
  up to 10 Mbps
• Ethernet is connected to the cable
• Source http//searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDe
  finition/0,,sid7_gci212080,00.html

25
Internet
26
How Cable Modems Work

• Each television signal is given a 6-megahertz
  (MHz, millions of cycles per second) channel on
  the cable. In other systems, fiber-optic cable
  goes from the cable company to different
  neighborhoods or areas. Cable television system
  requires two types of equipment a cable modem on
  the customer end and a cable modem termination
  system(CMTS)

27
What is a dial-up connection?

• Dial-up connection is the traditional form of
  internet. With a dial-up connection, the
  computer establishes and maintains the connection
  until disconnects. Dial up can make the
  connection of the internet to your existing phone
  line.

28
How DSL Works

• When you connect to the Internet, you might
  connect to regular modem, or local-area network
  connections, or through a cable modem or with the
  digital subscriber line (DSL) connection. DLS is
  a lot more high speed then the telephone line.

29
Advantages of DSL

• You can always leave your internet connection
  until you need to use the telephone
• The speed is much higher than a regular modem
  (1.5 Mbps vs. 56 Kbps)
• DSL doesn't necessarily require new wiring it
  can use the phone line you already have.
• The company that offers DSL will usually provide
  the modem as part of the installation (saving you
  money on the purchase of a modem)