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Flashback Friday – Remember Dialing Into The Internet?

Flashback Friday – Remember Dialing Into The Internet?

by | Apr 28, 2017 | Education, General

Who remembers dealing with dial-up? It was technology that changed the world, but how did it start?

There was a time when the telephone line ruled the world. It did more than making vocal connections from one person to the next; it was also the heart of transmitting written data. Its core concept began early in the 1960s and ended with the advent of broadband connections. In between those years, the ringing buzz of dial-up was the sound heard around the world. Today, dial-up service is all but obsolete in most metro regions, although, you might still hear its signature ring in remote areas. Take a minute to remember those days of dial-up service.

Finding the Right Number

Visionaries began conceptualizing computer networking as far back as 1962 with the Defense Advanced Research Projects or DARPA. In 1965, MIT researcher Lawrence Roberts connected his computer to one in California using a telephone landline and modem, but the phone system at the time was incapable of handling complex packet switching in a larger scale.

In the really early years, it worked more like a fax that transmitted from screen to screen after you physically establish the link between your computer and the phone using a clunky modem. You would pick up the phone receiver, dial a remote number and then wait to hear the ringing noise that indicated a successful connection. The next step involved placing the phone receiver on the modem and then sending whatever file you wanted through the line. It was a process that could literally tie up your phone line for hours and, of course, those long distance fees hurt.

Introducing USENET

At some point, the old-school dial-up becomes more commercialized and global. Even if you remember dial-up Internet, you probably know very little about its predecessor USENET. Developed by Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Steve Bellovin, USENET was a series of newsgroups, much like today’s Internet forum. USENET was conceived more than a decade before anyone was using the World Wide Web, but it set the stage for people wanting that kind of online communication. By the time dial-up hit the consumer marketplace, USENET had already established a market for it.

How Dial-Up Works

Dial-up connections work using telephone lines. The computer now makes a phone call for you via a modem. In order for data to travel through the phone lines, the modem must convert the computer’s signal into analog first. The call goes through using the public switched network, connecting it to modems operated by the service provider.

Once the computer call is initiated, the phone line remains tied up until the computer disconnects. You might remember a time when you picked up the phone receiver and heard a loud screeching noise that indicated the phone line was in use.

Even after homes installed dedicated lines for their dial-up Internet connections, it still took some time to turn on your computer and click the button that initiated the call to the service provider and wait for the connection to go through.

It sounds cumbersome but dial-up changed the world. Before we all become glued to our keyboards and smartphones, your best bet for fast, written communication was the telegram. From emails to social media, the world has become one global consciousness and it all started with old-school dial-up.

Twelve Shortcuts Saving Maximum Time Using Microsoft Outlook

Twelve Shortcuts Saving Maximum Time Using Microsoft Outlook

by | Apr 26, 2017 | Education, General, Wisdom Wednesday

The latest version of Microsoft Outlook is designed to be a personal information manager, not just email. Learn the shortcut tricks and a user can become a power communicator very quickly.  

While many wish there might be another choice, it is unlikely that Microsoft Outlook as a user interface is going to go away anytime soon in the workplace. In this regard, those who see the long perspective focus far more on how to use Microsoft Outlook effectively versus trying to replace it. And that’s where power users are really pushing the boundaries of the tool for maximum performance and the least amount of time communicating.

Here are 12 shortcuts that really stretch Outlook for what it can do for a user:

  1. Keyboard Shortcuts – Yes, there are menu commands. However, it’s those who know the keyboard shortcuts who really get things done amazingly fast. Shortcuts go direct to the function needed, and it doesn’t take long to get used to them. Beginners often just print out a cheat sheet.
  2. Quick Steps – In addition to the keyboard shortcuts, Outlook has a number of Quick Steps. Started with the 2010 version, this is the macro version of shortcuts. They are customizable, so you can make personal multi-step tasks that happen with one code versus three or four menus.
  3. The Clipboard Email Creator – A neat feature, one puts the text in the clipboard and then with Ctrl-V Outlook will automatically convert it into a message, calendar post, or contact entry.
  4. Email Shortcuts – Outlook comes with a number of built-in sorting features for fast locating of a given email message. Learning them allows a user to control the mass of messages that come in daily.
  5. Limiting Notices – A default notice in Outlook will notice every new email, but these can be limited to just high priority parties, cutting down time and focusing attention better. It’s a simple rule creation in Outlook.
  6. Flagging – Ever had an important email that you needed to find later but couldn’t? Red flagging makes it easy to find a pin in a haystack of messages.
  7. Template Powering – Saved email templates for commonly sent emails cuts down a great deal of time, and it protects messaging when protocols have to be followed.
  8. Folders – Simple but effective, active sorting of emails into labeled folders makes them extremely easy to find, segmenting out other emails not needed at the time.
  9. Quick Message Saving – Many people use cut and paste or printing to an Adobe PDF file to save a message. Instead, one can just drag it to the desktop which changes the email to a .MSG format file, easy to open in Outlook.
  10. Utilize All the Features – Outlook isn’t just email, it’s also a task-minder, calendar and journal. Don’t ignore them.
  11. Use Priority Tagging – Outlook has a number of priority fields and color coding for tagging. Using these make it easy to sort and filter items for what’s critical versus fluff.
  12. Natural Language – The software includes a feature where natural language can be typed in to the date field. For example, type in “Christmas” or “four days from today” and Outlook will recognize it on the calendar and implement the item.