Things I Wish I Had Known Before University: Email and Internet

Dear Reader, you may be asking yourself, “Why would a student want to learn about email and browsing the Internet? Aren't those two things distractions to the diligent scholar?” The answer to that question is both “yes” and “no.”

If by “browsing the Internet” you mean, “Perusing Facebook and other social network sites tracking your friends' activities only to find that they're doing nothing more with their lives than checking to see what their friends are doing,” then yes. If the previous statement summarizes your browsing activity, then the Internet is indeed a distraction to both academics and normal life. On the other hand, if you use the Internet as a portal to the wealth of the world's knowledge, then it can act as a tremendous aid to your academic pursuits.

The Browser

Let me begin by saying this: Not all browsers are created equal. Nearly everyone is familiar with Microsoft's own Internet Explorer (IE). Those who don't recognize the name can likely recognize the ubiquitous big blue “e” that has become synonymous with the Internet. Within the past year, Microsoft upgraded IE to version 7. Thankfully, this upgrade included a number of valuable updates. In my humble opinion, IE 6 was a sad excuse for a web browser. It was slow, it was not standards compliant, and it was about as open to malicious attack as a baby stroller on a battle field. With the improvements in version 7, IE has now been upgraded from “sad excuse” to “mildly competent.” If you don't like my assessment, you're free to disagree and leave a comment.

The tech un-savvy among my readership may be thinking, “Thanks for nothing, Jonathan. You've just told me that my browser is crap! What am I supposed to do now?”

Good question! There is, in fact, hope! Back in the 90's, before the advent of IE, Netscape Navigator was king. While Microsoft managed to topple Netscape from its throne, it was not able to kill it entirely. Since then, Netscape has evolved considerably. In fact, it's not even called Netscape any more (Note: Technically Netscape still does exist, but it's only a shadow of its former self). It is now calledFirefox, and is quickly taking the world by storm.

There are several other quality browsers on the market that are very comparable to Firefox in many ways. Although I will primarily deal with Firefox in this article, I will attest to the fact that the following browsers are also quality alternatives to IE: Opera (Win, Mac, & Linux); Flock (Win, Mac); Safari (Win, Mac); Camino (Mac); Konqueror (Linux).

Why Firefox?

Not Microsoft. Granted this isn't the greatest reason to use Firefox. In all honesty, it's not really even a good reason. However, I like to take every opportunity I have to stick it to "the Man".

Free. What's not to like about free software (unless it has spyware in it)? Firefox is arguably one of the most popular Open Source software titles. In some countries, Firefox has nearly surpassed IE in marketshare.

Standards Compliant. I suppose I could take 5,000 words to describe – in moderate detail – the ways in which Firefox is more standards compliant than IE, but I won't. Essentially, Firefox plays by the rules. There are standards set out by an international organization called the W3C which stipulate how websites should be coded and written. A good browser should support these “standards.” IE does not. Firefox does. (This is perhaps more frustrating to website administrators than end users.)

Extensible. It would be unfair to expect that any company or organization would be able to make a perfect web browser. There are different browsing requirements for different people. Firefox tries to address this reality by making it possible to “extend” Firefox. I'm not going to go into detail explaining what's available. Instead, head over there and find out for yourself.

On a related note, Firefox also enables users to apply a theme or “skin” to Firefox. There are themes aplenty for both gaudy and subtle  tastes.

Fast. All the scientists say that Firefox is faster than IE.

Secure. Although IE 7 has made strides to secure web browsing, Microsoft is still a little slow on patching known flaws. Also, all the scientists agree that IE is a sieve when it comes to keeping out the boogie man!

Vibrant. Windows users far and wide were blown away by IE 7's newest feature: tabbed browsing. They all said to themselves, “Wow! How did we ever do without it?” In case you're thinking that Microsoft was brilliant in introducing this feature, allow me to rain on the parade. Microsoft is far from original. Both Firefox and Opera had tabbed browsing as early as 2001, 5 years before IE7. In fact, about a year before IE7 was released, Microsoft claimed that there was no demand for tabbed browsing. If you're sensing a pretty strong anti-Microsoft sentiment, you're right. Microsoft is about as original in their ideas as a 17-year-old 6^th grader who finally manages to pass art class by stealing a painting. Firefox is not driven by some bureaucratic corporation. Rather, it is a dynamic and vibrant community that is much more open to the idea of change and innovation.

Master Your Browser

There's no use having the world's best browser if you don't use it effectively. Almost everyone knows the basics of using a web browser, but few people know how to use one effectively. Here are a few good habits to develop.

Master the Tabs. Even with a tabbed browser, some people still don't use them. Use them.

Master the Keyboard. When I worked at CompuSmart, our inventory program was DOS-based. There was no way of using a mouse, so we had to use a keyboard to do everything. One of our cashiers was incredibly quick at using the keyboard to navigate the program. Unbeknown to most people, most everyday programs are navigable using keyboard shortcuts. Without a doubt, this is the fastest way of working with a program. The initial learning curve is well worth the time saved by using keyboard shortcuts. Here are some of the ones that you should know and use.

Master your Bookmarks. If you've become accustomed to IE's method of managing bookmarks/favorites, then you probably remember putting all of your bookmarks into one list. While a single list of bookmarks may be okay if you only have 10 bookmarks, a long list of bookmarks is hardly an effective way of dealing with 300 bookmarks. There are some ways of ensuring that a vast collection of bookmarks does not become unwieldy.

Organize your bookmarks into folders. Most modern browsers allow users to establish a folder structure for their bookmarks. I'm a bit of a bookmark packrat (pic). I have a very elaborate structure of bookmarks that I constantly reference. True Story: while writing this section of this article, I was going through my bookmarks and noticed that my folder of Apple bookmarks was gone. I thought I had lost it forever... and that was really ruining my evening. Thankfully, I discovered after about 10 minutes of troubleshooting that I had accidentally deleted the folder and was able to "undo" it. As I was saying, I have a lot of bookmarks. Needless to say, they would be totally useless if I didn't have them pretty organized.

Although the name "Bookmarks" or "Favorites" implies that they link websites of note, sometimes there are some super-favorite bookmarks that are used more often than others. Again, most modern browsers have an answer to this. A "bookmark toolbar" allows a user to place his or her favorite and most-used bookmarks in an accessible and visible location...right below the address field. Folders can be used here too to enhance organization. Check out the graphic below to see how I personally do it. Take some time to learn what works best for you.

Since I'm such a bookmark nut, I like to access my bookmarks wherever I am; at work, at home, on my laptop. I never know when I might need a certain bookmark or when I might stumble on a page that I simply must bookmark for later. Google (yes, I use Google products a lot) has a Firefox plug-in called BrowserSync. As the name implies, this swanky little tool allows me to synchronize my browser settings (including bookmarks) across different computers. All it requires is that Firefox be installed and that the user have a Google account (free).

Master Your Extensions. Firefox is a modular program. That means that you can install plug-ins that allow you to extend the functionality of Firefox. I'm not going to go into great detail, but I HIGHLY recommend checking it out (you know I'm emphatic because I used all upper-case letters). There are many different tools available, and frankly, different people will find different tools useful and effective. Now go forth and discover.

Email

Almost everyone these days has an email account. Email is a cheap and fast way to communicate and to share information, photos, and threatening chain mail. Most people who have a computer will at least use it for email. Even if they don't know how to do anything else, they'll know how to send an email. However, this is not to say that most people do it right (I know, I'm picky).

People have a misconception that email is a form of communication that doesn't have rules. Thankfully, this is not true. There are enough idiots and brainless fools on the interweb. We don't need any more. To join the slowly increasing group of urbane email users, simply observe the following list of email rules:

32 most important email etiquette tips:

1. Be concise and to the point
2. Answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions
3. Use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation
4. Make it personal
5. Use templates for frequently used responses
6. Answer swiftly
7. Do not attach unnecessary files
8. Use proper structure and layout
9. Do not overuse the high priority option
10. Do not write in CAPITALS
11. Don't leave out the message thread
12. Read the email before you send it
13. Do not overuse Reply to All
14. Mailings: use the bcc: field or do a mail merge
15. Take care with abbreviations and emoticons
16. Be careful with formatting
17. Do not forward chain letters
18. Use a meaningful subject
19. Use an active instead of passive voice
20. Avoid using URGENT and IMPORTANT
21. Avoid long sentences
22. Don't forward virus hoaxes and chain letters
23. Don't reply to spam

Aside from this, email is pretty straight forward. Pick a service that you like and that works well. Don't be afraid to switch. At one point, I used Hotmail all the time. After a while, it just didn't do what I needed it to do so I switched. Simple as that. In my opinion, both Gmail and Yahoo.ca have great services. As you can tell, I like Gmail a lot (for more than just the mail).

One last thing that I would like to say with regards to the internet. Many of you may be familiar with a popular online computer game called World of Warcraft. It is evil! ;-) If you want to maintain good grades and a real social life, avoid this plague to society! If you have too much time, sort cans at the food bank. When in doubt, there is always something better you can be doing than playing WoW!

A couple links for students

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://docs.google.com
http://softwarefor.org/downloads.html
http://www.google.com/help/operators.html
http://www.degreetutor.com/library/research-tools/librarian-searchguide
http://www.nextstudent.com/NextPath/NextPath-Online/blogs/students/archi...