Internet Chat Tips: Online Safety

March 2, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Following my interview with SmellyCat on chatting, I have identified the following main points about internet chat:

Safety tips From SmellyCat:
The problem is that a lot of people invite problems by not practicing safe chat. You see, young people make friends really easily and they can’t help but trust (to some extend) these friends. What they don’t understand is that not everyone you chat to is honest.

  1. Never use or reveal your real name in a chat room. Use a nick name- and not one that reveals your gender (unless you want to) or attracts bad attention e.g sexy beast.
  2. Be careful who you trust. The person you are talking to may just as well be 20 years older than he says he is.
  3. Think before you reveal anything personal or answer private questions.
  4. Get away from unpleasant situations by blocking the offending user, logging out or even logging in using a different handle.
  5. Meeting people (in real life) that you first met in a chat room can be dangerous. Always tell an adult about such meetings.
  6. Adults should talk frequently to young people about their chat experience and recommend safe chat rooms to them. (An example of a regulated chat room is gridclub).
  7. If all else fails, adults may also block block chatting using special software – you may also ask your ISP for help on this.(Though there are ways around this!)

Internet chat is really very nice, try it at talkcity, through YahooIM/MSN, or-for the ‘ultimate’ good-old expereience-try IRC. I personally vouch for talkcity – I have met many long-term freinds there.

Here is a list of acronyms that make up a lot of the language used in internet chat….just so you don’t get lost…

PS: Don’t forget your netiquette!!

Filed Under: Internet Culture

The Secret to Internet Chatting

February 28, 2007 By 2 Comments

The following takes place between 5am and 6 am.

At exactly 5am I walk into the room. It isn’t very crowded but, as usual, there is already a heated debate amongst some of the regulars. I suppose a heated debate could also arise from my use of the word ‘walk’ at the beginning of this paragraph. It is complicated: some would say I teleported into the room; others would argue that it is not a room at all.

But let’s not get into that.

My guest ‘walks’ in. Just in time. I immediately launch a private conversation with her. Folks meet Smelly cat

Hey. How are you doing?
Hello. I’m fine and I hope you are too. Sorry, I’m a bit late.
Smelly Cat: That is interesting name. How did you get it?
Yeah its good, isn’t it? It’s actually my childhood nickname. I don’t really want to get into how I got it. Anyhoo, it serves its purpose quite well. When you are in a room such as this one, it helps if you have a good unique nick name – otherwise known as a handle.
Tell us about yourself
Well, I’m young and I love life. You really have to be more specific if you want more out of me.
What do you do for a living?
I’m a chat room regulator
A what?
LOL. Right, I……get paid to spend all the day in the chat rooms, like this one, and ensure that the public discussions don’t get indecent, abusive or otherwise inappropriate.
Cool
Yeah. It gets me by. The really cool thing is that I can work from home, or anywhere else.
So what is internet chat?
Internet chat is a way of communicating instantly over the internet. I like to call it TOIP.
Text over internet protocol? That doesn’t exist, does it?
No. It only exists in my mind. But you never can be too sure, what with the pace of technology nowadays. I call it TOIP because it is like an actual conversation but one in which you don’t speak but type whoever you want to say.
How does one get to experience ‘TOIP’
There are two ways of chatting on the internet:

1 You can chat via websites that have chat rooms like talkcity or mashada. Basically, you register with the website and you can then enter the chat room(s) on that site. There, you’ll find people having a public discussion that everyone ‘hear.’ You may take part in that discussion or start a private conversation with anyone.

2 You can also chat through instant messaging (IM) software (usually available for free) such as yahoo IM, MSN IM, AOL IM etc. When chatting through such software, you log in to the messenger and chat with any contacts you have.


How do get these contacts?
Contacts are actually your friends. Every messenger has an option that lets you invite contacts, so that you can chat to them whenever you’re both logged into the IM software.
What about IRC?
IRC is an open protocol for chat/instant messaging. Some people say it’s the original mode of internet chat. It works a lot like IM software. You download some software, like mIRC, and log in. It then connects you to number of IRC services or channels and you can chat. Incidentally, IRC is mostly used by adults, for their type of discussions.
Speaking of adults, are chat rooms as dangerous as depicted on CNN or Sky news?
You cannot say that chat rooms are any dangerous than walking down the street, or having a drink at the local. You just have to be careful.
Really?
The problem is that a lot of people invite problems by not practicing safe chat. You see, young people make friends really easily and they can’t help but trust (to some extent) these friends. What they don’t understand is that not everyone you chat to is honest.
How do you practice safe chat?

Never use or reveal your real name in a chat room. Use a nick name- and not one that reveals your gender or attracts bad attention e.g sexy beast.
Be careful who you trust. The person you are talking to may just as well be 20 years older than he says he is.
Think before you reveal anything personal or answer private questions .
Get away from unpleasant situations by blocking the offending user, logging out, or even re-logging in using a different name.
Meeting people (in real life) that you first me online can be dangerous. Always tell an adult about such meetings and arrange the meeting to be in a public place and go to the meeting with one or a couple of your friends.

Can parents do anything to protect their kids?

1.Adults should talk frequently to young people about their chat experience and recommend safe chat rooms to them. (An example of a regulated chat room is gridclub)

2. You may also block chatting using special software – you may also ask your ISP for help on this.
In the spirit of freedom I have to say that there are ways to get around chat-blocking, such as by using websites like meebo or e-buddy.
What does chat mean to you?
Internet chat is beautiful technology. Just take us as an example: you’re interviewing me in a chat room! That just speaks for it itself.
Any last words?
Chatting is a wonderful way to meet people and have lots of fun online – with anonymous flirting and what not! It may also pay your bills, like it does mine. For people with websites, a chat room may drive some decent traffic your way. It is also emerging as an excellent (and cheap) way of offering customer care on websites, especially for companies that provide online services.

Think about it.

Now to burst some jargon:
LOI – Laugh out loud; used to indicate laughter when chatting
MSN – Microsoft Network
AOL – America online
IRC –Internet relay chat

Filed Under: Internet Culture, Interviews

The Secret to Good old Mudslinging: How to do it Online

February 24, 2007 By 3 Comments

It’s an election year. Imagine that you are a leading opposition politician, an aspiring presidential candidate in fact. You wake up Thursday morning to find shocking headlines in a leading daily newspaper: Criminals have broken into your website and somehow redirected it to a rival politician’s site, telling the whole world that you support your rival. Your rival is in fact the guy you’re facing off against for your party’s presidential ticket. You read on and discover that your party’s site has also been similarly attacked to redirect visitors to the incumbent government’s site which openly attacks your party. This might seem like a bad dream to you but it is, in fact, what happened in Kenya this week.

For those of you not familiar with Kenyan politics: 2007 is an election year with the main opposition party being ODM-K whose numerous frontrunners are squaring it off for the party’s presidential ticket. Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga are two of ODM-K’s leading lights. The Standard is a leading Daily in Kenya. Having introduced the cast, we’ll now go back to our story.

On Thursday, the Standard’s headline story was of how Kalonzo’s site had been attacked and made to redirect visitors to Raila’s site. In turn, ODM-K’s site was similarly redirected to the incumbent government’s site.

Oh wait, but the plot thickens! It turns out that Kalonzo’s real website was not attacked at all and neither was ODM-K’s real website. As it turns out, some criminals had set up fake websites and thus caused all this confusion and hullabaloo. This is called phishing.

Suppose you were one of these criminals. After setting up your fake Kalonzo website, all you need is for someone to come and publicize the fact that Kalonzo’s ‘website’ has been cracked so that your phishing would have its desired effects. The effect, of course, is that of creating confusion and chaos within ODM-K, among its luminaries, and the electorate. You know full well that no one will accidentally come across your fake site because the whole world already knows the url of Kalonzo’s real site – he launched it gallantly and loudly a short while ago. One thought is troubling your little criminal mind: how do you get people to notice your fake website? You have to find a sneezer!

What if you ‘passed on’ the news of Kalonzo’s site having been attacked to a leading newspaper in the hopes of them publicizing your criminal feat? After all, the perfect sneezer would be a leading newspaper. I believe that is exactly what happened. The Standard Newspaper was used.

Personally, this proves that politics is an extremely dirty game which, ideally, should not be tried at home. I do not care much for politics but I find this story intriguing and, inevitably, I have to say that the guys behind it did a real good job. Above all, this incident makes me happy. It’s sad that somebody was used and others’ feelings were hurt but having it happen online has its goodness. The more we use the internet (even for criminal purposes), the more useful it becomes. We should all learn from this sad episode.

UPDATES
As I write this, both fake websites redirect visitors to pages belonging to the Daily Nation, another major Daily in Kenya and a competitor of The Standard.

The Link to The Standard’s Headline Story:
http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143965194

The Fake websites:
http://www.odm-kenya.org
http://www.kalonzofoundation.org

The Real Websites:
http://www.odmk.org/
http://www.kalonzomusyokafoundation.org/

Filed Under: Internet Culture, Tips Hacking and Reviews

Discussions on the www

February 20, 2007 By 2 Comments

There’s no doubt that USENET is the primary mode of discussion on the net (or, at least, it was). The problem, however, is that USENET is not part of the www. On the world wide web, discussions are mainly through web forums and mailing lists.

A web forum is a facility on the www for holding discussions. forums often evolve into close-knit virtual communities home to many heated debates, exchanges and even rivalry. getting involved on forum discussions is simple: simply find a forum you like and join it.
More on forums.
Some cool forums:
-talksoccer
-somethingawful
More cool Forums. (directory)

An electronic mailing list, a type of internet forum, is a special usage of email that allows for widespread distribution of information to many internet users. Basically, the discussion is held through email whereby you post to the forum by sending an email and receive replies or other users’ posts in your inbox.
More on Mailing Lists.
Active Mailing Lists that you can and should join.

As it is elsewhere, adherence to netiquette is required. For forums, special rules apply:
- Always read any established rules.
- Before starting a post, make sure it doesn’t already exist.
- follow rules of grammar.
- post in the correct section.
- Do not SHOUT.
- Stay on topic.
- Do not resurrect very old topics if you have nothing new to say.
- Do not participate in flame wars or pie-fights.
- And of course, keep the Ten Commandments of Netiquette in mind.

Some jargon:
Mailing List – a collection of names and adresses used by an individual or organisation to send material to multiple recipients.
Shouting – WRITING IN CAPS.

Filed Under: Internet Culture

The Illusion of Reality

February 16, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Einstein Once said:
“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest… a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
He went on to add:
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

Is reality really an illusion? [Read More...]

Einstein’s Quotes courtesy of rescomp.stanford.edu. Copyright: Kevin Harris 1995

If you liked this post you might also like Brian Greene’s ‘The Elegant Universe‘ or Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time.

Filed Under: Internet Culture

September Never Ends

February 14, 2007 By 4 Comments
This is the month that never ends
it just goes on and on, my friends
some lusers started posting here
not knowing netiquette
and they’ll continue posting here
they haven’t finished yet
-Eternal September Anthem

The oldest computer network communication system still in widespread news is USENET (USEr NETwork). It is a distributed internet discussion system where users read and post email-like messages (called articles) to a number of distributed newsgroups (categories that resemble bulletin board systems in most respects).

Even though USENET is over a decade older than the www, it is still a significant part of the internet, laden with history, as many USENET newsgroups are passionate communities of discussion and the sharing of ideas. The early internet was very much shaped by USENET. Therefore, it is the place to go if you’re looking to get more involved in the internet by taking part in online discussions.

USENET is of significance cultural importance in the networked world having given rise to popular terms such as FAQ or spam. However, it has diminished in importance to mailing lists, web forums and blogs – maybe because it is accessed with special software(newsreader clients) that connects to a news server.

Fortunately, USENET is again experiencing a revival of sorts mainly due to Google Groups which allows reading and posting of articles to USENET newsgroups. Go on, join in on USENET discussions and let’s make sure that September Never Ends.

The easiest way to join is by Google Groups or usenet.com. At first, you may feel lost. That’s just because you’re a newbie. Here are some helpful FAQs and other introductory information.

Filed Under: Internet Culture

Netiquette: The Ten Commandments

February 12, 2007 By 2 Comments

As I have said before, and as real users of the internet know, the internet is primarily about human interaction. Naturally, this means that there arises disagreements, heated debates and rivalry often requiring moderation and adherence to netiquette.
The following are general principles of netiquette, or network etiquette:

1. Remember the human. Keep in mind that other internet users are real people with real feelings. Do not do something that you wouldn’t want to happen to you.

2. Generally, adhere to the same standards of behaviour as you do offline.

3. Lurk before you leap. Know where you are in cyberspace and get a feel of the local conventions before doing anything. For example, chat room slang such as lol or ig2g may not be acceptable in USENET.

4. Respect other people’s time and bandwidth. Before you post anything, make sure it is of benefit to those who will read it. If its in a discussion, make sure it is relevant, try to post in plain text and check spelling and grammar.

5. Before asking a question, read the FAQs.

6. Make yourself look good. Participate in discussions and post frequently, but not just so that you can see your name. Try to share your unique viewpoint, experience and/or expert knowledge.

7. Respect other people’s privacy.

8. Help to keep flame wars and other disagreements under control. Do not add fuel to the fire.
If you believe someone is wrong or hjas violated certain rules, tell him/her in private email – do not post a follow up to the offending post. Be polite as it may be an honest mistake.

9. Do not abuse your power. For example, if you’re a moderator or administrator, do not make life unnecessarily difficult for others.

10. Forgive others.

References:
1. Wikipedia, specifically here.
2. The core Rules of Netiquette.
3. Because Netiquette Matters! Your Comprehensive Reference Guide to E-mail Etiquette and Proper Technology Use

Now, to bust some jargon.
flaming – act of sending messages that are hostile and/or insulting.
flame war – a series of flaming messages
pie-fight – a type of discourse specific to the internet and characterised by heated emotional arguments about trivial issues having little to do with the regular topic of discussion.
lol – laugh out loud
ig2g – I got to go

Filed Under: Internet Culture, Tips Hacking and Reviews