*** ANSWERMAN INTERNET EXTRA *** Sunday, May 19, 1996 This is a weekly newsletter for the community of new Internet users on America Online. It is brought to you by AnswerMan, AOL's area for those learning to use the Internet. Come see what's new at keyword ANSWERMAN. Got comments about this newsletter? Send them to Kevin Savetz, "savetz" on America Online. ||| IN THIS ISSUE || | Advice From Arlo - The Cat Speaks Purple's Picks - Doin' Research with the Net Upcoming Chats - Talk about Privacy, Treasure Hunting and more Answers of the Week - E-mail Tricks & Tips The End - How to contact us or unsubscribe ||| ADVICE FROM ARLO || | by Arlo, AnswerMan's cat (ArloNetCat) Hiyyya. Ok, so have you been wondering who that feline in the AnswerMan graphics is? Well, that's me, Arlo, and if you ask me, the real brains of the operation. The picture doesn't look too much like me, it looks more like that rotund, hairball-yakking, cat-food-pitching freak, Morris. I've got an update to something in last week's newsletter, about the best way to purr-ge the browser cache on Windows. Here's a better way to do that: To purge the browser cache of the temporary files accumulated from visiting different web sites, you must sign off AOL, and exit it entirely. Using File Manager (in Windows 3.1) or File Explorer (in Windows 95,) delete ALL files in your AOL25\CACHE directory. Then restart AOL and access the WWW again at keyword WWW. This should be done after every use of the browser, so as to keep the cache clear for next time. Or, you can let a kitty sleep on the monitor, that seems to make Web browsing a much better experience all around! Oh, if you have a question for me, about the Internet or anything else, e-mail it to me at ArloNetCat and maybe I'll answer it next week. ||| PURPLE'S PICKS || | by Sarah Nehrer (CJ Purple) Hi again everyone! I got some good feedback from some of you last week, which I was really happy to receive. I hope this space continues to provide you with helpful and useful information. Today, let's discuss research. I get so many questions about how to find all kinds of information on the Web, so here are some sites that might help you find exactly what you are looking for! The first site for today is Research-It! (http://www.itools.com/research-it/research-it.html). This is a very comprehensive site for doing specific kinds of research. It contains Webster's and computing dictionaries, Roget's Thesaurus, Bartlett's Quotations, definitions of English acronyms (you can look up what an acronym is in the dictionary, just like I had to ), anagrams (did you know you can create 80 3-word sets from the word "development"?) and translate words to and from English, French and Japanese. There's also a search tool of the King James Bible, a variety of searchable maps and atlases, the CIA Factbook from 1995, telephone area code and 800 directories, a currency exchange table, a database of ticker symbols and stock quotes, and links to a zip code database and the tracking systems of UPS and FedEx. (Whew!) Two other parts of this site are Find-It! and Promote-It! The former allows you to search the World Wide Web using Lycos, OpenText or Yahoo; browse shareware.com for that perfect program you always needed; search Dejanews (which we talked about last week); and/or search the Internet Address Finder for that long-lost friend. Promote-It! offers a large number of links to search engines and other sites that will allow you to promote your home page. Another very helpful site for finding out all kinds of information about a wide variety of subjects is the Argus/University of Michigan Clearinghouse for Subject-Oriented Internet Resource Guides (http://www.lib.umich.edu/chhome.html). Here you'll find links to home pages and textual information in the following general areas: Arts & Entertainment, Business & Employment, Education, Engineering & Technology, Environment, Government & Law, Health & Medicine, Humanities, News & Publishing, Regional Information, Science, Social Sciences & Social Issues. A quick browse-through showed that I could get information on everything from Amy Grant music to Labrador Retrievers to adoption legislation to World Wide Web design, a lot more in between. Finally, I'd like to tell you about two libraries available on the WWW. The first is the WWW Virtual Library (http://www.w3.org/hypertext/DataSources/bySubject/Overview.html). This resource resembles a reference library or college library and covers a myriad of subjects. The second online library is IPL-The Internet Public Library (http://ipl.sils.umich.edu). This site includes a large reference division, a section for children and teens, and a reading room for reading books, serials, and newspapers that are available on the Web. It's worth it to take a look at all four of these sites and put them on your Hot List (if you're on a Mac) or in your Favorite Places (if you're using Windows) so that when you really need that specific piece of information about fruit flies, you'll know where to look! ||| UPCOMING ANSWERMAN CHATS || Chat live with AnswerMan in these hour-long sessions || Now four times a week -- check out the new Sunday chats! | Pick an interesting topic & bring your questions | Keyword: AM CHAT Internet Censorship - Sunday, May 19, 5PM EDT Can you really say what you think on the Internet? Will the government come after you for sharing unpopular ideas or posting dirty pictures? Does AOL censor Web sites and newsgroups? How does the AOL TOS (Terms of Service) limit your use of the Internet? Is free speech dead, or does it thrive on the Net? Ask your questions and share your thoughts during this sure-to-be-interesting hour! Internet Q&A - Wednesday, May 22, 9PM EDT Have questions about the Internet? Can't browse the Web? Need to find a site, but don't know where to look? Need to find a friend's e-mail address, but don't know how? Bring your Internet questions--AnswerMan will help you get online, find the information you need and get surfing the 'net in no time. Privacy on the Net - Thursday, May 23, 9PM EDT Who is reading your e-mail? What can Internet users learn about you and your personal life? Are your computer files safe from crackers on the Net? Just about everyone who has used the Internet has asked one of there questions--this hour, AnswerMan will discuss the issues, debunk the myths, and explore the problems of Internet privacy. Questions and discussion encouraged! The Internet Treasure Hunt - Friday, May 24, 9PM EDT The Internet is vast--so vast that there is almost sure to be something of interest on any topic you can name. Tonight AnswerMan will show you how to find just about *anything* on the Internet. Want maps of the world? The definition of "carbenicillin"? Information about bugs in Windows 95? Pictures of a certain breed of dog? Name what you're looking for, and AnswerMan will show you how to find it. Using AOL's Usenet software!- Sunday, May 26, 5PM EDT Usenet is the largest public forum in the history of humanity. You can use it to discuss any imaginable topic from bonsai to basketball. During this hour, AnswerMan will show you how to read Usenet newsgroups, find the discussions you are interested in, and explore the issues to know about before you post to Usenet. ||| ANSWERS OF THE WEEK || This Week: You and your Web browser | Every day, AnswerMan answers a question about the Internet in the Answer of the Day. (You can get this daily dose of Internet info by going to keyword ANSWERMAN and pressing the "Answer of the Day" button.) This column features some of the most popular Q&A from the previous week. * HOW DO I UNSEND AN E-MAIL MESSAGE? If you send a message and later wish you hadn't, you may be able to "unsend" it. Unsending can only work if you sent the message to another AOL user -- you can't unsend mail to Internet users or to other online services. Also, you can't unsend a message if ANY of its recipients have read it yet. To unsend a message, pick "Check Mail You've Sent" from the MAIL menu. You'll see a list of messages that you have recently sent. Click on the message that you want to unsend, and press the "Unsend" button. * HOW CAN I CHECK TO SEE IF MY FRIEND RECEIVED THE MAIL I SENT? You may be able to find out if a message you've sent has been received. Checking the status of a message can only work if you sent the message to another AOL user -- you can't check the status of mail to Internet users or to other online services. To check the status of a message, pick "Check Mail You've Sent" from the MAIL menu. You'll see a list of messages that you have recently sent. Click on the message that you want to unsend, and press the "Status" button. Another way to find out when a message has been read is to request a "Return Receipt" when you send it. When composing a message, click the "Return Receipt" button. When the message is read, you will receive a notice via e-mail. Again, you can not get a "Return Receipt" for mail to Internet users or to other online services. * HOW DO I DELETE A MESSAGE? You do not need to worry about deleting mail from America Online -- messages that you send and receive are available for a few days after you send or read them, then automatically removed. But you can remove them yourself, sooner, if you choose. You can delete a message that you've sent or received from the "Mail You've Sent" and "Mail You've Received" lists. To delete a message, pick "Check Mail You've Sent" or "Check Mail You've Received" from your MAIL menu. You'll see a list of messages -- click on the message that you want to delete, and press the "Delete" button. Deleting a message that you sent in NOT the same as unsending it. A deleted message can still be read by its recipient; it is however unavailable to you. ||| THE END || | That's all for this week. Please send any comments or suggestions about the AnswerMan Internet Extra to "Savetz" (from AOL,) or "savetz@aol.com" (frokm the Internet.) To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send an e-mail message -- To: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Subject: UNSUBSCRIBE Body: UNSUBSCRIBE ANSWERMAN This newsletter copyright 1996 by America Online and Kevin Savetz. All rights reserved. Made from 100% recycled electrons.