My Button is Back!

Well after a week of frustration - ignoring my computer - resetting everything - and scratching my head - my news button has finally returned!!!

*jumps for joy*

i decided that knowing that most problems are described somewhere on the internet i would do some googling.

Using "microsoft outlook 2003 news reader troubleshoot" as my search text i came up with the usual results. I was looking for something not done by microsoft as i figured there was a chance this was a microsoft problem and that they wouldn't supply me with any extra info that i hadn't already found on them. Instead I found http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/news.htm

Getting the News button in Outlook 2003

So you upgraded to Outlook 2003 and now are missing the Go-> News option? There are some methods to get the option back or open the newsreader in a different way;

• By editing the registry so it behaves like previous versions of Outlook
• By setting the defaults to use Outlook Express
• By starting the Outlook Express Newsreader from a shortcut
• Looking for a newsreader add-in?

I started by trying the shortcut but wasn't happy with how this was working - so i went with changing the defaults. By following the following instructions my menu option has finally returned!

Method 2: Setting the defaults to use Outlook Express

Make sure the options are set correctly in Internet Options

1. Go to Internet Options by using Start-> Control Panel-> Internet Options
2. In Internet Options go to the Programs tab
3. For Newsgroups set Outlook Express as the default Newsreader
4. Press OK to close Internet Options

Do not let Outlook or Outlook Express let themselves set to the default newsreader

1. Start Outlook Express like you normally do. When it asks whether you want to set Outlook Express as your default mail and news handler choose “No”.
2. Close Outlook Express
3. Start Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 like you normally do. When it asks whether you want to set Microsoft Office Outlook as your default mail and news handler choose “No”.
4. Leave Outlook open and continue to the next section

Setting the Toolbar

All is left to do now is adding the option to the Toolbar

1. Choose View-> Toolbars-> Customize
2. Select the Commands tab
3. From the Categories list select “Go”
4. From the Commands list select “News” and drag & drop it to any place you want on the Toolbar. The default location is in the “Go” menu.
5. Press Close to return to Outlook.

All is again well in the world of my computer.

Module 2 - News update and IRC

Firstly i have been having some trouble with my news reader.

When i first set it up - as stated in previous post - i had no problems at all setting it up, joining a group, and reading posts. When i came back the next day however, my little command icon to open the newsreader had dissappeared. I tried to redo the setup and it was not available in the customise menu either. I have tried resetting my toolbars, restarting the application, restarting the computer and all to no avail. This is causing me much frustration as i know there has to be a fix for it somewhere. Next will be to search the internet to see if this problem is listed anywhere.


A few days ago i downloaded mIRC for my PC. As noted in a previous post it has been a very long time since i last used IRC - i believe it was 1996.

Firstly i had some problems setting up the application with the Austnet server. But when you download the application it comes with a list of servers - using this list (austnet is on it) and selecting "random au server" then hitting "select" i was finally able to log in.

Next was to find a channel that i'm interested in. By typing in /channellist you get access to a list of all channels available on that server. This is listed in order of popularity.

IRC has not changed much that i can see since i last used it. It still has a high level of channels related to adult topics (ie sexuality and cybering). After some searching though i decided the trivia channel was a safe choice.

This channel has a bot running that gives a new random trivia question every 20 secs or so - 10 secs between each question and as long as it takes for someone to answer it. Points are awarded for the correct answer, and hints are given at a point reduction. It also gives a score point and keeps track of all users and their current ranking compared to all other users (by last night i think i was around 45 out of 115)

After talking to one of the other users i found out the following (click to enlarge)...


Although i find irc very simplistic and text based compared to what is available today - i have to admit i am already addicted to my trivia channel!

Think about the following question: how does IRC differ from other chat or messaging such as ICQ, MSN or AIM? Which system do you prefer?

I find IRC very different form the other chat options available. It is more text based, and i don't believe that it is very user friendly as it relies more heavily on commands then on buttons.

It is lacking in the "pretty pictures" and the personalisation of the other IM systems. However i still believe there is a place for everything. There are still quite a few users using irc to chat, and play. It is quick and instant in chatting, and you have the options of using the available channels or creating your own.

My preference would definately be for MSN - it is my IM of choice and i prefer it over yahoo and ICQ and have for years, however i can see myself still using IRC now as a result of what i have found - at least until my free access runs out!

Module 2: Chat

My first use of chat on the internet was using IRC. However my biggest memory of this was the amount of people who would private message you with the intention of "cybering". Thankfully with chat programs these days you can add who you like, ban who you like etc.

My first IM program installed on my computer back in 1999 was ICQ, although i no longer remember, or have access to, my original number. With this chat program i used to normally just sit and wait for random conversations to come in, or go in search of one for myself.

These days i use both Yahoo and MSN, although my preference is definately for MSN.

I have now installed ICQ on this computer and have my new account. My number is 406761154. Chatting with Melissa we were wondering how many of those numbers are defunct accounts like my old one. We are also going to check how many numbers are between mine on sign up tonight, and hers on sign up tomorrow.

As a quick aside, i just have to add i love that part of the signup asks what comes first, the chicken or the egg....my hubby said egg, however i'm going with chicken! Anyone else??

• find the ICQ number for the nickname advanced netstudies

337-293-557

• add ‘advanced netstudies’ to your contact list and note whether it is authorized automatically

It seems to be authorised automatically as it is now showing up in my contacts list

• look at the user info for advanced netstudies and note the comment in the ‘about’ section

Only comment i could find in the user info was that their interests are "advanced netstudies"


... For better or worse ICQ is now once again installed on my computer!!!


Optional Task: IRC

Module 2: Newsgroups

Firstly i began this activity by trying to find some newsgroups that interested me.

Using the first link provided www.usenet.org i think i was directed to the wrong spot! Instead i was sent to a website called alcoholism.com

Using http://www.newzbot.com/ i found a newsgroup that is related to an online game/program that i am currently using called neopets. At this stage though all i know is that this newsgroup is on a number of servers, but i am unsure how to join. Off to do more research....

Using Microsoft Help in Outlook (2003) i found:

Start the newsgroup reader

Show All

Hide All

The first time you use the newsreader, you must add the News command to the Go menu.

1. Add the News command to the Go menu.

   How?

   1. On the Standard toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.), click the Toolbar Options arrow .
   2. Point to Add or Remove Buttons, and then click Customize.
   3. Click the Commands tab.
   4. In the Categories list, click Go.
   5. In the Commands list, click News, and drag it, without releasing the mouse, until it rests over the Go menu. When the menu displays a list of commands, point to where you want the command to appear, and then release the mouse.
2. Click the Go menu, and then click News.

Now i need to work out the server to set it up....

Will entail more playing and searching....

ok - so using newzbot.com i found a newsgroup that i was interested in. I then got a list on newzbot of all the servers that carried this newsgroup. Then i added this server into the server box in Microsoft Outlook Newsreader. It then downloaded the entire list of all newsgroups on this server. Using the search box i found my newsgroup and then subscribed!

Now i will test it out over the next few days :)

to be continued....

Module 2: Lists

I have chosen to not join any new lists (groups) at this time as i have just removed myself from most of the ones that i did belong to as i no longer had time to read the information.

I have in the past belonged to what i would class as all 3 types of lists...

The first type is where information is recieved. For this i belonged to the flylady yahoo group. This sends out daily reminders, uplifting quotes, testimonials, and information but is a read only group and normal members cannot post. From this group you can expect around 20 or more messages a day so it is easy for it to get out of control.

The next type of group is where members can post but each message is moderated before posting and must adhere to strict standards. An example of this is www.freecycle.org For each area freecycle uses yahoo groups to keep members in touch with each other. Messages are strictly moderated with members getting warnings if they don't adhere to the standards. (I was the "owner" of the Ipswich Freecycle group in 2006 and was responsible for the running of the group, making sure we stuck to Freecycles rules, and training up new moderators)

The third type of group is a more general grup that has many posts and topics. Although they stick with a common theme (an interest, hobby etc) there tends to be more freedom in what is written with posts that will deviate from the main theme to the users lives, kids, health and musings. I have belonged to many of these in the past including Slow Cooking, Cross Stitch and Gaming.

• What are the pros and cons of email lists versus discussion boards?

Email lists work well when you want to ensure that the messages are read, or that you know when someone has posted, however they can quickly clog up your inbox if you do not keep on top of them.

Discussion boards are easier to scan the main topics and to read what is relevant to you, but if you don't remember to log in often you can quickly fall behind and they can become overwhelming by the pure volume of posts.

• Are there certain kinds of communication or purposes more suited to one than the other?

I think that email lists work better when it is important that messages are read as soon after posting as possible (this can include reminders (flylady), trade listings (essential baby trading post), or when there is a small number of members.

Message boards work better when not all messages are relevant to you, when you are often logging in at different computers, or when you have a small inbox.


I think it is important when signing up to either to read the rules, check the number of members, and even look at the number of recent posts to give you an idea of how busy the group might be, and what to expect. When trying out a group it is best to try it out for a week before throwing it away as it may be an unusually busy or quiet day. Also it is good to rmember that with most groups (well with yahoo and msn groups) that there are a number of different options as to how you want to receive your posts including digest, as they happen, or to just read them online.

Module 2: Email Reflective Questions

1. What information about a user's email, the origin of a message, and the path it took, can you glean from an email message?

The information you can get from an email message include the sender, which will have their username and their domain. From the domain you can often work out what sort of email it is - is it coming from a company (or government department as below) or is it coming from a standard domain like yahoo or gmail.

You can also often look at the quoted previous message to work out where it has come from previously - ie with "joke" emails because they are constantly forwarded on from person to person you can often see where they have come from previously.

To work out the message path i right clicked on the email and then selected options, and got the following results:

Delivered-To: kellie.ramm@gmail.com
Received: by 10.142.214.20 with SMTP id m20cs636342wfg;
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:30:29 -0800 (PST)
Received: by 10.140.83.41 with SMTP id g41mr1604240rvb.1196130627152;
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:30:27 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path:
Received: from mxhost1.ato.gov.au (mxhost1.ato.gov.au [203.202.42.4])
by mx.google.com with ESMTP id f42si1738843rvb.2007.11.26.18.30.25;
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:30:27 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: neutral (google.com: 203.202.42.4 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of Cordell.LeCouteur@csa.gov.au) client-ip=203.202.42.4;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=neutral (google.com: 203.202.42.4 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of Cordell.LeCouteur@csa.gov.au) smtp.mail=Cordell.LeCouteur@csa.gov.au
Received: from CBR07M017.ato.gov.au (unknown [172.20.46.2])
by mxhost1.ato.gov.au (Postfix) with ESMTP id 391B244A8
for ; Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:30:23 +1100 (EST)
Received: from cbr07m002.prod.atonet.gov.au (unverified) by
CBR07M017.ato.gov.au (Clearswift SMTPRS 5.2.9) with ESMTP id
for
; Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:23:00 +1100
Received: from syd01m001.prod.atonet.gov.au ([10.65.48.4]) by
cbr07m002.prod.atonet.gov.au with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.1830);
Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:20:49 +1100
Received: from bne04m002.prod.atonet.gov.au ([10.129.48.6]) by
syd01m001.prod.atonet.gov.au with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.1830);
Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:20:48 +1100
Received: from bne01m001.prod.atonet.gov.au ([10.130.48.5]) by
bne04m002.prod.atonet.gov.au with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.1830);
Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:20:47 +1000
Received: from BNE13M001.prod.atonet.gov.au ([10.214.144.198]) by
bne01m001.prod.atonet.gov.au with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.1830);
Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:20:48 +1000
x-security-fullclassification: UNOFFICIAL / / # / #
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----_=_NextPart_001_01C8309C.1F41423F"
x-security-classification: 1 - UNOFFICIAL
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft Exchange V6.5
x-titus-version: 2.71.4
x-protective-marking: VER=2005.6, NS=gov.au, SEC=UNOFFICIAL,
ORIGIN=Cordell.LeCouteur@csa.gov.au
Content-class: urn:content-classes:message
Subject: [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:20:47 +1100
Message-ID: <5461de107d4d6d438e69199466524b8103496c@bne13m001.prod.atonet.gov.au>
X-MS-Has-Attach:
X-MS-TNEF-Correlator:
Thread-Topic: [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]
Thread-Index: AcgwnB8a4Ieo9WBHQx2u6nXQbPO14w==
From: "Le Couteur, Cordell"
To: "Kellie"
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 27 Nov 2007 02:20:48.0112 (UTC)
FILETIME=[1F791700:01C8309C]


2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the 'cc', 'bcc' and 'reply all functions of email?

I believe that CC should be used when an email is addressed to a specific person, but another person would find the information beneficial ie. if in a workplace i was answering a client question i would send the email to the client, but cc to the manager so that they could both read my response and see that the email had been sent, and the situation dealt with.

BCC should be used when the email address needs to be hidden. I have used BCC when doing direct selling and sending out emails to a distribution list where you don't want the recipients to have access to each others email addresses.

Reply all function should be used sparingly. It would only really be used if you had extra information to add to a circulation email that was relevant to all recipients. IE adding a change in meeting time to a meeting notification email.

3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?

The best way to ensure that an attachment can be easily accessed by the reciever is to change the format to a plain text file.

Other methods include knowing the specifications of the recipients computer so that you know that the version is compatible with their computer.

If you have the application, converting the file to a .pdf can also be a good method, however in this format the document can only be read and not edited.

It is a good idea when sending attachments to keep the file size under 1mb. Everyone has different mailbox sizes and internet speeds, and large attachments can clog up their system.


4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?

The main rules that i have setup on my personal inbox is to put emails with a specific subject or sender into a specific folder. I mainly only apply rules to emails that are not going to be urgent for me to read right away, for instance i have all my banking emails put directly into a folder, as i feel these are important to keep, but as they are just reciepts for bill payments, or money transfers they are definately not important for me to read asap.

5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?

I have folders for the main types of emails that i am likely to keep and want to view, or find, easily at a later date. These include hobbies, information, bills, and banking.


My email is a bit of a mess atm with many unread emails that are no longer relevant and can be deleted, and emails that have been kept as reminders, but are no longer needed, and can also be gotten rid of. I also have emails that really should just be archived away.

I will be working on this over the next week as a part of this module.

Module 2 - Email Tutorial

Part 1: Addresses

Activity: Searching for email Addresses

Using the lycos people search is of no use to me as it only brings up american results - by typing in the name of an american friend all i get is a list of names - with no actual information without paying.

Besides from internal address books or contact lists (ie at the uni website) i don't know of anyway of being able to locate someone's email address.

Pop Quiz

Which of the following elements must be included in an email address?
Both are correct. E-mail addresses always include the username (or account) as well as the domain name of the computer(s) that provide mail services.

Part 2: Messages


Part 3: Attachments

Pop Quiz

If you don't know what kind of computer or software your recipient has, send a document attachment as a:
A plain text (ASCII) file can be read by anyone, regardless of what type of computer (PC or Macintosh) or software they have.

Part 4: Managing Your E-Mail

Pop Quiz

You can transfer messages to another mailbox by
Both are correct. Use the program's menu to move and file messages as you read them, or set up a filter to place certain messages into a special mailbox automatically.

Part 5: Signatures and Style

Pop Quiz

"Flames" are:
Flames are remarks that provoke arguments or anger. They can be avoided by taking a careful look at your message before it is sent.

100% on match the smiley game :)

*****

I don't believe there was anything in this tutorial that i didn't already know or use - however is always good to refresh knowledge regardless.

Module 2.1 - Email

A few thoughts that i have had since doing the reading for this part of the module.

It can be good to use the flags - or even reminder flags - to highlight certain emails.

I have never been a fan of the read-receipt that comes with some emails, but in a work environment i can see how this can be useful to determine if the recipient has at least recieved the email and it hasn't gotten lost in cyberspace.

Choosing an email server is always a difficult choice. I originally had been using my isp account, however this means that if you change isp you lose this account and have to notify all contacts of a change in address! I have now started using google's gmail as my main email account. I find this a fantastic service as i can still use outlook to read my emails, but if i delete an email accidently there is always a backup copy on the google server. The only problem i have found with this is that when i had to reformat my hard-drive recently all the emails redownloaded - and this took about a day to be complete with many emails being downloaded 3 or 4 times.

I find that on a personal email account there are many types of emails that are recieved.
1) email from family and friends
2) advertising email that you have requested (like wanted junk mail ie advertisements)
3) information (i receive daily the news.com.au newsletter which keeps me at least a little up to date!)
4) and then true spam.

There are also many ways that emails are written these days and the main thing is to choose when what style is appropriate.

1) a casual email - for example when i write to my husband through out the day at his work i'm normally lazy and either don't use a subject line or it will be really vague like "hi" and we just keep this conversation going throughout the day. It is often full of notes, half sentences and single words - but it saves many useless phone calls
2) more formal emails - when i'm going to use email to request information, apply for a job, etc the tone of the email will change to the more formal tones. This will be written more like a letter with appropriate capitilisation, full stops, full sentences, and some sort of appropriate greeting, and farewell line.

Pet Peeve!
My biggest pet peeve on the internet is the use of "chat speak" or "l33t". I find it difficult to read, and sometimes the word written in leet is just as long as the word itself! I msyelf always try to use at least some semblance of appropriate grammer and spelling (aside from the typos) in all my internet communications.

I do not mind the occasional abbreviation though which i will use in my casual emails including the usual LOL, ROFL etc. I will also include the occasional basic smillie :) or :(

It should always be remember though when using these abbreviations that the person you are writting to may not know what they stand for!

I think that is all my thoughts on email in general at this point....of to read the next module!

Module 1 - Extra Thoughts and Info

The main thing i wanted to revisit was calculating the time taken to traceroute. I thought that it would just be the bottom figure, but after reading many posts on the message board i realised that this was not necessarily the case!

Judy Pepin writes :


okay, I asked an comms expert at work ... his answer is that the last numbers are the
the ones that show how long it took to get to www.curtin.edu.au from your workstation.

--- 252 249 246

to get the average -- add these three numbers and divide by 3 (249 ms)

249 ms = .249 sec.

apparently, I wasn't far of the mark in my first post because if you are doing the
tracerout from a Unix box, then the 3 numbers are minimum average maximum. --
traceroute performs three attempts to get to the address.

all clear now ?

With this in mind my answer was correct but i went about it the wrong way. Just wanted to have this mentioned :)