The software end of networking is every bit as important as the hardware. There are minimum performance standards that must be met if you are to be able to work comfortably and efficiently on the Net, and the basic skill levels must be there as well. The following section is intended to provide a rapid overview of the main products and standards needed to be able to handle this.

With the notable exception of most of the Microsoft products (other than Internet Explorer which is free), most of following are all (but one) freeware and are thus available for downloading at no cost. We would suggest that you carefully note the instructions for downloading and installing in each case. They are all simple enough, but it does help to follow them step by step. Since these are in some instances rather large files which may take as much as 30 minutes to download at 28.8, you may wish to time your visits to take advantage of off-peak traffic and phone rates.

Web Browsers

Internet Explorer
The latest version,Internet Explorer 5.0, works well for us, and of course is free too.

Opera
Another favorite of our is Opera, which you have to pay for but which has considerable advantages of speed, disk economy (and the fact that it doesn't belong to either MS or AOL). You can try it for 30 days before paying. Recommended.

As it happens the site is at present optimized roughly to Internet Explorer, but Netscape works about as well (not quite as pretty, that's all). In any event download the latest versions of either; they're free, useful and make a big difference in terms of quality, speed, versatility and convenience of use.

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Firewalls and Anti-Virus Protection

This one is simple: If you are on an open line (cable modem, LAN), be paranoid. Get one. Get two! Set them up in a line to block and identify anyone who might want to "play" with your computer. Do it today! We here use Bonzi Intruder Alert '99 and Conseal FC Firewall. If you need suggestions, you might start with the SoftSeek firewall page, or turn to your favorite search engine.

AntiVirus
As to AntiVirus, we are equally paranoid and ourselves keep both Norton and McAfee loaded at all times. Recommended.

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Office Support Software

Microsoft Word Viewers

Microsoft Word Viewer 97 for Windows 3.x, is a freeware product that allows users of the Windows 3.x series to view and print Microsoft Word 97 documents. You can download this viewer directly and at no cost from here.

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Microsoft PowerPoint Viewers

MicrosoftPowerPoint Viewer 97 allows people who use PowerPoint to share their presentations with users who do not. The viewer allows users to view and print presentations, but it does not allow them to edit them. This product also allows users who wish to post full fidelity presentations on the Internet to expand their online audience to people who might not have PowerPoint, or those with different versions. You can download this viewer directly and at no cost from here. You'll note that it is the last file on the list. (Note: This download is for 32-bit Windows® operating systems only. )

Microsoft® PowerPoint 97 Converter for PowerPoint 4.0 allows users of PowerPoint 4.0 and the PowerPoint 4.0 Viewer to open files created in PowerPoint 97. You can download this viewer directly and at no cost from here.

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Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format

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Searching the Web

For the record, we tend to work most often with Google, Northern Light, Excite, and Lycos in that order. Our goal in most cases: precision, and an ability to narrow or redirect our search field as we go along.

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Audio and Video on the Web

If you do not already have a copy of RealPlayer, which you will need along with a sound card in order to access audio and video files, you can download one free right here. You will find full instructions as you proceed.

For a demonstration of what can be done with video over the Web, may we suggest that you have a look at the Citizen TV site. These are the sorts of tools that any of us should now be considering and, in some cases at least, trying to put to work for the causes that interest us here. It is also possible to set up discussions (and multimedia exchanges) in 1-on-1 or multiparty conferencing exchanges via either or both of a pair of technologies which at least some participants either already have in hand or will chose to acquire and implement for these purposes.

You may need these as well...

• The key to convenient navigation within our Web pages is that "menu bar" lurking just over there to your left. No matter where you are in the site, it is always there to guide you. Those links you see there serve bring into this main frame the indicated content. You may find it helpful as you get started simply to work your way right down the bar from top to bottom. That should help you get comfortable with your working environment here.

• Hopefully most of these links and work areas will be self-explanatory, but if you should have questions the information and leads that you find in the copiously annotated and linked Help Desk should help. If that is not enough, go to the Hotlines section below which we give you several routes for getting in touch with your Team (in the hope that we will be able to help).

• When you go to the @Forum and the associated Communications links, if you click on the small red icons that preceded each link, you can have some help for each of those tools. Once you have consulted that information, all you need to do is click the linked phrase to go directly to the utility in question.

• We have laid out these pages with attention to both visual clarity on screen and a certain facility when it comes to printing our the main textual materials. For this reason, we have kept the background for the text white, with the menu bar (which you will not normally print) a strongly contrasting gray. And since from time to time you may travel thought the Web t other places and pages, as a reminder you will note the 'world' watermark that appears on each page of our site, in an attempt to remind you as to where you are.

• Likewise, in order to draw your eye to the on-page links, you will note that these are red. In doing this we have tried to make it so that you will be encouraged to use the links directly. When these refer to materials or pages that are within the site, they will be called up directly here in the main box. However, linked off-site pages and materials will in most cases be called up in a separate box. (And if the latter should obscure the main pages here, all you have to do is abandon or minimize them when you have completed your consultation.)

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Navigation Tips

If not, take a few minutes and run through the 'Web Tutorial that comes with your browser. It is well organized, instructive and free. It's a good investment of your time. (Look right up there at the Help Desk link just to your left on this page. That will lead you right to your tutorial.)

• Our web pages were designed for browsers that support the HTML 3 standard, and extensions to the HTML 3 standard. If your browser does not support these, you may want to get a browser that does. Netscape is a good place to start with 4.0/4.5, Communicator, of their excellent browser which is available at no charge at the Netscape Website. For the same price you can have Microsoft's fine Internet Explorer 4.0/5.0 (we have used the latter for these pages, controlling with Netscape as well to ensure a reasonable level of readability), which you will find at Internet Explorer Website. (Again, if you need help with your browser, both provide fine on-board tutorials).  
• Links to most common destinations in the conference can be found in the left-hand toolbar. 

• Anything underlined and outlined in a different font color than the rest of the text is a link. These links, once selected, will send you to another section of the current page, another page on the current site, another Web site altogether, a direct e-mail connection (if your browser supports that function), a downloadable file or any other of a number of options (a sound file, animation, etc..). In order to activate any link either select and hit return or click on it once with the mouse.  

• Not all browsers support all of the link options but we have tried to ensure that our pages are readable by a majority of existing browsers.  
• Graphics can also serve as links (look for an outline frame as an indication that a link is there). If you like what you see and would like to consult these materials off-line, many browsers allow you to save the file as a local html file. Some of the older browsers will not save graphics with the html file.  
• The best way to return to where you were (after using Help Desk, for instance) is to use your Browser's back button. This will usually return you to almost exactly where you were when you clicked on a link. You can use the Back button repeatedly to back up through the chain of links. 
• Hit ctrl + R twice in rapid succession to fully reload  a page. In many cases, this will take you up one level, to the Track Home Page. 
• There are some inactive links on the site. On most browsers, these will display without underlining, an indicates that they are not yet clickable links.  
• If you are new to the Web (WWW), you may want to go to Tips for Good Web Practice (Help for Tyros) section for a quick consultation and a few linked tutorials and learning sites. If you already have some basic knowledge of WWW navigation, here's a quick reminder:  
• TIP: If you are using a browser that supports graphics and have a slow modem or a slow connection, you might consider turning off the graphics loading mode. This can make a BIG difference in terms of the speed of operation!  
• Don't forget to clear your browser's memory cache regularly. Since site pages are constantly being added to and modified, if you do not do this, you will risk to call up the old page from your cache and perhaps confuse this with the actual state of play. So... clear that cache!  

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Some Leads for Good Web Practice

Beyond that, and assuming that you are not too proud to look and learn, here are a few first class Web learning resources you may find it useful to check out before you get down to work in the conference itself. We would urge those unsure of their skills to check out at least the first three or four. Each day during this conference, we shall be providing you with brief introductions and direct links to WWW sites that we feel are 'worth a detour' (as they put it in the Guide Michelin). Over the first week, these will emphasize sites and tutorials that can help you improve your Web skills. Take them one at a time. Don't be in too much of a rush. Give them (and yourself) time; after all you are, in a way, learning how to read. You'll see: once you get it right, you will never give it up. Like reading!

Learn the Net

Are your Web skills fully up to scratch. If not, better check out Learn the Net. It offers first rate help and guidance (in five languages).

Paul Watmore's Computer Page

All we can tell you about Paul is that he is manager of SGI's Advanced Manufacturing group and that he knows a lot more about the Web than we do. Drop in; you'll find it sensible, digestible, and, we think, quite reassuring.

Learning to Use the World Wide Web

The book is written for people who want to learn how to access the World Wide Web and how to get the most from the resources available on the Internet. (It concentrates on the use of to use Netscape Navigator, but that is no major obstacle.) No prior experience with the World Wide Web or the Internet is assumed. The authors pay some attention to why things work the way they do, but the emphasis is on how to learn to use the Web effectively and associated services in a step-by-step, organized manner. By going to the above site you can consult the "Virtual Table of Contents" for the book and its contents.

The World Wide Web Consortium

The authors of this site lead up gently to their topic by informing us that: "The World Wide Web (known as "WWW', "Web" or "W3") is the universe of network-accessible information, the embodiment of human knowledge." We are obviously dealing with something a tad more ambitious here, but nonetheless by way of historical backgrounds and overview of what the leading edge is thinking about this MIT-led effort is worth a look. In its own retiring words: "The World Wide Web Consortium exists to realize the full potential of the Web. The W3C was founded in 1994 to develop common protocols for the evolution of the World Wide Web. We are an international industry consortium, jointly hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Computer Science; the Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique [INRIA] in Europe; and the Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus in Asia. Initially, the W3C was established in collaboration with CERN, where the Web originated, with support from DARPA and the European Commission." Drop in, if only for a quick visit.

Entering the World-Wide Web:A Guide to Cyberspace

Meanwhile back on this planet, this 1993 guide by Kevin Hughes of Honolulu Community College is an old but still quite good all purpose introduction to the web and Web essentials (1993 style). A good quick read for those just getting into the Web.

(And even if you do not use their browser, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 5.0 Tour provides a good tutorial for Web use.)

Help in Print:

The Internet Complete Reference

Author: Harley Hahn, Publisher: Osborne McGraw-Hill, ISBN: 0-07-882138-X, Price: US$32.95

The Internet Yellow Pages

Author: Harley Hahn, Publisher: Osborne McGraw-Hill, ISBN: 0-07-882192-7, Price: US$29.95

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Group Email Practices & Etiquette

There are within the workign groups of The Commons two main email systems open to the participants: Group Mail and Private Mail. In addition to the counsel provided in the two above hot links, the following cautionary remarks prepared for the members of "pednet", a majordomo mail-list for those interested in improving the conditions for walking and transport in human settlements, are worth repeating here.

Most emails here are responses to others' posts in a certain "thread" (topic). Our members are asked to avoid both the adulatory responses ("Great. Me, too!") and ad hominem attacks that refer to the motives of others. Nor do we in general appreciate reference to your own or others "qualifications": all people walk and probably all members of pednet are quite thoughtful and analytical about it.

Other guidelines to keep in mind:

• 1) Proof-read your submissions. The time you take is magnified 300-fold in time savings by readers in trying to understand your points.
• 2) Don't send very long messages, papers, or binary files to the list; rather, post a summary in straight text, offering to send to those requesting it the longer or coded document. Such requests should always be OFF-LIST (to the personal offering it, not the whole list). Another popular alternative is to point people to a website with your material.
• 3) If you feel yourself getting heated about what another has written, consider sending that to only that person, not the entire list. This keeps the recipient from feeling as defensive and possibly escalating the exchange into a conflagration.
• 4) When referring to research or statements, try to cite them, either a bibliographic or web reference.
• 5) In a reply, don't include the entire contents of the other's message, only the part you are commenting on. If your point is more general, consider only restating in summary point the comments of another (be careful to be accurate and not self-serving). Also, make sure you are replying to the correct party, the whole list (probably what your mail program will assume when you hit the "reply" button), or to the individual, which will require you to clip the sender's e-mail address before hitting "reply" and then pasting it in over the pednet address before starting to compose your reply. Remember, there is no feeling so "sinking" as when a personal message goes instead to 300 people.
• 6) After joining, don't post for a couple weeks, so that you can get a sense of the style of the list. Your first post might contain a short (one para.) introduction of yourself, but this is not required (when lists first start, introductions are the best way to get things started).
• 7) When passing on something from your word processor, please avoid the straight cut-and-paste approach, as you will bring non-standard characters and spacing with it, especially lines that are too long. Rather, change to courier 12-pitch type and then save it to ASCII format (*.txt), closing it, and then using the Notebook editor to bring it onto your screen again. Quickly proofread it for format, and then cut-and-paste it to your mail-program screen.

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Tips for Searching The Commons