Control of the
Internet
Sound scary?
To control something,
you have to:
- Have access
to it.
To have access to the Internet, you need
- Access to a
computer, modem, phone line, internet-using software, and an Internet
Service Provider.
- This doesn't necessarily
have to be your own; it can be in a community center, computer cafe, or
library. If you are reading this page online, you've probably passed this
hurdle already. If you do need more info on access, I've compiled a list
of internet access information.
- Know how to
use the *%^$#@&*! thing.
- Again -- if you're
here, you have probably passed this hurdle. Maybe it wasn't that painful
for you; maybe you left some skin on the hurdle as you passed it. Or maybe
you landed here by accident, thrashing about on the keyboard, and you
would like to know how to do that again -- or not. So I have compiled
a list of Beginner's Guides. Includes an on-line
computer-term dictionary.
- Get what you
want from it.
- On the Internet, that
means:
- Be able to find
what you are looking for.
- It's a BIG Web.
I'm an editor: I refer to the internet as "the biggest slushpile ever
created." A slushpile is the stack of submitted manuscripts an editor
has to go through to select the items you will end up reading. On the
Internet, you are usually your own editor. The advantage of this is, nobody
else filters your material for you. The disadvantage is: there's such
a LOT of material! How do you find accurate data on the structural specifications
of a battleship when a search query gets you everything from board games
to science fiction? Try the list on Finding
and evaluating information.
- A second problem:
maybe it's not out there. To the great shame of all True Web-heads, not
everything is yet loaded onto the Web. There are still times when your
public library may be able to help you more. But if you want to help increase
the information available on the Web, check out Projects
Widening the Web.
- Be able to get
it once you find it.
- It is maddening
to find out there is a site out there with all the latest episodes of
your favorite TV series -- but it's tailored for a newer browser than
yours. Or it's a 'gopher' site, and the only gophers you know about were
the ones in your yard that you had exterminated; there's probably not
a one of them left, now that you need one. Or they tell you to "ftp" --
and you thought you had all the dirty-word sites filtered out. If any
site you have tried to access has told you you needed something you don't
have -- or didn't even recognize -- check out What's
this effin' tp and how do I get some?
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If you got it and it's in Sanskrit or something, try Altavista's
webpage translator. Do not try this on anything you will be submitting
to class or in diplomatic circles -- it's just a fun toy as of 12/14/97.
(As of October 5, 1998, I ran this on a German virus hoax info site and
was creatively stimulated by some very surreal sentences.) (As of April
6, 2000, this is being used much more widely, but it's still quirky.)
- Nice People write
code so it is accessible by all browsers, even text ones like Lynx. If
you want to be a Nice Person, check out Web
Access For All, on Joy Ikelman's award-winning site.
- Other aspects of
accessibility:
- Unified
Web Site Accessibility Guidelines
- ADA
& Disability Information
- Test your page with
Bobby.
- Be able to have
your say, too.
- The World Wide Web is
not one-way. On the Internet, we are the media.
- Publishing yourself is
so easy it's -- the reason there's such a lot of stuff out there
to wade through.
- Here are seven ways to
"publish" on the Internet:
-
- Email
- A beginner's guide to
email, including mailing lists.
- News
groups
- What they mean by "usenet",
and how to use it.
- Web
pages!
- Creating your own home
page.
- E-zines
- Getting onto other people's
webpages.
- Interactive
and community sites
- Finding forum sites,
interactive stories, group poems, and other participations.
- Chat
rooms, MUD's, and other talk
- It's not permanent --
but it's live. That's the trade-off.
- Bulletin
Boards
- Yes, the very first
Internet application is still around.
- You get listened to.
This is trickier. But part of it, at least, I can help with.
- Search
engines, banners, awards, and other ways of promoting your site.
Webpage design: Getting read
Writing resources
- You have an effect.
- Some
activist links.
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- Use It Or Lose It
- There's another aspect
to control, of course -- being able to pull the plug, or keep someone else
from pulling the plug. Nobody else can bring the system down on you. I sometimes
doubt even Bill Gates feels he has full control of that last aspect (lately).
However, the more community control and community content we have on the Internet,
through non-profit community-based internet servers, community access centers,
and the providers of free email, free web-pages and other free web resources,
the less risk we run of a corporate dominance that could limit our present
ability to use the Internet as we will. So
-- use it or lose it! The most important thing to keeping the Internet free
is free people using it freely. Publish or perish!
Free Internet Resources
- The best guide in the
world to free web pages, email, and other resources is at Max Lee's The
Free Webpage Provider Review.
- Peter
de Silva has an evaluation of free webpage providers that covers some territory
others miss.
- Check Budget
Web Hosts if you can afford more than the free service, but you're looking
for the lowest cost.
It's a big, big Net and
I've probably missed a lot on it. This is, after all, just a starting point
-- it should equip you to find much more on your own. But if you find something
that really tickles you, that you think I should include here, please let me
know in my Resources
Guestbook.
View
My Guestbook
Sign My Guestbook
Welcome to a 
of your own.
You can also email me,
Anitra Freeman, at anitra@spamcop.net --
a community network account, by the way, and this page is provided by SCN.
back to the page you came in on
©
February 22, 1998 by Anitra L. Freeman Last update: December 3, 2000