10- Communication

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10.1 Communication with other ICT users using email
10.1.1 Constraints
Law
There are many rules that you need to follow to make sure that messages sent are secured
and also nobody is writing any unacceptable thing.

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10.1 Communication with other ICT users using email

10.1.1 Constraints
Language
The used you use when writing emails must lie within acceptable code of practice. Avoid
any of the following as it is unacceptable to be used in any email:
o Obscene image
o Abusive, profane, inflammatory, coercive, defamatory or blasphemous language must be
avoided.
o Racist, exploitative, violent messages
o Illegal material in messages

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10.1 Communication with other ICT users using email

10.1.1 Constraints
Copyright
• You must be aware that emails are subject to copyright laws. Not because it can be easily
forward, does not mean it cannot be copy right.
• Most companies or organisations will clearly set out their policies on sending emails and
materials that they contain. This can be true if the sender’s email address is part of the
company’s name: amina.D@cie.org.uk.
• Most companies have a copy right statement such as:
Any dissemination or copying of this email or attachment is strictly prohibited unless you
are the intended recipient or are responsible for delivering the message to the intended
recipient. If you have received this email by error, please let us know and then delete the
original email and any attachments.
• Companies are clearly very concerned about any potential risk of copyright infringement

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10.1 Communication with other ICT users using email

10.1.1 Constraints
Security and password protection
It is very important to consider the security of emails. Here are some methods of increasing
the security of emails:
• Use a strong password word that contains letters, numbers and other symbols so it
cannot be broken.
• Change the password on regular basis
• Use spam filters to remove suspicious emails to Junk folder then block the email
completely.
• Run anti-virus at all time to protect against unknown or malicious sources.

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10.1 Communication with other ICT users using email
10.1.2 Constrains
Netiquette
Netiquette is shortened from internet etiquette, which refers to the need to respect other users’ views
and display common courtesy when posting anything in online discussion groups or when sending emails.
There are number of rules
1. Don’t be abusive (don’t threaten people or use personal violence)
2. Do not type using all capital letters – this is read as shouting in an email.
3. Do not send spam (don’t repeatedly send somebody the same information)
4. Be clear and succinct with your message (don’t waffle.)
5. Remember that posts are public in most cases and can be read by anyone.
6. Always check your spelling and grammar (it gives good impression)
7. Respect people’s privacy and don’t discuss or publish information that might embarrass somebody.
8. Forgive people’s mistakes (don’t be compelled to respond to an error)
9. Don’t plagiarise (always acknowledge quotes used in any message you write)
10. Don’t use too many emoticons as they might annoy your readers.
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10.1 Communication with other ICT users using email
10.1.2 Spam
Spam is electronic junk mail that is sent automatically to multiple recipients. These emails
are unasked for and in the main bout things you are not interested in (and it is a type of
advertising from a company sent out to a target mailing list).
The main disadvantages are:
• It uses up people’s time
• It generally annoys people
• Uses up valuable bandwidth on the internet, slowing it down
• Can clog up users’ inboxes

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10.1 Communication with other ICT users using email
10.1.3 Email groups
An electronic mailing list or email group is a special use of email that allows for
widespread distribution of information to many Internet users.
Email groups are used for:
1. It is easier to send out multiple emails if all addresses are grouped together in single
name.
2. People can be grouped together for many reasons and according their age, hobbies,
….etc that means each email will target specific group.
3. Spammers also create email groups by buying addresses of people from certain
company, so they can send several thousands of email with a press of <enter> key.
4. Companies use email groups to set up meetings to ensure that everybody is always
invited.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.1 The internets
Internet is a wide area network, made from a number of individual computers and
networks linked together to form one large network.
Internet allows users to:
• Send and receive emails
• Chat online (text, video and / or voice)
• Transfer files from one computer to another
• Surf the world wide web
• Find information using search engines
The World Wide Web (www) is only part of the internet, which can be accessed by web
browser. It consists of a huge number of web pages and based on the hypertext transfer
protocol (http). The World Wide Web is a way of accessing information from what is known
as internet, so you must know that ‘www’ and ‘internet’ are not the same.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.2 The intranets
Intranet is a computer network based on internet technology that is designed to meet the
internal needs for sharing information within a single organisation. Intranets reside behind
a firewall and are only accessible:
o Internally to members of the company
o To people given various levels of access who are external to the company.
Advantages:
o less chance of external hacking or viruses
o Prevent employees from accessing unwanted websites
o Ensure that information available is specific to their needs
o Sensitive messages can be safely sent within the company.
o Intranet offer better bandwidth than internet.
o It is possible to create extranets that allows intranets to be extended outside the
company

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.2 The intranets
Differences between internet & intranet:
o Internet is a WAN (international network)
o Intranet is a LAN (internal restricted access network)
o Intranet has password controlled pages
o Using intranet does not allow U to communicate with anyone outside the network.
o Intranet is behind a firewall which gives protection against hackers
o Information on intranet is stored on local servers, so it is more secure

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.3 Cloud storage
Cloud Storage is networked storage, or disk space, available over a specific network - the
Internet. Cloud storage allows you to store resources such as computer files on remote
computers called servers. The same data is stored on more than one server in case on
maintenance or repair, to allow clients to access their data anytime. This is known as data
redundancy.
There are three common systems:
• Public cloud: client and cloud storage provider are in different companies.
• Private cloud: client and cloud storage provider are integrated and operate as a single
entity.
• Hybird cloud: a combination of the two previous environments; some data resides in the
private cloud while less-sensitive / less-commercial data can be accessed from a public
cloud storage.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.3 Cloud storage
• Many users now save their data on cloud instead of using local hard disk or any other
device, let us now look at the advantages and disadvantages of doing this:

Advantages Disadvantages
Client files stored in cloud can be accessed anytime Security aspects as discussed in chapter 8
from anywhere as long as there is internet.

No need to carry an external storage device or even
use the same computer to store or retrieve
information.
Cloud provide the user with remote backup of all
data to alleviate any data loss(disaster recovery)
In case of hard disk or backup device failure, cloud
will allow data recovery
If client has a slow internet or unstable connection,
they may have problems accessing or downloading
their data.
Costs can be high if you required a large storage; it
can also be expensive to pay for a high download.
The potential failure of the cloud storage company is
always possible this means all backups will be lost.

Cloud system offers almost unlimited storage

capacity.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.4 General internet terms
Hypertext transfer protocol (http and https)
HTTP is the protocol (set of rules that must be obeyed) for transferring data across the
Internet. It is the set of rules used to transfer data between computers and servers within
intranets or using the worldwide web. When some of security certification or encryption is
used then protocol is changed to https (this is often seen as the padlock symbol The
letter “s” after http means ‘secure’.
Web browsers and URLs
A web browser (commonly referred to as a browser) is a software that allows user to display
a web page on their computer screen. Browsers interpret HTML from websites and show the
result of the translation. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource
Identifier (URI/URL) and may be a web page, image, video or other piece of content.
Most web browsers share the following features:
o Home page
o Store the user’s favourite websites
o Keep history of all websites visited
o Ability to go backward and forward through opened websites
o Have hyperlinks to navigate between web pages.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.4 General internet terms
http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/igcse_ICT
The above URL is broken down into the following parts:
• Protocol http or https
The first part of the URL indicates the protocol of the URL. There are different types of
protocols but for this discussion we will keep things simple and refer to the Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (http).
• Website address
o Domain host (www)
o Domain name (website name)
o Domain type (.com, .org, .co, .net, .gov)
o Country code (.uk, .eg, .us)
• Path which is a web page
• Filename is the item on the web page.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.4 General internet terms
Internet service provider (ISP)
An internet service provider is the company that provides you access to the internet.
Usually users pay monthly fee for the service. When you register an account is set up and
you are given details to login which include user ID and password.
Now you know what is:
o ISPs provide user with internet access for a monthly fee
o Web browser allows user to view web pages
File transfer protocol (ftp)
File transfer protocol is a network protocol used to transfer files from one
computer to another over internet. It is similar to http (used to transfer web pages
and data) and simple mail transfer protocol (smtp); ftp is an application protocol for
transfer of files across the internet.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.5 Blogs, wikis and social networking sites
Blogs
Blogs (which is an abbreviation for web logs) are personal internet journals where the writer (or
blogger) will type in their observations on some topic (e.g. a political view) or even provide links to
certain relevant websites. No training is needed to do this.
Features of blog
o Usually has a single author
o readers can add comments but not edit blog
o Reverse chronological structure
o Usually personal
o External links
Microblogs are similar to blogs but often used in social networking site to make short, frequent
posts. Posts can be done using instant messaging, email or other social networking vehicles
(tweets).
Another version is b-blog – short for business blog- that is used by business to promote themselves
on the internet.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.5 Blogs, wikis and social networking sites
Wikis
Wikis are software allowing users to easily create and edit web pages using any web
browser. A wiki will support hyperlinks and has very simple syntax (language rules) for
creating pages.
They have often been described as ‘web pages with an edit button’. Anyone can use wikis,
which means that the content should always be treated with some caution. One of the most
common examples of a wiki is the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
Features of a wiki.
o Usually many authors
o Structure determined by content and users
o Usually objective
o Internal and external links
o Contributors can edit entries
o Allows large documents to be seen by many people, easier than emailing several people.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.5 Blogs, wikis and social networking sites
Social networking sites
Social networking sites focus on building online communities of users who share the same
interests and activities. They enable people to share photos of themselves, show people
their favourite videos and music, what they like to do in their spare time, what they like to
eat, etc.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
(mainly social) (mainly security or privacy)
1.Social networks are country and world- Most social networking websites let you
wide. You can keep up with friends all over change privacy settings but:
the place, and even make new ones. 1.You can still share too much information
2.They can be a good place for people to be and put yourself at risk from things like
creative and get pieces of their own work identity theft.
noticed. 2.Friends made through the website might
3. Large networks are brilliant for raising
lie about themselves.
awareness about charity appeals, sponsored 3.Employers have been accused of letting
events, and other good causes. the profile becomes a factor in their
eventual decision about job applications.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.6 Searching the internet for information
One of the most useful and powerful uses of internet is the ability to search and easily find
any information about any topic. There are two ways to do this:
o To type in the URL if you know the name of the required website
o Use search engine if you don’t know where to find the information.
Opening a website from a URL
• If you type in your browser http://www.cie.org.uk you will go to the home page of
Cambridge International Examination as you can see on the right.
• If you visit this page so often then you better add it to your ‘favourites’, in this way you
don’t need to type the URL every time.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.6 Searching the internet for information
Search engines
We all use search engines to look for information on the internet, but did you ever think
what a search engine is?
Search engines are
o Websites that help you find other websites, without having to know their URL.
o The basic type of search is a keyword search—you type in a keyword and the search engine
lists a load of websites containing the keyword.
Or you can do a complex search, using things like AND and OR.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.6 Searching the internet for information
Once you find the required information you can use one of the following ways:
o Save as favourite then use it whenever required
o Add hyperlink in a document so the web page can be access when required
o Take a screen shot (print screen) and paste it into word processor page.
o Copy and paste the required information into another document

Advantages and disadvantages of being able to search the internet for information:
Advantages
Information on the internet is always up to date
Internet has vast amount of information
It is easy to search for any information on the
internet using search engines
You can look for information at your own pace
Most information on the internet is free of charge.
Disadvantages
Anything can be posted on the internet
There is always a risk of accessing inappropriate
website(these can be in any form and can be very
distracting)
It is too easy to be distracted when searching on the
internet
Due to lack of using search engines you may waste
time finding information.
There is a huge risk of plagiarism when using books.

Internet pages can contain multimedia which makes Some research skills are lost when using internet as
learning more interesting. search engine does it all for you.

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10.2 Effective use of the internet
10.2.6 Searching the internet for information

How can you evaluate the reliability of information found on the internet?
o Anybody can post anything (claiming to be factually accurate), so information is not always
reliable or accurate.
o If the website has too much advertising it is unreliable.
o If the advertising on a website is related only to its own products, it could be unreliable.
o You can use the last part of URL of the website to identify a website’s reliability for example:
websites ending with: .ac and .gov more reliable.
o You can compare from reliable website with authenticated book to make it reliable.
o It is always good to see if responsible bodies have endorsed the website.
o Check if the website has links to other reliable websites or to unreliable websites.
o If a website has testimonials, this can indicate reliability.
o Check when the website was last updated.

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