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Computer Applications I
Competency 1 – Discuss business communication hazards, techniques,
system maintenance, and navigation.
Objective 1.02 - Explain communication techniques for
navigating and conducting business online.
Basic Internet Activity
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Searching
Search engines
Navigating
Basic uses in a business setting
Searching
Internet search engines are special sites on the Web
that are designed to help people find information
stored on other sites. There are differences in the
ways various search engines work, but they all
perform three basic tasks:
1. They search the Internet -- or select pieces of the
Internet -- based on key words.
2.
They keep an index of the words they find and
where they find them.
3.
They allow users to look for words or combinations
of words found in that index.
Search Engines
Literal search engines use Boolean Operators to narrow
searches:
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AND - All the terms joined by "AND" must appear in the pages
or documents. Some search engines substitute the operator "+"
for the word AND.
OR - At least one of the terms joined by "OR" must appear in
the pages or documents.
NOT - The term or terms following "NOT" must not appear in
the pages or documents. Some search engines substitute the
operator "-" for the word NOT.
FOLLOWED BY - One of the terms must be directly followed by
the other.
NEAR - One of the terms must be within a specified number of
words of the other.
Quotation Marks - The words between the quotation marks are
treated as a phrase and that phrase must be found within the
document or file.
Examples of Literal search engines are yahoo.com, google.com
and altavista.com.
Search Engines (Continued)
Natural Language search engines may
also be used.
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The idea behind natural-language queries
is that you can type a question in the same
way you would ask a human sitting beside
you.
The most popular natural language query
site today is Ask.com, which looks through
the query for keywords that it then applies
to the index of sites it has built.
Navigation Tools
The most useful buttons on your browser toolbar include:
 Back  Returns you to the previous page.
 Forward  Returns you to a page you have backed up from.
 Home  Takes you to a home page specified in the browser
preferences.
 Reload or Refresh  Downloads the web page from the server
again.
 Stop  Stops the browser from loading the current page.
 Print  Lets you make a hard copy of the current document or
frame loaded in your browser.
Navigation Tools (Continued)
Three main ways to navigate web pages or websites:
1.
Click a text hyperlink.
Text links are usually underlined and in a different color from the rest
of the text.
2.
Click a hyperlinked graphic image, such as a button, photograph,
or drawing.
You know the item is hyperlinked if:
3.
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The arrow cursor turns into a hand.
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A URL appears in the status bar at the lower left of your web browser.
Type the URL of a web page in the location box (also known as the
address field) of your web browser and the press the Enter or
Return key.
Navigation Tools (Continued)
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Access indicator icon (located in the upper right portion of the
browser) -- When animated, it tells the user that the browser is
retrieving data.
Status bar (located in the lower left portion of the browser) -Reports on the progress of the data being downloaded.
Most browsers have a Print button on the toolbar that lets you print
a web page.
Some web pages are divided into multiple sections called frames.
You can only print one frame at a time.
 To print a particular frame, first select it by clicking it.
 Then click the Print button or select Print Frame from the File
menu.
Internet Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts
Ctrl + N
Launch another Web browser
Ctrl + F
Search for a text string on a Web page (the F stands for "Find")
Ctrl + W
Close a Web browser
Ctrl + H
Bring up your history in a side panel; shows pages you have visited
Ctrl + I
Bring up your favorites in a side panel; shows pages you have
"bookmarked" to quickly visit again
Ctrl + D
Save a page URL to your favorites
Esc
Stop the Music! (Some Web "designers" cause a music file to
automatically start when you visit a Web page; also stops loading
graphics.)
Tab
Move to next field in a Web form.
Tab
Move to next link on Web page
Alt + D
Move to the address box
Shift + click on
hypertext
link
This will cause the link to open in a new Web browser
Basic Uses in a Business Setting
Managing Multiple Email Accounts
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Outlook and Outlook Express are two examples
of programs that allow a user to manage multiple
email accounts. Many other programs are
available free online.
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A “junk” account is good to use when registering
at different websites. This account will probably
fill with spam and junk mail.
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A “private” account is good to maintain for school
and friends.
Online Bill Payment Basics
Online bill payment saves time and money by
eliminating the hassles of writing checks and
mailing bills on time. Also, an increasing number
of banks (both traditional and virtual) are offering
free online bill pay services.
To protect yourself when using online bill pay:
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Make sure that the site is SECURE!
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Verify the accuracy of your bank and credit card
account numbers.
For people who have trouble paying bills on time,
a neat feature is to schedule recurring payments
on specific dates.
How to Pay a Bill Online
1.
Access your account
2.
Set up the account you wish to be drafted for bill payments
3.
Enter payee information:
4.
a.
Payee name
b.
Amount
c.
Frequency (one time, weekly, monthly, etc.)
Choose the date of payment
Keep in mind that, depending on your bank, there may be a 4-5
days waiting period before bills can be paid.
Instant Messaging (IM)
IM
is used for private chats, usually
between close friends or family
members.
Some
services allow users to detect
their IM buddies that are online.
Instant Messaging Basics
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MSN
AOL
Yahoo
Logging in
Buddy lists
File transfers
AIM, Yahoo,
ICQ…
Blogging
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Blog is short for web log.
A web log is a frequently updated journal that is intended for
general public consumption.
Blogs generally imitate the personality of the author or the
Web site.
Blogs have common elements: updated frequently (usually
daily); informal; grouped by date with links to archives of
older posts; informative and/or inspiring (the good ones);
frequently linked to the sites that inspired the blog; and
addictive for those who blog.
The author of a blog is often referred to as a blogger.
When we add an entry to our blogs, we may often say we
blogged today.
Desktop Video Conferencing
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One of the most compelling features of the Internet
may well be the ability to communicate inexpensively
in real time, via desktop computers. The Internet
provides a medium through which users can see, hear,
talk to and collaborate with each other in different
locations around the world without the expense of
travel.
Conferencing programs, such as the popular
NetMeeting, allow workgroups to use the Internet to
see each other’s faces in small windows on the
computer screen and to hear their voices through
computer speakers.
Video and audio may be used simultaneously, alone,
or not at all. The screen-sharing capability of
conferencing programs allows collaboration on
documents without either audio or video.
Desktop Video Conferencing (Continued)
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Conferencing formats:
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one-to-one
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one-to-many (multicast)
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many-to-many (multipoint)
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Videoconferencing via the Web has enormous potential
for enhancing communications for small and mid-sized
companies, as well as for distance learning.
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However, because at the very minimum you need a highspeed connection for acceptable video quality, entry
barriers remain high. As a result, desktop conferencing is
not yet widely implemented for business and educational
use. As bandwidth increases, expect to see the use of
desktop videoconferencing become more widespread.
Wireless Networks
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Definition
Topology
Wireless Networks
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The term wireless networking refers to technology that enables two
or more computers to communicate using standard network
protocols, but without network cabling. Wireless networking
generally refers to wireless LANs.
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Peer-to-peer wireless networks consist of a number of computers,
each equipped with a wireless networking interface card (NIC).
Each computer can communicate directly with all of the other
wireless enabled computers.
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A wireless network can also use an access point, or base station. In
this type of network the access point acts like a hub, providing
connectivity for the wireless computers. It can connect (or "bridge")
the wireless LAN to a wired LAN, allowing wireless computer
access to LAN resources, such as file servers or existing Internet
Connectivity.
Wireless Network Range
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Typical indoor ranges are 150-300 feet,
but can be shorter if the building
construction interferes with radio
transmissions.
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Longer ranges are possible, but
performance will degrade with distance.
Security in Wireless Networks
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Wireless communications obviously provide potential
security issues, as an intruder does not need physical
access to the traditional wired network in order to gain
access to data.
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To protect against any potential security issues, 802.11
wireless communications have a function called WEP
(Wired Equivalent Privacy), a form of encryption which
provides privacy comparable to that of a traditional
wired network. WEP should be used if the wireless
network contains sensitive information.
Resources
http://netforbeginners.about.com/
http://www.newbie.org/internet_explorer/
http://www.december.com/web/text/index.html
http://www.pcstats.com/
http://www.learnthenet.com/english/html/30conf.htm
http://www.learnthenet.com/english/web/060www.htm
http://www.learnthenet.com/english/animate/animate.htm - great animated
tutorials.
http://www.vicomsoft.com/knowledge/reference/wireless1.html