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Practical communications
Although the Web is the most talked about service on the Internet, many other Internet services are available. These services include:
- Email - electronic mail;
- Listservs - mailing lists;
- Newsgroups - an online area in which users conduct written discussions about particular subjects;
- Real-time communication (chat, IRC, MUDs & MOOs) that take place on a computer; and
- FTP - an Internet standard that allows you to exchange files with other computers on the Internet.
Electronic mail commonly known as email is a means to communicate electronically using a data communications network. It is generally used to send information in the form of text or graphics between two computers.
It is a means of communication that is quickly replacing the more traditional means of data communications including the interoffice memo, telex and even the traditional letter. The ability of email programs to include images in messages means that email will probably begin to replace facsimile (fax) transmissions.
There are a number of popular email application programs, but each one "sits above" and interacts with the SMTP 
protocol. The email protocol SMTP (which stands for Simple Mail Transport Protocol) is based upon TCP/IP (the universal network protocols), and is one of the three "standard" Internet protocols along with Telnet and FTP.
Further Information
What is the format of a mail message?
Which email package is the one to use?
Listservs and other electronic mailing lists
An electronic mailing list is another service on the Internet that allows you to keep in contact with people sharing similar interests. For example, you may have a particular research interest but you are geographically isolated from colleagues, and this makes it difficult to keep abreast of the latest innovations in the field. By subscribing to a particular mailing list you will be kept in regular contact with people interested in the same field, via electronic mail which is automatically distributed to you via the mailing list.
An electronic mailing list is a server program that will copy and send a particular mail message to everyone who has subscribed to that mailing list. All programs have the same function however, they receive a mail message from a sender, then distribute that mail message to everyone who has subscribed to that mailing list. In addition the mailing list can be pinged with a variety of commands, such as a command to display an index of all mail messages held by the server.
Further Information
Newsgroups
Newsgroups support discussion on specific topics by acting as a collector for messages sent by individuals and posting them to a particular site. To read these messages, you can use a software program called a newsgroup reader (which is often built into a Web browser), which lists the messages on newsgroups and allows you to read them.
A newsgroup is a collection of messages or comments on a certain topic. They can be compared to notice boards, where anybody can read what you have posted, but it depends on your Internet service provider which newsgroups you can read or to which newsgroups you can post messages.
Usenet is probably the most well known example of a newsgroup. Usenet News is a distributed computer conferencing system. Conferences in Usenet News are called newsgroups, and messages are called articles. It was first implemented in 1979, and it encompasses government agencies, universities, high schools, various companies and personal home computers.
Further Information
Further links
Real time communication (synchronous)
Chat
There are a number of techniques that can be used to communicate informally on the Internet. Some of these techniques have been around for many years and well and truly predate the Web. A chat is a real time (synchronous) typed conversation that takes place on a computer. With chat, when you enter a line of text on your computer screen, your words immediately display on one or more participant’s screens. To conduct a chat, you and the people with whom you wish to talk must be online at the same time. A chat room refers to the communication medium or interface that permits users to chat with one another. To start a chat session, you must connect to a chat server through a chat client, which is a program on your computer. Most browsers include a chat client or you can download a chat client from the Web, such as ICQ , AOL , or ichat .
IRC
Internet Relay Chat provides a place for communication in real time. You can either join open public channels or invite people privately to virtual conference rooms. Generally, the user (such as you) runs a program called a "client" to connect to a local server on one of the IRC nets. The server passes information to and from other users' servers on the same net. There are lots of clients available. A good one for Windows is IRC Gold which you can download for free.
MUDs
One extension of IRC is a MUD. MUDs (short for Multi-User Dungeons ) were created as a network version of the adventure game Dungeons and Dragons. MUDs go beyond straight conversation by permitting users to "move around" and "perform actions" within a "virtual landscape". Although many MUDs are really just sophisticated games, there is a lot of current interest in them as teaching tools when given an educational perspective. For example rather than actively participating in a chemical experiment Krol (1994) suggests that a MUD can be used to simulate a dangerous experiment through a conversation carried out with a student.
Spend some time accessing this material then see what it can offer you. One of the more popular MUDs is London by Gaslight
Further links
MOOs
An advancement on a MUD is a MOO. A MOO is an Object Oriented version of a MUD. A 1996 MOO site is: INFOMOO: A Compendium of MOO Resources , which provides links to beginners' help guides, and many other resources relating to the use of MOOs. Along with MOOs come MUSHs and MUCKs all about multi-user players.
FTP
Ftp is the best way to exchange files on the Net. The abbreviation "ftp" stands for "file transfer protocol". This protocol provides instructions for the computers that exchange the files. Protocols, such as ftp, or TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), or http (hypertext transfer protocol) are sets of rules that computers use for the exchange of information when they send signals back and forth.
What can you do with ftp?
Ftp is particularly useful for the exchange of large files among computers. Imagine that you need an important document from a colleague of yours, or from a database. The remote computer could be of any kind, not necessarily the same operating system, or a server. The latter is the case when, for instance, we download an updated version of a browser from the Net. Another very frequent use of ftp is when people upload files or Web pages that they have created, they contact their Internet provider's server and use an ftp program to transfer copies of the files to it. That is how all Internet files are changed or updated.
FTP is useful for many reasons:
- You can get files from other computers and put them on your computer.
- You can put your files onto other people's computers.
- You can move files between your Internet accounts.
There are two main ways to use FTP:
Through the World Wide Web: This method allows you to use FTP through your World Wide Web browser. It is probably the most convenient way to search for and get publicly available files, but it is somewhat limited. It doesn't handle large files efficiently, or allow you to put files onto other people's computers or move files around.
Using specific FTP software: This is a more powerful and flexible way to search for and get files from the Internet. You can perform the full range of FTP functions using this method, this includes putting a file from your computer onto another computer.
You can download specific FTP software and learn how to get files or how to put files (or both!) from a WS_FTP resource site.
Further links
FTP: New users guide How to use FTP to transfer web pages, images, games and music files between your PC and the Internet.
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