http://cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2006-06-21 11:56 am
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Computers & Fun #5 6/21 Wednesday Afternoon - Computer Lab

"Welcome to the internets!" Abby called out happily. "It's a magical land where you can find out anything, be anyone and go anywhere. Due to our bodies need to eat, sleep and defecate; we can't actually live on the internet just yet. But that doesn't stop some of us from trying."

"We're going to get our toes wet this afternoon. You communicate with other people through electronic mail or e-mail." Abby launched into a description of how e-mail works. "As students, you all have Fandom High e-mail addresses. But I want you to go through and create a new email address through a free source such as hotmail, juno or g-mail. I would personally suggest g-mail, it's like the SUV of free email programs."

"Next we're going to talk about security. Sometimes the internet is a scary place, and not just because of the perverts. There's virus, trojan horses, hijackers, hackers..." Abby smiled a little bit there. "And of course, the absolute worst - pop-ups. So I want everyone to check and make sure that they have some from of virus protection on their laptops. There are lots of programs that you can pay to subscribe to, but there are some decent free programs that you can use. Secondly, it's a smart idea to install a firewall of some sort, check and make sure your laptops have those as well."

Abby moved to sit in front of her own computer and started typing rapidly. "Finally we're going to do some emailing. Since you created your email accounts about..." Abby checked her watch. "...ten minutes ago, you've probably already got spam. It's like junk mail, most of it offers things like male enhancement pills, diet plans and ways to make money. Then you'll get the chain email. Usually filled with brightly colored gifs and sappy poems and at the bottom is the obligatory if you don't send this on to all of your friends and back to me then you're a heartless evil person. Believe me, guys, if you start forwarding these on to your address book, you are a heartless evil person."

"Finally we have the most fun part of email, urban legends! Myths perpetuated by the fact that most people are too lazy to go to Snopes. Some of the most famous are the really expensive chocolate cookie, Bill Gates giving a dying kid cash for forwarded emails and my favorite, the emails warning against ordering from manbeef.com, a website that sells human meat. All of them are fake, but people believe them enough to send on the email to everyone else. I want all of you to come up with a fake email and send it to the rest of the class. You can either use an email that's already out there or make up your own!"


[wait for ocd please OCD up!]

Re: If you don't forward this on, you don't love children or puppies

[identity profile] imac-kenzie.livejournal.com 2006-06-21 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ah, in that case it's definitely true love." Mac grins, "one day this fandom will take over the world and BadFic will abound. It's gonna be beautiful, and utterly mockable. I love it already."

Re: If you don't forward this on, you don't love children or puppies

[identity profile] willbedone.livejournal.com 2006-06-21 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"Do you hang out much on the net?" Willow asked. She then tried to look innocent. "Not that I'm large with the writing of fanfic myself, of course. I mean seriously."

Re: If you don't forward this on, you don't love children or puppies

[identity profile] imac-kenzie.livejournal.com 2006-06-21 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Mac grinned, "The internet is a brilliant waste of time. I'm more a reader and a mocker than anything else."

"Hypothetically, if I had written anything, it would have been a really long time ago and never to see the light of day again... "

Re: If you don't forward this on, you don't love children or puppies

[identity profile] willbedone.livejournal.com 2006-06-21 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh yeah," Willow said. "Me too. Certainly nothing I would post to the internet. Not after the bad reviews I got anyway."

Re: If you don't forward this on, you don't love children or puppies

[identity profile] imac-kenzie.livejournal.com 2006-06-21 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Mac nodded sympathetically, "happens to everyone at come point. Don't feel bad." She grinned, "It's nice to know I'm not the only internet obsessive one around here. I'm Mac, by the way."

Re: If you don't forward this on, you don't love children or puppies

[identity profile] willbedone.livejournal.com 2006-06-21 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
"They can pry my wireless connection out of my cold, dead hand," Willow said. "Though not really since wireless so kind of hard to grab onto. Hi! I'm Willow."