Article 3 - Email

Email

You are all familiar with the need for a postal address so that people can find you, either directly or by sending mail. The Internet also makes use of addresses, but your Internet address (known as the IP address – IP stands for Internet Protocol) is allocated afresh each time that you access the Internet.

The biggest use of the Internet is Email. Here you will have a permanent Email address which you can choose – provided that no one else has already chosen the same name.

There are two types of email:

Webmail, where you have to go on-line (connect to the internet) to read and write your emails. Hotmail provided by Microsoft is one example of this sort of email service.
POP3, where you can write your new messages while off-line (not connected to the internet), then do a "send and receive" to send your messages and obtain any new mail. New mail can then be read off-line. In this case you will use a program such as Outlook Express - provided free by Microsoft (as part of Windows).

While you are using the Internet it is possible for people and organisations to discover your IP address and to gain access to your computer. The longer that you stay "on-line", the greater the possibility that someone will gain access to your computer, possibly without your knowledge. In most cases, you will probably not be adversely affected by this sort of activity other than the occasional annoying advert appearing on the screen. In general, the so called hackers are more interested in large organisations rather than individuals, and most people are not on-line for long enough to get into serious trouble. The way to defend yourself against this sort of activity, should this become necessary, is to install a "firewall" on your PC. This is software which builds a sort of wall so stopping access to your computer by undesirable elements.

Computer viruses have been a hot topic for a long time now, and new viruses are being developed all the time. While this results in good business for the suppliers of anti-virus software, viruses can be a real pain for the average user. Most viruses are spread via Email, usually via an attachment to a message. Before going to the trouble and expense of installing your own anti-virus software, check to see what is offered by your service provider – several provide this service for a small charge per year, and they ensure that their software is kept up to date. Out of date software is not so useful in this case - I get warnings about new viruses two or three times each week, and my software is updated (automatically) as often. My Email system now works a lot slower due, I believe, to this anti-virus software.

Finally, as I am sure that many of you are aware, there are some very useful web sites offering all sorts of good services and information. There are also sites which mimic genuine sites to trap the unwary. Be careful, it is a real jungle out there in the world of the Internet.

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