Carol N. Ohta's Adapting to the Internet

*My Adapting to Internet*



First Thought

When I first walked into class I thought I'd learn what Traffic Psychology was all about. Then I heard about going on the Internet, I started to freak out because I tried to avoid the internet like it was the plague for years. The only thing I knew what to do on the computer was write my papers on Microsoft Works. I didn't even know what e-mail was or how to do it. So I decided to make it a point to spend as much time as I could to prove to myself that I could over come my fears about the Internet and e-mail.

Week #1
In week one the class was suppose to get our address for uhunix and give the teacher our login name. Dr. James said that if we didn't have one we should go to Keller Hall and get our address and password. Once we have it, we are to e-mail him our login name. Believe me, I felt lost and confused because I didn't understand a word he was saying. Hey, remember I'm computer illiterate. Go ahead and laugh but you probably experienced the same thing your first time on the computer.

When I signed up for my login name and password after class, the guy told me that I could come back tomorrow (Friday) to pick it up. I thought I was doing good and it will be fine once I got that information. Well, the next day I went to Keller to pick it up, I was so excited and ready to roll. However, the problem was how do I e-mail? So I asked a Keller Hall monitor and she told me something I didn't and except to hear, your not activated yet, it takes 24-48 hours. I really thought that once I got my login and password it was ready to use. Boy was I wrong and I felt like an idiot. So I figured I'd go to CLIC Lab on Monday and send e-mail because I didn't want to go back to Keller Hall because I just made a fool out of myself.

When Monday came I figured after my last class I'd go to CLIC Lab and ask for help. I just hope my friend is still a monitor there. Well, I went to CLIC Lab and saw my friend and asked him how do I e-mail someone. Yup, he looked at me like I was stupid or something because he said that's easy. He really thought I was kidding because he expected me to ask him a difficult question. Well, he took me to a computer and told me how to login and use my password. Once I got in he told me to type pine and then go into compose. Next thing I know my friend told me to write the name of the person I wanted to send the e-mail to. I started to panic and realized that I had to type leon for the teachers address. After typing in leon and started to type my message, my friend left my side.

When I finished my message I saved it and sent the message by e-mail. I was scared and unsure of myself but I did it anyway. I think I sent the message about two or three times because I wasn't sure if it went through or not. So I asked my friend and he told me that it went through because I didn't have any message saying there was a problem. Okay I admit it was easy but I still don't like the fact that I don't know for sure if the message got sent or not. I figured that if the class is going to be like this (e-mail) I can handle it. Hey no problem what-so-ever! What a big fat JOKE!!

Week #2
In week two the teacher gave us a hand out of the things we should do before the next class. We were to go into UNIX and practice commands he listed and to have a ball in NETSCAPE. Commands like: cd, cp, rm, dir, ls -al, mkdir, and others. When the teacher started to tell us that cd means change directory and went on to explain the rest of the commands it made more sense. So I tried them out. Hey, not so bad and I'm still surviving this class.

Week #3
In week three we were told to go back and forth exporting files into our CSS account and UNIX using telnet www.soc.hawaii.edu from UNIX. That was a little hard but I made it. I have a really big problem with not knowing if things did what I wanted it to do because I couldn't see a thing the computer was doing. It reminded me of e-mail, I couldn't stand not knowing if things went through or not. I solved the problem by saving every message I made and saved everything sent to me. I guess I've got to get use to the fact that things I send and do on the Internet changed, even though I can't see the computer doing it.

Then it was time to go into Netscape through the teachers homepage. I had problems typing the address in Netscape because the computer is so technical, if you make one error in the address you'll come to a page that says error 404. Even if you forget to type one thing. Now that I was very irritated and frustrated because I had to find the error, I retyped the whole address. I thought that was the easiest solution. WRONG, I didn't realize that I could put the cursor where I have the error and delete or add whatever I needed to. Wait now before you start laughing, I was told that the computer commands that I use in Microsoft Word or Works couldn't be used on the Internet. I found out real fast that I was wasting my time by retyping the address by my computer literate friend. He's such a big help and at times annoying with his teasing remarks.

Week #4-Now
In week four we needed to make files. When I started to make the files I didn't know where to start or where to go. I was a complete basket case. I thought I was suppose to figure out how to do it by viewing peoples files and viewing there source. I got stuck because I didn't know what I was suppose to do with that information. After asking Dr.James, I got my answer, copy and paste whatever I wanted to copy and paste into my file. I did it and it worked. Soon class was over and I thought I'd continue what I was doing and do the same for the other files I needed to complete. I had no problems and decided to quit until the next day.

When I went back the next day, I started making my changes and wanted to view my changes. Than something happened, I got stuck and started to freak out because I had screwed up and didn't know what to do. Being in the CLIC Lab I thought I was completely screwed. Luck came to me when I asked for help, talk about having a weight off my shoulders. Well, that's what I thought and than began to panic because the lab monitor didn't know why my file in Netscape wasn't changing. He even checked my file and saw everything was okay. So he went into his file and made me copy and paste what I needed for my file from his. I thought I was history because that still didn't work. Well, to my surprise and the monitors surprise, I was in the wrong place. My file was in uhunix account and it had to be in my CSS account in order to view it in Netscape like I did in Lab class.

The problem was I didn't know how to place my file from uhunix into my CSS account. The monitor told me how to do it by telling me step by step on what I need to do. I had to ftp my file to my CSS account by logging into my CSS account and telling the computer to ftp my file by getting it and placing it into my CSS account directory. To my surprise it worked and I was very happy. I now remember each time to go into my CSS account before I type in pico.

I couldn't believe it, I had finished one file, my homepage. I was so happy, relieved, and satisfied. However, I knew I wasn't done because I still needed to do four more files and was told to copy and paste everything in my homepage into every file.

I accomplished the five files I had to make and I'm almost finished with my topic on Police Liaison site. Believe me, that was the toughest file to get going because I was visiting so many sites and at least twenty places I visited didn't pertain to my topic. So I went on searching for more places and sites to visit and at times I wanted to throw the computer out the door and into the trash can because I was so frustrated and tired of ending up on the Internet at a dead end.

I went home many times and yelled at everyone because I was irritated, frustrated, and tired. Well, I did get my frustration out but got the people at home giving me lectures about my attitude and behavior. However, it made me realize that I looked like an idiot to my family because they didn't do anything to me and I was yelling and blaming them for being in my way. Even my two dogs ignored and stayed out of my way because I'd yell at them too. I'm now working hard to leave my frustration, irritation, and tiredness at the computer lab and talking things or matters out when I get home and most of all taking time out of my schedule to play and spend time with my dogs because they really help me to forget about my worries and problems.

I'm starting to feel good about the Internet and the computer world because I've learned how to look up information and create my files. I'm even helping my friends who want to know how to e-mail and create files on the Internet. Reminds me of myself when I first started out on the Internet. I'm looking forward to getting contributions from anybody as soon as I'm done with my tpr file.

Bad News
Well hello, I just got some depressing news today. If I were suppose to be given a grade today, I would be getting a C-. It's mostly because the teacher can't see my write ups in my reports because I had them on disk and he couldn't view anything in this file and my report1.html file. I just got done copying and pasting the files into these files. From now on I'll try to remember to have my files up in pico to date and not on my disk so the teacher knows I'm working on them and have them.

I was shocked and surprise that the teacher was disappointed at the whole class because he had expected us to be ahead of where we really are right now. I feel as though everyone in my class is working very hard in trying to finish there files and reports but they take a lot of time and energy. I found that out when I had to construct my own files and looking around on the Internet for backgrounds, images, and icons that I liked and put them into my files so they look good. I really like backgrounds, images, and icons because they keep me interested in looking for more ideas on the Internet.

What a relief I got my report1.html done and I hope I don't have to go back. Chances are I probably will have to go back there again. I hope it'll be on domes day so I don't need to view it again; besides, I'll have an excuse. I must pat myself on the back because I didn't think I'd ever get that file done and finished with before March 11. Now if I can only finish this file. Now let me think what more can I add to this file that will benefit you the reader? I got an idea. Lets talk about short cuts. How I enjoy short cuts.

Links
Links are very interesting because when you click on the links it will take you to the file that it's linked to. You don't need to waste your time retyping or copying and pasting everything over and over again. I do admit that typing the links in your files is a pain but once you put it into a file you just need to go back there and click to where you want to go. For example, I use to go back and forth to Terry Gould's Graphic Site about everyday when I wanted to view an icon, image, or picture. Believe me I use to retype his address everyday and soon began to have it memorized. So I added it into my Topical Index. Now if I want to go back to his page I just go back into my topical index and click to his site.

Anchors
Anchors are like links; however, they go to specified paragraphs. They are helpful when you are commenting on someone's report. For instances, in my report one I have many anchors to peoples paragraph that I'm referring to. I've also included anchors to my own paragraphs. If you want to make a link to this paragraph you'll need to type A HREF="../../ or more if needed 409af96/cohta/459/report2.html#Anchors" within < and > and you'll need to include /A within < and > to end the link. It should work. If it doesn't work, you need to play with the address to make a link that's workable to my site.

Short Cuts
I'm learning some short cuts to save me time by typing the same things over and over again when I can just copy and paste. In the CSS account and UNIX after you exit pico or a file and need to go back into it you just press arrow up and it will take you to the last thing you typed. If you happen to bypass the file you wanted in pico just press arrow down and it will take you to the file you bypass from the WWW:~$ promp. If you want to delete a line in pico press the control button and the letter K at the same time. Use control A and it will take the cursor (that's the black spot you see in pico) to the left side of the line. Control E will take the cursor to the end of the line. That's about all the short cuts I learned so far. I hope to find more as I go along because I need and want short cuts.

Insights
I hope that I can offer some insights on what to expect in this class to the future generations to come. Believe me that when you're on the computer you can lose track of time and things do take long to load, find, and search. Remember that when you're on the computer you are in the computer world. At times the computer world is a challenge and a battle ground due to your frustration and eagerness to finish your reports. Hey, don't feel bad if the rest of the world seems to past you by when your on the Internet; believe me, this is a typical feeling when you're dealing with the Internet for the first time. Yeah, I'm experiencing this myself. At times you'll feel as if the computer is driving you crazy. Don't let people tell you that you drive yourself crazy. Just think to yourself that no, they're the crazy ones not me.

How I feel now
If you're like me and have no computer background but Microsoft Works or Word, I recommend you to send as much time in the computer labs as possible. You'll spend most of your time and energy in this class developing, creating, and making file and reports on the Internet. You'll hardly see your room, family, and friends because your life is now on the computer and not on Earth. The only time you're on Earth is when you're off the computer. When you're in the computer labs, you'll see many people come and go, only to wonder if you'll ever get to leave. When the time comes for you to leave, you'll find that you can't leave yet because you're in the middle of a thought, but the computer monitors don't care because they want to go home.

This is the type of life you'll probably come to view in this class. If you have a computer at home, you're lucky but you'll also find that you'll be on the computer all night. Not to mention the constant waiting to get into the uhunix from home. That's another thing you'll find, you'll need patience. Everything on the average takes long to load. I have no solutions to this problem because I hate waiting for things to load because I'm in a rush or impatient. Sometimes I start peeling my fingernail polish off my fingers and tend to start biting of my nails. That's a bigger problem because I'm trying to quit my nail biting. I never seem to win.

I do admit that I've learned how to create a page on the Internet, but I also found that I don't like creating a page because there's so much to do. I use to give computer geniuses a thumbs up but I'm beginning to get annoyed by them because they need to slow down so my brain can keep up with technology. But somehow, I don't think they'll ever listen to me. In fact, I know they're ignoring me on purpose. I know I would if I were a genius like them. I'll be looking for better ways and ideas to do things on the computers. I think that computer genius find new ways to do things to challenge their minds and in the mean time they're driving us computer illiterate people crazy.

I still feel that I'm computer illiterate because the computer industry is always looking for new ways to improve the computer technology and updating everything. I know for a fact that I'll always be computer illiterate. The only thing is that will I survive trying to keep up with the changes in the computer world? I don't think I'll ever know until the time comes to leave computers forever.

I just wish I was I computer genius and could do anything on the computer, but then again, Dr.James would probably figure out another way to make me go crazy. I wonder at times if he's only there to make me go crazy to figure out what I need in each file and report. I feel like I'm losing my mind here. Wow, whatever you do, this class is a lot of work for first experiences on the Internet. I wouldn't lie to you, please believe me! Dr.James please slow down because my brain is going into over load.

I'm afraid that I might need some therapy during this semester on the Internet because there's no end to the capability of the computer world, at lease I didn't find the end. Good luck if we're looking for the end and please don't tell me because it'll only make me go insane if you have a heart. I think the computer industry is making a killing on us the computer knowledge seekers. Is there ever going to be an end? Somehow I don't think so. Right, the wave of the future is only computers. At lease that's the saying all over the television.

Conclusion
Well this is it, the end of the semester. I've learned how to make my own Web Pages and how to construct my time on the computer. I had a problem in getting my tpr file going and didn't get any contributions at all from other people. I'll have to keep with this site during the summer semester and hope that people will send me E-mail on my topic.

If you have a problem with any of your file, I advise you to talk to Dr. James. When I created my tpr file, I sent a letter to the Police Department here and I got a response that my file didn't make sense and that I probably wouldn't get much response in regards to my topic. I have written back to the person explaining my topic; however, I still haven't gotten any response back from him. I also put in an introduction in my tpr file so people could understand my site a little more. I just hope the person I wrote to responds back because I would like to know if he understands my site better.

Through this set back of my tpr file not getting me the response I wanted, I didn't give up. This set back sent me to search within myself a better way to understand my tpr file and to get it down on the computer so other people will understand it better. I just hope that I did a good job at doing that. I'm so shocked that I came from knowing nothing about this computer age and wanting to drop this class, to getting so much more ythan I ever imagined to achieve in this course. I found that the challenges within this course made me work harder at getting a grasp at what this computer technology has to offer me.

I enjoyed this course and hope that I will learn more next semester when I take up Dr. James Psychology #409 and #499 class. I learned that my resistance to the knowledge of computers was connected to my resistance to learn a new information gathering system. I learned to overcome my resistance to achieve I new experience in my life. I found that this computer technology is easier than looking up information in the library. I just couldn't believe how up to date the information is on the computer world. I now know where to come if I ever need up to date information

Back to the Top?
My Homepage
My Topical Index. Go here if you want to see what each report and file contains.
Dr. James Homepage site. This is the location of the Cyber Port at University of Hawaii. He's my instructor.

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