How to Internet properly

Rik

logged out
The internet is a wonderful tool, everyone uses it and having the power of information and communication at your fingertips should never be underestimated. Unfortunately it's obvious - especially modding a forum - that some things experienced interneters take for granted aren't really obvious for people new to this crazy phenomenon.
I thought it'd be good to create a thread where everyone can give their tips, sort of a "good ideas for a n00b to keep in mind" type list that can eventually be sorted and consolidated in to something useful. We can then use it to point people to if they're having trouble with things. Everything from how to search to forum etiquette should be common knowledge but instead of educating we usually let arrogance take control when someone asks a silly question or says something dumb. Having such a thread would help prevent flaming attacks over petty situations and give everyone something to contribute to as well as learn from.

I'll kick it off with finding information:
The mighty power of google
Have a look at Googles search guide, there's a lot to learn there and much of it will apply to other search engines too.

And as an example, this was pulled from another thread addressing the issue of Farkins search character limit:
You can search specific sites using Google.
For example, you can search by site by putting site:.au for all sites ending in .au (Australian), thus you can search the Farkin forums by putting site:.forums.farkin.net and it'll only give your results for Farkins forum.
If you're looking for information on a bike, you might punch the words Norco Six in to it.
So then you'd search for Norco Six, and still come back with all results for Norco and Six in the same post... That might be too many results, and many ont specific to what you want. To narrow that down, put the words you want together in quotation marks, "norco six" will only give results for those two words together.
To really sharpen your search, vary between "norco six 3" or "norco six three" or "norco six" three (don't use the number alone in the search, it'll bring back useless results).

So get to hit, punch this in to google:
"norco six three" site:.forums.farkin.net
or
"norco six" three site:.forums.farkin.net
etc etc.

You can also use boolean searches using +, -, quotations as per above, and if you really want to get specific use googles Advanced search features.

Once you master how to search for information you'll be amazed at how many simple questions can be answered just by searching. With a bit of practise it's easy to find almost any information you need providing it's online.

Next up is something that really should be mentioned:
Password security!
Far out, the amount of times people say "my msn got hacked" or similar blows my mind. Firstly, having someone guess your password isn't really "hacking", secondly...
YOUR PASSWORD SHOULD BE SECURE ENOUGH IT CAN'T BE GUESSED!
Nor should you ever have something simple enough it can be either guessed or discovered through simple methods.
A password should be a somewhat random collection of letters and numbers, something that means enough to you to remember properly but obscure enough to not allow it to be discovered by others. Having things like your name or date of birth in your password is plain dumb and you really do deserve the wrath of the internet coming down on you if you leave yourself open to having your email and forum accounts hijacked.
Another thing someone pointed out to me... when you sign up for email or whatever sometimes they ask you "reminder" questions like "what is your mothers maiden name" and other shit. Don't use them if you can avoid it, they're just another security risk. Funnily enough this person made note that there's seemingly innocent "personality quiz" questions on myspace and the like that'll ask you names of your first pet, city of birth or the like which are rather conveniently the same sort of questions you might have answered when signing up to an email account.
Be smart fellow internerds, your information can be used for all sorts of evil purposes so keep your cards close to your chest.

That's me done for now, there's plenty more handy snippets to be posted so contribute what you can and hopefully we'll have a great resource for everyone to tap in to.
 

Joy

Likes Dirt
I'll make an addition....

If you use myspace, for the love of god, DO NOT click on ads that people post in your comments. They open a hack window which steals your password. Just don't do it. Even if the link promises hot naked ladies delivered to your door, don't do it.
Sick of being bombarded with the crap.
 

Drizz

Likes Dirt
Double edge sword that is known as Google/facebook/blogs

Internet is great at finding out information, sharing with families and friends about your experience like if you are travelling or with friends that you haven't seen for yonks.

But it can also allow people that you dunno or you dun wanted to share information with peek into your life. You might not think its a big deal but who knows what your perspective employer will think when they see a photo of you in a gay pride parade on facebook, especially now that facebook is Google searchable.

With a tool like facebook, one can now arguably able to track who, you know, where you been, what you do and what you like and complete profiling. Ever see those pointless programs like "likelness", "My questions" or even the harmless games like "vampires" or tools like "places I been" and "my trips". All of those information are stored somewhere and tell others something about you, whos your best friends, what kind of things you like.

This is a god-send to anyone with an interest in data-mining (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_mining). Lets not go to the level about CIA profiling (sp?) or Terrorism fridge magnets, think more like Proctor and Gamble trying to see who they should sell toothpaste too. Facebook can almost answer their questions instantly! Market Reseach on a platter!

Heres a final catch - Even if you deactivate your account, all your information is still stored on the server, so the protection of your information rests on how seriously privacy legislation are respected. To give you an idea most organisation see them as annoyance.

So next time your friend send you another facebook requests like "my questions" or "likeness" comes through, think very carefully about it. If you don't want anybody know about it, keep it in your head!

Now where are my tin-foils? :D
 
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Steve-0

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Shortcuts:
this is helpful for rmany people, seriosly theres still alot of people who dont know

Ctrl + f = Search
Ctrl + c = copy
Ctrl + v = paste
Ctrl + z = Undo
Ctrl + Right mouse click = Open in new window

A big one: Be very careful when entering personal details on the internet and be very aware of what your about to click on or "Ok" to.
 
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Dicky

Punter God
Shortcuts:
this is helpful for rmany people, seriosly theres still alot of people who dont know

Ctrl + f = Search
Ctrl + c = copy
Ctrl + p = paste
Ctrl + z = Undo
Ctrl + Right mouse click = Open in new window

A big one: Be very careful when entering personal details on the internet and be very aware of what your about to click on or "Ok" to.
Just to clarify:

ctrl + z = undo

ctrl + x = cut
ctrl + c = copy
ctrl + v = paste

(have a look at where those keys are located... convenient, no?)

ctrl + p is usually Print ;)


scrollwheel / middle button click = open page in new Tab

(works in Firefox, and the latest Internet Explorer.
No more of this archaic six-programs-for-six-pages crap that turned millions off overheating their poor computer by using IE.)
 

Tomas

my mum says im cool
Opera

-Tabbed browsing
-Integrated spell check
-Faster
-Built in google
-Imports all your bookmarks
-Crashes less that IE (for me)
-Easy to add download manager
-Navigation is done through mouse movement.. its its easiest shit in the world to use and SO SO SO quick.
-speed-dial front page = so so so handy.
I won't ever go back :)
 

Steve-0

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Woops! lol spelling mistake..... yeh ctrl + c derr... BTW this is a pretty good thread for the older members and computer illeterate people.
 

Matt H

Eats Squid
One piece of advise:

If it says "Completely 100% Free" or something along the lines of, it's most definitely not!!!




:eek:
 
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Rik

logged out
Browser pissing contests aside...

Chalkie is on the money with his link, bringing me to my next installment:

Finding out quirky info isn't as hard as you'd think. There's plenty of strange jokes and "in jokes" online, many trends flow through the internet and everyone gets caught up in them one way or another.
If you're unsure of the meaning of a word or saying firstly hit a dictionary website. If that's no good, urbandictionary is a great resource for slang and can be fun to kill time on just browsing too. Phrases can always be googled (again using "..." to make sure it's only the entire phrase you search), and try variants on it too, to see what context people are using it in.

Whereis.com.au, yellowpages.com.au and whitepages.com.au are very handy to search with for finding businesses and places. People in Sydney can take advantage of www.131500.info for public transport information - I know there's equivalents of this is other cities to please link them.

Drizz's advice is well worth taking note of. Any and every bit of information you mention about yourself can be found and traced if someone puts in the effort. Think about what you say and how you say it, even with your forum alias it can still be linked back to you in one way or another. Put it this way: if you don't want someone important/special to read it, be it your employer or parent, then be careful about saying it online.
If you don't want cyberstalkers (something I find fun to do) to find out the juicy bits of your life then think about posting it online. Through a few minutes of using search sites and following on with linked pages it isn't hard to paint a picture of a persons online presence, and it can be a nasty picture if the information posted online is unsavoury.
 
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