Lab 1: Get Wired! Log On! Tune In!

As a registered student in a Malaspina course, you are entitled to use the computer labs on campus. Malaspina, however, is no longer supporting new student email accounts, so the first thing to do in this course is to establish an email account. Most students seem to gravitate to Hotmail because it is well-supported in the labs, but there are a number of alternatives for web-based email that we can discuss in the lab. If you already have an email account, you should use that for the course. In the labs on campus, you will have to set up an account in Outlook Express to post messages to the newsgroup.

After you have an email account, contact me and provide your email address: I have no way of contacting you electronically if you do not send me your e-mail address.

Web Accounts

It is necessary for you to have your own internet access on a regular basis, and you can do this either from home (or work!) or in the Malaspina computer labs. As a registrant for the course, you are entitled to a student web account at Malaspina which gives you access to data storage on the Malaspina server for webpages. You can set up your student account on the WWW. Go to http://web.mala.bc.ca/it: Click on "Students" and you'll see a list of links related to student accounts.

Since you are entering a secure sector of the network, you will have to go through a series of security certificates to reach the account creation page. Once there, follow the instructions for establishing your personal profile and web account. You will need your student number. Your password must be between 6 and 32 letters long. Write your password and account name down where you can find them. If you forget your password, you will have to go to the Help Desk on the ground floor of the Library with some picture ID to prove who you are. The people on the Help Desk can't recover your old password, but will help you create a new one.

In creating an account, you are establishing two things: (1) a dedicated storage space and web folder on the Discovery server (8.5 Mb); and (2) a roaming profile (1.5 Mb) that you can log onto from any networked computer on campus. The roaming profile allows you to customize your desktop and settings. The web folder allows you to create a website when you place files in it. You will be using this web account--or its equivalent-- to post your assignments, so it's important that you feel comfortable accessing it. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, remote access to the web folders is not working, so files have to be moved into the web folder in one of the labs.

Introductions

We'll begin the course by reviewing its online content and focus, and the relationship between popular culture and mass media. The readings for next week are on the internet: Notes Towards a Definition of Culture and Jürgen Habermas and the Public Sphere.

Review Media 112 web-site: While this site is most certainly under construction, there is quite a bit to explore: course Description and Resources especially. I will be providing more information on Assignments. The Week-to-Week page will continue to evolve as the course progresses. You'll notice that the icons on the pages are usually linked to other pages: you can discover where they lead by positioning the cursor arrow over the icon and watching the document status window at the bottom of the browser page.

Newsgroup Posting #1: Media Profile

To introduce yourself to the other course participants, write a media profile of yourself (200-300 words), and post it to the course newsgroup by January 16th:

• nntp.mala.bc.ca/mala.medi112.s0201

A media profile describes how you use media to define and situate yourself in a mediated environment. What media do you use frequently? What purposes do they serve for you? Describe your activities and interests: your transportation, news sources, entertainment, musical interests, sports, fashion, magazines, movies. What media do you use to communicate: letters, telephone, email, chat, photography, art, dance, music. In what ways does your use of the media define who you are? What do you think your choices of media communicate about you as a person? Write in a style that reflects your personality, and edit your writing for errors.

This newsgroup posting can be used as the basis for your first assignment.

Setting Mail and News Preferences

Before you can use the email and newsgroup applications in Internet Explorer in the Malaspina labs, you will need to set the Mail and News Preferences of the browser. (If you are working from your own computer, you will have done this already.)

If you are accessing the newsgroup from a Malaspina computer lab, you must first establish an Account:

• Open the Microsoft Outlook Newsreader: In Internet Explorer, select Tools, Mail and News, Read News
• In Outlook, select Tools, Accounts, News, Properties
• Complete the dialogue window:
  • News Account: nntp.mala.bc.ca
  • Name: Your Name (e.g. Marsh Soules)
  • Organization: This field is optional (Malaspina University-College)
  • Email: Your email address (soules@mala.bc.ca)
  • Reply Address: An email address for replies (soules@mala.bc.ca)
  • Select OK

In Netscape, Preferences are set in the Edit menu: select Preferences, then click on the + sign beside Mail & Groups. You need to fill in dialogue boxes in Identity (name and email address), Mail Server, and Group Server (nntp.mala.bc.ca).

You will now be able to read and post messages to the newsgroup. Without completing the Account information, you will only be able to read messages posted to the newgroup. Once you have completed your posting, you should delete your account information before logging off to keep others from accidentally posting messages with your identity.

A note on accessing the course newsgroup: In the past, some course participants have experienced difficulty "finding" the newsgroup for this course. If you access it from the newsgroup page, you should be taken directly to our newsgroup. However, if you are accessing this newsgroup from another service provider, you might have to subscribe to the newsgroup first. To do so:

1. In the Prefences or Options menu of your browser, specify "nntp.mala.bc.ca" as your news server. (Your service provider may not subscribe to the Malaspina newsgroups.)
2. In the Options menu, select "Show All Newsgroups," and wait for this file to load in the left-hand window.
3. Scroll down to the Mala folder, open it by clicking on the + sign, scroll down to the Medi 112 folder, open it
4. Select the appropriate newsgroup for your section.

The messages posted to the newsgroup should appear in the right hand window. To see all the messages: in the Options menu, select Show All Messages. By default, the browser will only show you the messages you have yet to read unless you specify otherwise.

Posting to Newsgroups

To post a response to a previous message, select "Reply Group" from the button bar at the top of the window. To reply directly to the person who posted the message, select "Reply." To start a new topic thread, select "New Post". If you are responding to a previous message (Reply Group or Reply), this message will be shown in the new window. Delete any parts of this message that are not relevant to your posting by clicking, dragging, and deleting the unnecessary text. It is considered poor netiquette to duplicate previous messages if they are not part of your response. You will notice how some writers use the previous message creatively to introduce or organize their responses.

In the Malaspina computer labs, the message you post will probably not appear until you refresh the newsgroup: either select "Send/Receive" or exit and reload the program.