Going Online Lab Projects

Complete and turn in the following going online projects as directed by your instructor.

1. INFORMATION SERVICES: Subscribing to an Information Service
   1. Most commercial information services give potential subscribers an opportunity to go online and try out their services. They do this by giving you their client software (the software needed to connect to the service) and some free time to explore their offerings. If you do not have a subscription to an information service and wish to do related exercises (2 through 4), you will need to gain access to a service. Several popular services offer free trials including America Online and MSN. You may wish to order several trial kits to compare services and pricing. Call information for the 800 numbers. Client software for Microsoft Network is made available with Windows 95.
   2. Select the service that best suits your needs. Install the client software, go online, and sign up for the trial period. A modem is required to go online.

2. INFORMATION SERVICES: News, Online Chats, and Movie Reviews
   1. Log on to an information service.
   2. Read any online instructions and familiarize yourself with the interface. Do two of the following three online activities.
   3. Check out the latest news. Provide a one-sentence description of two late-breaking stories.
   4. Engage in an online discussion in one of the forums. Print a portion of the discussion that includes your comments. If printing is not possible, briefly describe the theme of the discussion and what you contributed to the discussion.
   5. Read and print a review of a current movie that you've seen or would like to see.

   

3. INFORMATION SERVICES: Consumer Reports, Sports, and Weather
   1. Log on to an information service. Do two of the following three online activities.
   2. Print the recommendations of Consumer Reports for a item that you would like to purchase within the next year (see Figure 7).
   3. Check out what is happening in sports and report at least one score for a game/match that was played yesterday or today.
   4. What is tomorrow's weather forecast where you live? What's the forecast for London, England?

4. INFORMATION SERVICES: College Database, Encyclopedias, and Shopping
   1. Log on to an information service. Do two of the following three online activities.
   2. Find a college database and print a profile of your college.
   3. Search an online encyclopedia to determine the country in which soccer was first played.
   4. Do some online shopping and print information on two products you would like to purchase during the coming year.

   

5. INFORMATION SERVICES: Maps, Stock Quotes, and Health Tips
   1. Log on to an information service. Do two of the following three online activities.
   2. Call up an online map of Europe to determine which countries border Italy (see Figure 8 for a map of Africa).
   3. What are the latest stock prices for IBM (IBM) and AT&T (ATT)?
   4. Read and print one of the online health tips.

6. INFORMATION SERVICES: Vacation Planning, E-mail, and Games
   1. Log on to an information service. Do two of the following three online activities
   2. Use an online services to help you plan your next vacation. Describe how you intend to travel and how much it will cost, where you would like to stay, where you would like to eat (include at least two restaurants).
   3. Obtain an e-mail address of a friend, colleague, or instructor. Send one of them an e-mail message and request a response. Print the message. Wait a day and check your e-mail. Print one of your incoming messages.
   4. Play a game. Describe the game briefly and report your score.

7. INFORMATION SERVICES: Cyberspace Adventure I
   1. Log on to an information service.
   2. Take an hour-long journey through information service cyberspace. Print out appropriate text or an image at one of your stops to document that portion of your journey.
   3. Use word processing software to recount your adventures, that is, where you went and what you found. Limit the description to one single-spaced page.

8. THE INTERNET: Patrick Crispen's Internet Roadmap
   1. Log on to the Internet via a Web browser.
   2. Use the Roadmap training workshop to learn how to travel the Internet. Go to Roadmap at http://www.mcs.brandonu.ca/~ennsnr/Resources/Roadmap/.
   3. Following the weekly lesson plan in the Roadmap. Do the homework for each lesson and print a short portion of each lesson to demonstrate that you have done your homework.

   

9. THE INTERNET: Yahoo, Census Bureau, White House Visit, and the Job Market
   1. Obtain authorization to use the Internet and an Internet address.
   2. Log on to the Internet via a Web browser. Do two of the following three online activities. Hint: Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com), which provides a comprehensive listing of Internet sites, is always a good point of departure to begin a search for online information or services. Use the Yahoo search capability to point you in the right direction.
   3. Tap into the U. S. Bureau of the Census Internet site (see Figure 9). Peruse available information and print a piece of what you consider to be interesting information.
   4. Tour the electronic White House. Be sure to sign the Guest book. What is the first sentence of the President's message.
   5. Print the details of any Job opening in your state (or country if other than the USA). If you are in the market for a job, post your resume.

10. THE INTERNET: Museum Tour, the CIA, and Pizza
    1. Log on to the Internet via a Web browser. Do two of the following three online activities.
    2. Tour an electronic museum. Download the image to your work diskette and print it and a description of one of the pieces in the museum.
    3. What is the population of Austria according to the CIA's most recent World Fact Book?
    4. Order or try to order a pizza (Internet Pizza delivery is not available in all cities).

    

11. THE INTERNET: Computer Art, Library of Congress, and Online Magazines/Newspapers
    1. Log on to the Internet via a Web browser. Do two of the following three online activities.
    2. Surf the Net for a computer art image that you like. Download the image to your work diskette and print it (see Figure 10).
    3. Browse through the Library of Congress Web site and briefly describe the main areas of the site.
    4. Search an online magazine or newspaper for articles about one of your interest areas. Print an abstract or a portion of one of the articles.

12. THE INTERNET: Mailing Lists, Newsgroups, and E-mail
    1. Log on to the Internet via a Web browser. Do two of the following three online activities.
    2. Subscribe to a mailing list that addresses one of your interest areas. Print two messages from the mailing list. Unsubscribe after a couple of days on the list.
    3. Join a newsgroup of your choice. Post a message to the newsgroup. Wait several days, then print the message and any replies to your message.
    4. Obtain an e-mail address of a friend, colleague, or instructor. Send one of them an e-mail message and request a response. Print the message. Wait a day and check your e-mail. Print one of your incoming messages.

13. THE INTERNET: Cyberspace Adventure II
    1. Log on to the Internet via a Web browser.
    2. Take an hour-long journey through Internet cyberspace. Print out appropriate text at one of your stops to document that portion of your journey.
    3. Use word processing software to recount your adventures, that is, where you went and what you found. Limit the description to one single-spaced page.

14. BULLETIN BOARDS: Posting a Message
    1. Run the communications program that you would use to link to a bulletin board system. Complete any hands-on tutorials that come with it. Look for a Tutorials entry in the Help pull-down menu. Repeat the tutorial(s), if available, until you feel comfortable with the program's features and functionality.
    2. Log on to a bulletin board of your choice. Your instructor will provide numbers to appropriate bulletin boards in your area. Post a message to the bulletin board. Wait several days, then print the message and any replies to your message.