New Users

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New Users

Welcome to Door Peninsula Internet's New User Guide. Below is information regarding Internet hoaxes and how not to fall for them, Security and how to protect your computer and yourself from online trouble, and some of the most common issues of online communication, and some information of what you should and should not do when talking to people on the internet. We have also added a "Netiquette" section, which lists all of the most commonly seen abbreviations in chat rooms and e-mail.

click on one of the buttons below for more information.

Hoaxes SECURITY Nettiquette

HOAXES

Often times, a new user (or even an experienced user) can be fooled by warnings they receive via e-mail about a malicious new virus, Trojan, or worm that will erase the entire hard drive of your system. In reality, 99.9% of these e-mails are a hoax. The people that start these messages are simply trying to see how far they can spread the e-mail, much like a chain letter. In addition to these virus warnings, you may also receive messages about free money, children in trouble, and other items designed get your attention or to steal your heart. Again, virtually all of these messages are also hoaxes.
Although a hoax e-mail is harmless, it can get very annoying to any people you send it to. The best thing to do if you get one of these e-mails would be to delete it and forward this information to the person who sent it to you.

Below are a some links that describe some of the most common hoaxes that you may encounter.

Hoaxbusters at Ciac.org
Vymths.com
Urban Legends at About.com

NETIQUETTE

Every type of communication tends to form a unique way of how people express themselves. Television uses a lot of body and facial expressions, the radio uses voice expressions, and person-to-person talk usually invloves physical interaction. The Internet too, has developed it's own unique forms of expression, known as "netiquette." Netiquette, which is short for Internet Etiquette, refers to how people act, talk, and express themselves while online. This guide will go through some of the main things that you should know when you start chatting online, joining newsgroups, or posting/reading messages on forums (message boards).

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
If you chat online, you will definately run into many abbreviations. If you see one, and you don't know what it means, type it in the box below and hit the "Search" button. For example, if y

DO'S AND DON'TS
One of the main things you should know are the Do's and Don'ts when you are posting messages, chatting, or writing emails.

	DON'T WRITE IN ALL CAPS. IT'S HARD ON THEY EYES AND IS ANNOYING. IT ALSO MAKES YOU LOOK MAD ALL THE TIME.
	Don't use signs to abbreviate bad words %$(#*&$@( The best thing is to not use bad words at all. It gets very annoying after a while.

Don't uze stoopid spellingz. It iz anoying, and sumtimez peeple can't tel what u r saying.

Don't abbreviate every single word, such as "R U gonna go there even tho we decided not 2?"

Don't start criticizing the chatroom "Gods." Almost all chat rooms has someone that has been there since the beginning of time, and they never leave. They have earned respect from the others, and they will stand behind that person. Listen to him/her, and don't argue with them. You won't get anywhere.

Don't reply to a message without saying who you are replying to. Sometimes, by the time you reply to a message, there will be 20 other message posted. No one will know what message you are referring to.

	Don't assume that your readers can tell the difference between sarcasm, seriousness, and a joke. Make sure you are clear on what you say, because no one can tell your mood by reading some text.
	Don't overuse the smily face. :-) It's ok to use smiley's SPARINGLY to help indicate your mood, but don't type them on every message :-)

INTERESTING QUOTES
Here are a few quotes that are quite interesting. They might make you realize some things on the internet that you never thought about before.

	"A word to people living in the United States: the net is international. If you tell a Belgian she's being un-American, SHE ISN'T OFFENDED. OF COURSE she's un-American; you're un-Belgian. She doesn't care about being lectured on the First Amendment and American values. She doesn't HAVE a First Amendment, and she thinks Belgian values are BETTER. We Americans have made fools of ourselves by forgetting this everywhere else. Let's try to behave a little better on the net." - Patrick Douglas Crispen
	"Love on the internet is becoming quite the fad. Just remember that the expression "what you see is what you get" does not apply online. It is easy to send a picture of someone else and say it is you. Your beautiful perfect girl could be a 2500 pound gorilla that learned to type, or your hunk of a man could be 2 high school girls playing with your mind during study hall." - Brandon
	"Just because I have ICQ or another instant messaging service, it does not mean that I want to chat about nothing all day long. Please stop sending me pointless messages that you expect me to reply to every 30 seconds. I have better things I want to do." - Anonymous
	"I am a college English professor, and I have been using the Internet for ten years now. For the first time, I decided to go into an actual chatroom (instead of my usual newgroups). My conclusion is that people are either very illiterate, very lazy, or a combination of both. I could barely understand what they were saying with all of the slangs, abbreviations, and misspellings. Honestly, what is the point of changing every S to a Z? Does it make you look cool or something?" - Frank White

NETIQUETTE BOOKS
If you would like to research the topic of netiquette more, check out these books at Amazon.com.

Netiquette
The Rules to Be Cool : Etiquette and Netiquette
Cyberflirt : How to Attract Anyone, Anywhere on the World Wide Web