Internet

INTERNET FOR DOCTORS - GETTING STARTED

"Internet" the word seems to be on everyone’s lips and in every media possible. Meet an acquaintance and don’t be surprised if he asks you for your e-mail address. When I started writing this article I realised that it would be an almost impossible task to tell you how to set-up your computer and get an internet account. I can just give broad guidelines but anything more you would require a good book, lessons or a friend who can show you the "ropes". The fastest and easiest way is to buy an ‘Internet ready package’ that is available. This comes with a computer, modem, an account with a service provider, softwares to use, and maybe a few lessons thrown-in. My main aim is to share interesting web page sites for medical information. This will be done progressively. This article can be accessed at http://www.vadscorner.com/internet.html. If you have sites you would like to share e-mail me at vadivale@geocities.com.

What is the internet ?

The internet is a collection of thousands of computer networks, tens of thousands of computers, and more than 10 million users who share a compatible means for interacting with one another to exchange digital data.

What can I do with Internet Access?

You can exchange information quickly and conveniently
You can access experienced and expert individuals in thousands of fields
You can receive regular updates on topics of interest
You can gain wide-area access to your data
You can build teams and enhance teamwork across geographic distance
You can gain access to archived information
You can translate and transfer data between machines
You can have fun and be entertained

What equipment will I need?

Hardware

Get your computer from a reliable vendor and a good company (e.g. Acer, IBM, Compaq, etc). What you want is good after sales service and help from the vendor when you have minor problems. The computer should at least come with a Pentium 133mHz processor and above, minimum 16MB Ram on board, more than 1 gigabyte of hard disk capacity, 1 MB VGA Ram, a floppy disk drive and a minimum 6-speed CD-ROM drive. A 15-inch SVGA monitor will make viewing pleasant. A modem either internal or external depends on your usage. If you want to use the modem on another computer then get an external modem. Make sure you don’t get anything less than 28,800 and preferably 33,600-baud rate model. The latest computers come with MMX Pentium chip which makes downloading of multimedia files faster. The above configuration is ideal not only for Internet dial-up accounts but also to run the many software’s that is in the market especially Microsoft Windows based programmes. The above is an ideal computer but an ordinary DX2-66MHz computer will suffice for the time being. You would of course require a telephone line. A separate line would be good if you plan to use the Internet service for long periods.

Service Provider

The most common service providers are JARING and TMnet. Whichever the service provider you choose, they should

be easily accessible at all times

be relatively cheap
have many nodes so that you can call in from any State in Malaysia(if you use a notebook) and pay the local telephone rate
have backup service or customer information service
provide various facilities, e.g. e-mail, www, telnet, ftp.
if necessary allow you to "log-in" in another country and pay the local rates. This might be ideal if you travel a lot and have a notebook

Software

Some vendors and service providers provide you with the software. Otherwise you may have to purchase them but I suggest you ask a friend who is on the Internet for at least a software to log-in and a world-wide-web browser. If you have this you can then download most of the software from the "net". If you have Windows 95 and PLUS you can easily set-up your computer to log-on with your service provider.

Let’s assume you have all this; you have logged-in with your service provider, given your username and password and been given access to the Internet service. Now we have to decide what we want to from the following services

World Wide Web (WWW): A program that works through hypertext links to data, allowing you to explore network resources from multiple entry points.
Electronic mail (e-mail): Electronic mail involves sending and receiving messages over the network.
Usenet (newsgroup): A worldwide network of newsgroups on thousands of subjects that can be accessed by newsreader programs.
File transfer protocol (ftp): File Transfer Protocol is your tool for moving files from any one of thousands of computer sites to your own computer.
Telnet: An Internet protocol that allows you to log on to a remote computer and is used, for example to search remote databases.
Internet relay chat (IRC): Real-time interactive character-based communications. Use your keyboard to "talk" with others in real-time.
Internet Phone: Real-time audio based communication. Using your multi-media PC as a two-way radio.
Teleconferencing: Real-time audio and video data transfer over the network.

Where can I get software in the web and which ones should I have?

The choice of software depends on the individuals familiarity with the software. A good site to start is The Consummate Winsock Apps Lists . (now WinPlanet)

(http://cws.internet.com/) Depending on whether you want a 32 bit or 16 bit software just point your mouse and click. First and foremost you require a world wide web browser. Internet Explorer for Windows or Netscape Communicator. Both these browsers come along with e-mail and usenet capability. The full version allows chat – keyboard or voice. The next software you would require is compression software such as Winzip . This particular software is useful for you to unzip files. Make sure you have a good virus program. One good program is VirusScan from McAfee.

With these basic program’s you can try downloading the other files for ftp, telnet, Irc, internet phone, Skype (voice over the internet-talk over the internet), etc. It might be worth your while to download a graphic viewer such as Lview Pro so that you may view graphic files that you have downloaded.

Hopefully we are all set now to take a trip into cyberspace. I leave you with a site to explore at Yahoo – Health. ( http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/ )

Reference:

1. Using The Internet, Special Edition. William A.Tolhurst et al. Que. 1994.
2. The Internet Navigator. Second Edition. Paul Gilster. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.1994.

Links last updated 16 April 2005

Dr.M.Vadivale

Webpage: Vads Corner.

Berita MMA Vol.27 No.3; March 1997.