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Tutorial 8
Real-Time Communication on
the Internet
Using Chat, Instant Messaging,
and Wireless Technologies
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Objectives
• Learn different ways to chat on the Internet.
• Explore different chat client programs.
• Find chat rooms devoted to specific topics.
• Explore businesses that let you create your own chat
rooms.
• Explore virtual worlds that offer entertainment
opportunities
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Objectives
• Explore the history of the wireless Internet.
• Learn about different wireless networks.
• Locate wireless devices that let you access the
Internet.
• Evaluate wireless carriers in the United States.
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What Is Chat?
• Chat is a general term for real-time communication that occurs
over the Internet.
• Originally, the term chat described the act of users exchanging
typed messages, or a text chat.
• Voice Chat: where participants speak to each other in real
time, much like they would be using a telephone.
• Video Chat: where participants can see and speak to each
other.
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What Is Chat?
• Private Chat: occurs between individuals who know
each other and are invited to participate in the chat.
• Public Chat: occurs in a public area, sometimes
called a chat room, in which people come and go.
• Chats can be continuous, with participants entering
and leaving ongoing discussions or they can be
planned for a specific time and to last for a specific
duration.
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What Is Chat?
• Most chat tools allow users to save a transcript of the
chat session for future reference.
• The practice of reading messages and not
contributing to the discussion is called lurking.
• Chatting requires participants to type quickly,
therefore, chat participants often omit capitalization
and do not worry about proper spelling and grammar.
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Commonly Used Chat Acronyms
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What Is Chat?
• Shouting: typing in all capitals letters.
• Flaming: when a participant insults or ridicules
another participant.
• Spamming: when someone or an organization
sends unsolicited and irrelevant messages to a chat
room.
• Netiquette: rules of the Internet.
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Internet Relay Chat
• You must have special chat client software and connect to an
IRC server to use Internet Relay Chat.
• Early UNIX computers included a program called Talk that
allowed users to exchange short text messages.
• In 1988, Jarkko Oikarinen wrote a communications program that
extended the capabilities of the Talk program to multi-user. It
was called Internet Relay Chat (IRC).
• IRC uses a client-server network model: IRC servers are
connected through the internet to form an IRC network.
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Internet Relay Chat
• Individual chat participants use IRC clients that connect to the
servers in the network.
• The original network was EFNet, which is still one of the largest
IRC networks today.
• Other major IRC networks include IRCNet, Undernet, DALnet,
and NewNet.
• Servers in each of these IRC networks are connected to each
other as part of the Internet, but IRC traffic is segregated by
network.
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Independent IRC Networks
on the Internet
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Internet Relay Chat
• IRC networks organize their chats by topic.
• Each topic area is called a channel, and participants who
connect to an IRC network join specific channels in which they
conduct their chats.
• Each channel has a name, or a channel heading, that uses the
pound sign (#) to indicate the chat’s topic.
• When a participant creates a new channel, he becomes
responsible for managing the channel and is called the channel
operator, channel op, or IRCop.
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Internet Relay Chat
• The channel operator can change the channel’s topic and
heading at any time, determines which users may participate in
the channel, and can change whether the channel is public or
private.
• Participants select nicknames when they log on to an IRC
server. Nicknames must be unique.
• A channel operator’s nickname is preceded by @.
• IRC servers run automated programs, called IRC robots or
bots, which perform routine services on the IRC network.
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Commonly Used IRC Commands
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Instant Messaging Software
• Instant messaging software lets two users chat in
real time over the Internet.
• Instant messages usually occur between people
who know each other, and are especially popular with
friends and families separated by geographic
distances.
• The software has built-in tools that let you identify
your friends and alert you when your friends are
online.
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Chat in Progress Using ICQ
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Instant Messaging Software
•
Instant messaging is different from e-mail in two
important ways:
1. When you send an e-mail message to a user, you do not
have a way to determine if that user is online at the time
you send your message.
2. An instant message occurs faster because you do not have
to wait for your e-mail program to send and download
messages.
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Instant Messaging Software
• To use instant messaging to talk to other Internet
users, you must download an instant messaging
software.
• Instant messaging software programs:




ICQ
AOL Instant Messenger
Windows Messenger
Yahoo! Messenger
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Instant Messaging Software
• You must use the same instant messaging software to chat
with other users.
• Some instant messaging software programs have options for
logging on to your chat account using a Web page so you can
use the software when you are away from your primary
computer.
• All instant messaging software programs have some features
that work on wireless devices, such as cell phones.
• All instant messaging software is free and requires an Internet
connection, preferably a broadband connection.
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Windows Messenger
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Web-Based Chat Sites
• Web-based chat sites offer the same features as text-based
IRC chat networks and instant messaging but are often easier to
use and do not require users to download and install any
software.
• In Web-based chat, some users lurk and others have multiple
conversations going at the same time.
• The chat room identifies users as they speak with their user
names.
• Conversations are often open-ended and rarely follow the
prescribed topic.
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Web-Based Chat Sites
• Most Web-based chat sites prohibit spam messages,
the use of automated programs, profane and vulgar
language, and threats to individuals.
• Most sites require you to register before using their
chat rooms.
• Although Web sites that provide chat rooms have
rules of appropriate conduct, you might encounter
conversations taking place that are offensive to you.
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Web-Based Chat Sites
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Finding Web Chat Sites
• Use a directory that provides an organized list of chat
site hyperlinks.
• The descriptions for each hyperlink might tell you
more about the nature of the chat to which it leads.
• Use a Web search engine and include the word chat
in the search expression.
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Creating a Chat Room
• Use the features at a portal site such as Yahoo! Chat
to create your own chat room.
 Easy, inexpensive, and usually includes tools that let
you give access to only those people you want to
participate in the chat that you create.
• Several businesses offer services that support the
different situations in which an organization might
need to conduct a private, moderated chat.
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Virtual Worlds
• Computer games date back to the early days of
computing research.
• An early multi-user adventure game program was
multiuser dungeon (MUD).
• New forms of the program were created that allowed
participants to modify the game’s structure as they
played it. These programs were called MUD, object
oriented, or MOOs.
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Virtual Worlds
• MOOs that were highly oriented toward creative
tasks and programming objectives were called
multiuser shared hallucinations, or MUSHs.
• Some virtual worlds let participants interact with
each other almost as they would in real life.
• In a GUI virtual world, each participant assumes a
virtual physical existence and appearance. Such an
artificial person is called an avatar.
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Virtual Worlds
ActiveWorlds
home page
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Evolution of Wireless Networks
• When you connect to your Internet service provider,
you’re creating a wired connection.
• A wireless connection occurs when data, such as a
person’s voice, is transferred to another location
without the use of any wires.
• In 1994, carriers created digital networks, or
Personal Communication Service (PCS), where
data was carried in bits at a rate of up to 14.4 Kbps.
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Evolution of Wireless Networks
• The year 1999 saw the introduction of the first “wireless”
connections to the Internet.
• Personal digital assistant (PDA): a handheld computer
that can send and receive wireless telephone and fax
calls, act as a personal organizer, perform calculations,
store notes, and download Web pages formatted for
handheld devices.
• The wireless Internet has expanded to include different
hardware devices, networks, and other options.
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Evolution of Wireless Networks
• Cell phones were one of the first wireless connections to
transfer a person’s voice.
• Text messaging occurs over second-generation wireless
systems, or 2G wireless.
• Short Message Service (SMS) lets you send text
messages of up to 160 characters over a 2G wireless
network to a wireless phone.
• SMS is slow and you must have a network connection to
receive the data.
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Evolution of Wireless Networks
• Some handheld computers use Infrared technology to “beam”
information from one source to another without the use of wired
connections.
• Japan and South Korea have new 3G wireless systems (thirdgeneration wireless) in place. Some European countries are
building and licensing 3G wireless systems.
•
3G wireless systems offer data transfer rates of up to 2 Mbps
and constant connections.
• Bandwidth and cost are two obstacles for getting 3G wireless
systems going in the United States.
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Evolution of Wireless Networks
• The conversion from 2G to 3G wireless requires the
carriers to invest in technology to make the change.
• The technology is only as good as the network and
its coverage area.
• Many carriers have transformed and upgraded their
existing networks by creating 2.5G wireless systems.
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Evolution of Wireless Networks
• With the number of wireless Internet users expected to increase
in the next several years, more devices are being manufactured
to support wireless technology.
• There is not a network standard on which to transmit
information.
• Three network standards, EDGE, cdma2000 and W-CDMA, are
expected to be the competing standards.
• A wireless device is manufactured to work only on a single type
of network, just like a cell-phone.
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Wireless Local Area Networking
• Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi): a trademarked name of the Wireless
Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) that specifies the
interface between a wireless client and a base station or
between two wireless clients.
• A wireless local area network (WLAN) is a network in which
devices use high frequency radio waves instead of wires to
communicate.
• Wi-Fi operates in the 2.4 GHz radio spectrum, which is the
same spectrum used by cordless phones, garage door openers,
microwave ovens, and other devices.
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Wireless Local Area Networking
wired local area network
wireless local area network
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Wireless Local Area Networking
• Because Wi-Fi is unlicensed, it is free. The 3G wireless
spectrum needs to be licensed for huge fees.
• Four of the most widely used standards for WLANs are 802.11,
802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g.
• Transfer rate: the speed at which data is transmitted from an
access point (or base station) to the wireless device.
• Access point: a hardware device with one or more antennae
that permits communication between wired and wireless
networks so wireless clients can send and receive data.
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Wireless Local Area Networking
• Range: physical distance between the access point and the
wireless device.
• Wi-Fi usually refers to the 802.11b specification which is the
specification on which most Wi-Fi devices operate.
• Dual access point: a new device that makes the 802.11a and
802.11b wireless standards and the 802.11b and 802.11 g
wireless standards interoperable.
• Wi-Fi is often used as an alternative in an office building or other
area in which you might find a traditional wired local area
network. It may be used where wiring cannot be installed.
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Wireless Local Area Networking
•
Laptop computers and other devices must have Wi-Fi compatible
hardware installed in them to send and receive data with the
network.
•
If you position enough access points within the appropriate range of
each other, the WLAN can grow to cover an entire office complex or
geographic area.
•
Cometa Networks was formed in December 2002 as a joint project
between AT&T, IBM, and Intel. It intends to activate more than
20,000 access points for use by more than 100 million Internet
users. If successful, it might provide a wireless network across the
U.S. without encountering the obstacles that 3G wireless faces.
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Personal Area Networking
• Personal area networking refers to the wireless
network that you use to connect personal devices to
each other.
• There are two major types of personal area networks:
Infrared and Bluetooth.
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Infrared Technology
• The Infrared Data Association (IrDA) is a group dedicated to
developing low-cost, high-speed wireless connectivity solutions.
• Using Infrared technology, you can wirelessly beam information
from one device to another compatible device using Infrared
light waves.
• This technology is used with PDAs, notebook computers,
printers, phones, and other peripheral devices.
• A disadvantage is the lack of software products that can handle
the transfer. The devices and the software that runs them must
be compatible with each other.
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Bluetooth
• Bluetooth is a technology that provides short-range radio links
between personal computers, handheld devices, wireless
phones, headsets, printers, and other electronic devices.
• For devices without chipsets that enable them to receive
Bluetooth radio waves you can purchase an adapter to enable
use with other Bluetooth devices.
• Bluetooth doesn’t need an access point for communication;
devices communicate with each other automatically.
• Bluetooth isn’t really “owned” by any specific manufacturer or
group.
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Bluetooth
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Bluetooth
• Using Bluetooth technology, you can synchronize and share
data between as many as eight Bluetooth compatible devices
within the specified range at a rate of up to 1 Mbps.
• A collection of devices connected via Bluetooth technology is
called a piconet. A piconet can connect to eight devices at a
time.
• You can use Bluetooth-enabled devices to transfer files, listen to
music playing on a computer through a headset, print
documents, or connect your notebook computer to the Internet
using a wireless phone that is in your desk drawer or briefcase.
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Comparing Wireless NetworkXP
Standards and Bluetooth
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Wireless Wide Area Networking
• The next horizon for wireless connections is being able to
access the Internet on a PDA, wireless phone, or notebook
computer from anywhere in the world without a wired
connection.
• A WLAN provides a wireless connection to a network, but
devices must be within the stated boundary of the WLAN.
• In 2.5G and 3G wireless systems, wireless wide area
networking (WWAN) makes it possible to access the Internet
from anywhere within the boundaries of the wireless network to
which you are connected.
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Creating a Wireless
Wide Area Network
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Using Wireless Devices
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• The technology and standards that dictate what you
can accomplish with a wireless device change on a
daily basis.
• New standards emerge, new hardware is created,
and new ways of connectivity arrive.
• Some networks, such as those found in airports and
hotels, let you pay a daily fee to use the networks.
Others require a monthly fee.
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Summary
• There are different Internet resources to chat in real
time with friends and business associates.
• There are different types of wireless networks,
wireless network standards, and wireless devices.
• When selecting a wireless device, make sure that
you understand the features of the network on which
that wireless device operates.
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Summary
• You should carefully examine the network’s
geographic coverage area, pricing options, and the
provider’s future expansion plans before selecting the
device that most closely matches the functions that
you need it to perform.
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