~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~. From usna-net-owner@westpoint.west-point.org Sun Feb 11 23:12:11 2001 Received: (from root@localhost) by westpoint.west-point.org (8.9.1/8.9.1) id XAA21279 for usna-net-outgoing; Sun, 11 Feb 2001 23:12:11 -0600 (CST) Message-ID: <005f01c094b2$7c11ba40$5001d4cd@sandi> From: "Mike Zets" To: "" Subject: usna-net: USNA-Net Newsletter 02/12/01 Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2001 00:13:05 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 Precedence: bulk ================================================================ USNA-Net Newsletter February 12, 2001 ================================================================ In this issue... 1. Our New Newsletter 2. Address Changes - How and When 3. AOL Version 6.0 Upgrade - Friend or Foe? 4. Asking for Favors vs. Sharing Information 5. Search Engine Usage ================================================================ This Newsletter is sent to all members of our USNA-Net Listservers. It is published approximately three times each month and is intended to provide insight into our service, answers to Frequently Asked Questions, and Technical Assistance and Information to our membership. ================================================================ 1. Our New Newsletter... Welcome to the first of what we hope will be many useful and informative issues. Sandi and I have been kicking around the best way to pass on information and such to our members. Some of our more senior members may remember earlier attempts to pass on technical info which were loosely called TECH NOTES. Well, the Dark Ages and the fact that I really don't watch Basketball have led to our trying a new service. Sandi and I will alternate authorship so that we maintain balance of topics and styles and hopefully prevent boredom for our Membership. We will be using the USNA-Net Master List to distribute a single copy of the Newsletter to our membership each time it is published to insure that each of you will receive a copy. For now, there is no way to NOT send you a copy of the newsletter, so bear with us and just delete it if you don't want to read it. We promise to be brief and factual with each issue. 2. Address Changes - How and When Just as when you change the place you call home, when you change your email address, you've got to let others know that you've moved. Most of us end up changing our email address sooner or later. Maybe you've changed ISPs (Internet Service Providers like AOL or MSN) or maybe you've decided to use a free service like NetZero.com instead of paying for dialup every month. Whatever the reason, you'll need to advise everyone else of the change. You can usually do this by sending one message to everyone in your email address book. But if you're like the rest of us, you probably have our lists in your address book and you should NEVER send a message directly to our listservers advising of a change of address. Instead, here's what to do... WAIT until the change has taken affect. Then send a message to owner-usna-net@navy-usna.org (that's Sandi or me) telling us TWO things... Your OLD address and Your NEW address. Please don't tell us about it days or weeks ahead of time. We don't have a good way of remembering that next Tuesday your address will change. We'd rather just make the change as soon as we get notified. Please don't use the subscription form on our web site to change your address. All we need is a note from you that gives BOTH the Old Address and the New Address. Most importantly... For privacy and security reasons, you MUST SEND IT FROM THE OLD ADDRESS so that we can verify that you are who you say you are. 3. AOL Version 6.0 - Friend or Foe? If you are an AOL user, you've undoubtedly been encouraged (if not downright intimidated) to UPGRADE to Version 6. Unfortunately, AOL is calling this an UPGRADE when, in fact, it's barely a minor revision. Worst of all, while Version 6 doesn't really offer anything new, it TAKES AWAY a very important feature of previous versions - Plain Text Email Capability. Our Listservers require that all email messages be sent in Plain Text Format, also called ASCII. If you are still using AOL Version 5 or earlier, you have nothing to worry about but if you've installed the "New" Version 6 of AOL's infamous software, you can't set the new an improved version of the program to send email in anything except Rich Text Format (RTF). Inquires to AOL and discussions with one of their Beta Testers reveal that AOL does not feel this is a problem and have no plans to fix Version 6 so that it can send Plain Text Email. Here's the good (?) news. Unless you deliberately "Removed" your earlier version of AOL, it's still there waiting for you to use it instead of Version 6 to send email to our lists. You see, AOL's new version isn't even smart enough (or user friendly enough) to remove its own previous version when you install the new version. To use AOL Version 5, simply Click on "Start" then on "Programs" and finally on "AOL Version 5" That's all there is to it. Please, exercise extra care when sending email to our lists. It can't be sent in RTF without causing real problems for our archives and such. For additional information on RTF and how to change to Plain Text see... http://www.navy-usna.org/faqs/whatisrtf.html http://www.navy-usna.org/RTF.html One last thing about AOL - Internet Service Providers with integrity don't charge $790.20 for a $400.00 rebate (Unlimited AOL service for 36 months at $21.95/month). The same thing goes for CompuServe's and MSN's rebates on new computers. They are all rip offs aimed at unsuspecting customers and those new and unfamiliar with computers. 4. Asking for Favors vs. Sharing Information A reminder that asking our Membership for Advice and Information is our Primary Mission. We are a MENTORING Group and it is very important that we all be able to ask for and receive all manner of advice and information. If a member has a question that he/she feels uncomfortable asking directly, you may send it in complete privacy to your moderators who can strip it of your identity and ask the membership for you, thus insuring your anonymity. We even have a few connections at the Yard upon whom we can call when the matter needs more than just the more common advice. Recently a member came to us privately with a concern about a medical problem being experienced by their Midshipman. We were able to inquire about it to the highest levels at the Academy without revealing the members name or jeopardizing the Midshipman. Sandi and I are here to help and being Parents ourselves respect each of our members and their concerns. Now... A word about something less pleasant. From time to time, one of our members decides that he/she should ask the membership to do something or provide something as a favor to either themselves, another member, or a Midshipman. No matter how innocent, asking for favors is against our Rules of Operation. It is rude and a terrible imposition to ask 1,600 families to do this or supply that just because you can. It doesn't matter whether it is a copy of a video or a ride from the airport or an errand that needs to be run. Any sort of request for a favor is considered a "Request for Goods or Services WANTED" and may not be published on our lists. All members have access to our Classifieds and should put such requests and offerings there. The rest of us should look at the ads often and do what we can to assist with requests. The reason behind this is, that while small requests are innocent, it is VERY difficult or near impossible to draw a line between the small innocent requests and those that go way beyond reasonable limits. So... All such request for "favors" are forbidden. It's just easier that way. 5. Search Engine Usage While Sandi will discuss specific searches in the next Newsletter, I thought I'd go over our web site's Search Engines (we have two) and how to use them so that our members will be able to get the most out of everything that is there for their use. First, we really do have TWO different Search Engines. One is for searching our Web Site and the other is used for searching our Message Archives. (The later is Password Protected because it accesses email messages in our archives.) Let's first learn about the Search Engine which searches our Web Site. You will find it at the bottom of our Site Index Page (Click on SITE INDEX in the Main Menu of our Home Page) or Click on Search in that same Main Menu on the left edge of our Home Page. This Search Engine will search through all 125 pages of information and photographs on our USNA-Net Web Site for matches with the search terms you type into the Search Window. It will not search the World Wide Web - just OUR WEB SITE! It also will NOT search our Archives for email messages. That's the job of the other Search Engine and we'll talk about that later. Let's say you want to find out about Care Packages and how to address them for shipment. First thing to remember is that our Search Engine can't answer questions. So, typing in "Where do I send Care Packages?" will NEVER get the expected results. Our Search Engine just isn't smart enough to find the answer, even if the answer really is on our web site. Instead, let's understand just how this and every other Search Engine on the Internet works. The Search Engine knows what to search. The Search Engine designer (me) have told it that already. Periodically, the Search Engine memorizes every word of text on every page of the web site and keeps track of them all in an Index behind the scenes - every single word of text on every page of the site. Now when you want information on "Commissioning" you simply enter the word in the Search Engine and let it tell you everywhere on the site where that word occurs. It's quick and very straight forward. The word you asked the Search Engine to search for is called a "Search Term." The process becomes more complicated when you use more than one Search Term. Sometimes you must use multiple Search Terms but you really have to choose the words very carefully. You see, when you ask the Search Engine to find COMMISSIONING WEEK, the Search Engine will tell you where every occurrence of COMMISSIONING is located along with every page that contains the work WEEK and every page where they both occur but not necessarily together or in the same order. What this means is that you will get a whole lot of less than useful results. To get the Search Engine to return just those places on the web site where the words COMMISSIONING WEEK appear in exactly that order and together, place the Search Terms in quotation marks like so... "COMMISSIONING WEEK" and then hit the search button. You will only see those pages that contain COMMISSIONING WEEK and not COMMISSIONING or WEEK by themselves or separated by several paragraphs. For an even better example of this sort of thing, consider searching for information about an Army/Navy Football Game. If you enter ARMY/NAVY FOOTBALL GAME you will get every page with the word GAME on it, even those talking about croquet games; every page with the word FOOTBALL; every page with ARMY/NAVY on it and every combination in every possible order. Computers are great at doing this sort of thing. They do it very fast and very LITERALLY. Does this help you, yes. But you have to be smarter than the computer. You have to know that this is a NAVY site and that NAVY will occur so many times that searching on it will return just about every page on the site. You have to know that GAME is not specific enough to help your search. But ARMY will not be very common and FOOTBALL will get you closer yet. But how do you specify only pages on which BOTH of these word appear? Easy. Enter them with the word AND between them like so... ARMY AND FOOTBALL. The Search Engine is smart enough to NOT search for the word AND. Instead it knows that using AND between a pair of Search Terms means that the computer must find ONLY pages that contain BOTH ARMY and FOOTBALL. It's not all that complicated IF you remember that you're really searching for WORDS and not searching for information. There are additional hints along these lines on the Site Index page below the Search Engine. Be sure to read these as well. They're all great help to those looking for information. Remember I said earlier that we had TWO search engines on our web site. The second one is only available to members INSIDE our Message Archives. You may use it essentially the same way as the Web Site Search Engine except that it will ONLY search email messages inside our Archives. To access this EMAIL Search Engine, Click on "Archives" in the Main Menu of our Web Site and then (After you've supplied your User Name and Password) Click on the "Click Here" on the right side of the page in the YELLOW panel. Be sure to read the instructions carefully on the page and enter the "List Name" of the list which you wish to search accordingly. Once you've established which list you want to search, this Search Engine can do some wonderful things. If you're just looking for information, you can search the same way you do with the other Search Engine. But, if you've been around for a while and been reading email from our lists , you might want to find an email from a specific member that you remember seeing last week or last month or even last year. You can search on the email address of that member and find EVERY message that member has sent to that list, sorted in date order. You can even search on an Area Code and get EVERY message that contains that Telephone Area Code in the body of the message. Just remember that results will only be returned for the list you are searching. If you thought it was on USNA-Family but it was on USNA-Plebe, you can see where searching the wrong list won't bring the desired results. The best advice I can offer with regard to Search Engines is to use them until you understand them. You can't break them or your computer by entering the wrong stuff. If you don't get the results that you want, re-think what you asked it to search for and look at what it came back with. Then change the search terms and try again. ============================================================== That's all for this issue. Sandi will bring you the next one in about ten days. Go Army - Beat Navy. Mike Zets Moderator USNA-Net Listservers (www.USNA-Net.org) *** USNA-NET post by: Mike Zets ***** DO NOT FORWARD THIS MESSAGE ***** to non-members under any circumstances! ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~. From usna-net-owner@westpoint.west-point.org Tue Feb 20 14:51:06 2001 Received: (from root@localhost) by westpoint.west-point.org (8.9.1/8.9.1) id OAA04857 for usna-net-outgoing; Tue, 20 Feb 2001 14:51:05 -0600 (CST) Message-ID: <042d01c09b7e$cd0deb80$4901d4cd@sandi> From: "Sandi Zets" To: "" Subject: usna-net: USNA-Net Newsletter 02/20/01 Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 15:50:45 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 Precedence: bulk ================================================================ USNA-Net Newsletter February 20, 2001 ================================================================ In this issue... 1. Items searched for in the Site Index 2. Fear of Posting 3. Class of 2005 4. Postcards 5. New on the Website ================================================================ This Newsletter is sent to all members of our USNA-Net Listservers. It is published approximately three times each month and is intended to provide insight into our service, answers to Frequently Asked Questions, and Technical Assistance and Information to our membership. ================================================================ 1. Items searched for in the Site Index As you know, it is possible to search the Site Index of our USNA-Net website: www.navy-usna.org The search feature is a free service that Mike found on the Internet. One of the really nice features of this search engine is that it sends us periodic reports on just what is being searched for. This gives us an idea of what you are looking for on the website and so, each time I write a newsletter, one of my features will be addressing some of those items that were searched for on the Site Index. I will try to give you the information that you were looking for, and/or guide you to where you can find the information. The first thing to remember is that our Site Index search tool will only search OUR website. If it is mentioned within the pages of our site, you can find it. But be specific and remember that we do not cover EVERYTHING on the Website. If you can't find what you are looking for on the Website, try the Archives...and if you can't find it there, try the Search engine at the Naval Academy Website. Now, let's see a few of the things you have been looking for: ***Class of 2005 (or 2004, or 2003) rosters Nope, won't find it on our site, or on the USNA site. Class rosters are NOT made public and we, at USNA-Net do not have, nor should we have, access to the names and/or hometowns of the Brigade. Same thing for Local Parents' Clubs...if you wish this information - try the President of the Local Club. A member roster of USNA-Net is not even available to our own members. If you wish to contact a parent who you suspect might be a member of USNA-Net, you send Mike or me an email and we will pass along your desire for contact to the member...if they are a member. ***fraternization Obviously someone wanted to know about dating within the Brigade. Here is how that works. Upper class may NOT date Plebes. Upper class may date among themselves, except for one restriction. It is against policy to date a member of your own company. If Mids within a company are attracted to each other, one must apply for a change in company before they can become involved. Period. ***parking Only First Class and Second Class Mids rate cars. Only First Class Mids may drive or park on the Yard. Second Class Mids must park off the Yard. There are spaces at the Stadium, and spaces in town, and even local residents who either rent or allow Mids to use garages or driveway space. It is NOT a good idea to rely on street parking, as there are generally time restrictions on curb side parking and the car could be subject to towing. Your Mid can find out details on the best places to park from upperclassmen. ***blue and gold song lyrics Navy Blue and Gold Now, college men from sea to sea May sing of colors true. But who has better right than we To hoist a symbol hue? For sailor men in battle fair Since fighting days of old Have proved the sailor's right to wear the Navy Blue and Gold. For the sake of consistency - here is The Navy Hymn Eternal Father strong to save. Whose arm hath bound the restless wave. Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep Its own appointed limits keep. Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee, for those in peril on the Sea! 2. Fear of Posting What do I mean by "fear of posting?" I mean those members who do not post for fear of breaking some rule and being tossed off the lists. Please be assured that no one is thrown off the lists for minor rules violations. They are sent a simple reprimand, or a reminder, and that is that. No "files" are kept on routine rules violations. Really, we don't have time, or computer space, to keep an accounting of everyone who has sent in RTF, or to the wrong list...or whatever. Please do not allow the fear of a slap on the wrist to prevent you from sharing your thoughts or comments with us. Here is how we handle rules violations. We do one of three things...One, a reprimand or reminder for minor offenses. Two, for more serious offenses posting privileges can be restricted for a time...the member still receives every post sent to the lists, they simply cannot post for a time. This time period may last as short as a day or two to a month. Three, removal from the lists...and this is done ONLY for the most serious of offenses. In the over two years that Mike and I have been Moderating, we have actually had to remove less than a dozen members. Sometimes a member receives a reprimand and chooses to leave the lists because they felt the reprimand unjust or was offended in some way. We do NOT remove members for honest mistakes!! So please, share...it is why we are here. 3. Class of 2005 We have been receiving subscriptions for membership from Class of 2005 parents. Right now we have nearly 50 in our 2005 file. We will begin processing these on March 1st. Be aware that our Plebe List will begin receiving questions from our new, inexperienced, and sometimes frightened parents. Please share your knowledge with them, and be patient with repeat questions. Our new Plebe parents join over a period of time and, as new members join, they will ask the same questions over and over again. Also, if your local Parents' Club has some sort of get together this Spring for prospective candidates (our local group has a Candidates Dinner, where we have a chance to meet and talk to local candidates and their parents) please be sure to give them the information about USNA-Net. YOU, our members, are our best "recruiting tool." It is through you that we get the word out about this service. If USNA-Net has helped you, make certain that the new Plebe parents from your area know this and encourage them to join. 4. Postcards Our Free Postcards: Thank you for making this feature a huge success! This is the most popular page of our site, with members and even non-members sending our special USNA postcards. Since our ISP can give us some very general information on what ISP's are viewing the page, we even know that some Mids have used this feature as well. Don't forget about the postcards! It is an easy and colorful way to stay in touch with your Mid, or a friend. You can access the free USNA related postcards from the USNA-NET website. Just click onto "Postcards" from the menu items on the left. 5. New on the Website There have been two additions recently to the Website. First, have you noticed the little animated countdown clock on the Main page? It links to the Countdown Clocks page of the website. Currently there are countdown clocks for Spring Break, Sea Trials, Herndon and Commissioning. The second is the addition of service selection wallpapers to the Wallpapers page that I created recently. I am particularly proud of these - who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? - and I have even changed my normal wallpaper to the "FLY NAVY" wallpaper because I think it looks so cool - and my son is in Surface Warfare!! :>) For those who do not know what wallpaper is - it is the image that is the background of your Window's Desktop. (The default wallpaper is a blue sky with white, wispy clouds.) You can change this to one of our USNA or Navy images by following the directions on our Wallpaper page - Find the wallpaper by clicking on "Family Interests" in the menu items on the USNA-Net website. These were fun for me to make and I hope you enjoy using them. ============================================================== That's all for this issue. Mike will bring you the next one in about ten days. Go Navy - Beat Army !!! (How many of you saw Mike's error on this in HIS Newsletter?? Only four of you actually called him on it!!) Sandi Zets Westlake, OH (jsandi@mail.com) Moderator: USNA-Net Webmaster: www.navy-usna.org *** USNA-NET post by: Sandi Zets ***** DO NOT FORWARD THIS MESSAGE ***** to non-members under any circumstances!