In pairs, discuss these questions. Give reasons for your answers.

What is your favourite search engine to find information on the Web? Why?

Do you download music or video clips from the Web? Do you pay for them?

2

Do you buy things online? Is it better to buy online or go to a shop?

3

Have you ever listened to the radio or watched TV online?

Do you use the Web to do school/university assignments or projects? How?

unit is Chat and conferencing

A Windows Live

Windows Live Messenger is one of the world's most popular chat programs

A videoconferencing system combines data, voice and video

Virtual meetings

A Read the text and match the headings (1-5) with the gaps at the start of each paragraph (a-e).

1. Cheap calls over the Internet

2. Virtual worlds and online communities

3. Chat rooms on the Web: join the crowd!

4. Real-time videoconferencing

5. Private chats with IM services

In pairs, discuss these questions.

1. What is your favourite way to chat on the Internet?

2. How much time do you spend chatting?

3. Do you give out personal details in chat rooms? Why should you be careful about this?

Online chatting

Virtual meetings

Imagine you want to assemble a group of people from around the world for a brainstorming session. Conferencing programs such as NetMeeting or CU- SeeMe allow virtual workgroups to communicate

5. via the Internet. To videoconference, you'll need a webcam. Participants see each other's faces in small windows on their monitors and hear each other's voices on the computer speakers. You can use just audio, video and audio simultaneously, or the screen- io sharing capability to collaborate on documents without audio or video.

Internet telephony, also known as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), almost eliminates long-distance phone charges, allowing you to call nearly anywhere 15 in the world for the price of a local call. If you have flat-rate internet access, you can't beat the price - it's practically free.

With internet telephony, you can make a voice call from your computer to another person's computer,

20 landline, or mobile phone. You can download

telephony software such as Skype or Net2Phone from the Net, and it’s even free!

People also use more traditional chat conferencing or bulletin board systems (BBSs) to communicate 25 online. Note that during chat sessions, participants type messages to each other rather than communicate by voice. Chat software can be used on the Web with your browser to conduct online chat sessions with other users and can accommodate

30. between 50 and 1,000 users simultaneously. Some companies even use chat conferencing on their websites to facilitate communication with customers.

d

Chat rooms can be good venues to meet people and discuss topics of mutual interest. But what if you 35 want to chat privately with a friend, family member or business colleague?Then Instant Messaging, or IM, is the way to go. Many IM services now offer audio and video capabilities, so if you have a microphone and a webcam, you can chat and see who you're 40 talking to.The four most popular IM services are ICQ and AIM (from AOL), Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger. They all work similarly. First, you enrol in the service by creating a username - which is also your screen name - and a password. Next, you 45 build what is known as a buddy list - a list of people that you want to communicate with. When any of the contacts on your list is online, you can start a private chat with that person.

Avatars can run, jump, fly, dance and even enable you to express emotions

How do you know who's online? When you launch so your IM software, it connects with the service's IM server and logs you on. The server checks your buddy list to see if any of your contacts are also logged on. Your list updates to show who is currently online.

By clicking on a name you can send text-based 55 messages to that person. After you type your note and click on the Send button, the message travels to the IM server, then immediately forwards to your

Paragraphs a-d adapted from www.learnthenet.com

buddy's computer. This all happens in realtime

• instantly.

e

60 You can also chat in incredible 3-D worlds that are built by other users, for example Second Life. In these virtual reality environments you can play 3-D games and interact with other users via avatar identities. Avatars are 3-D graphical representations 65 of the participants.

В Read the text again and answer these questions.

1. Why is videoconferencing so useful for virtual workgroups?

2. What special hardware and software do you need to videoconference?

3. Which technology enables people to make phone calls over the Internet?

4. What is the difference between web chat rooms and Instant Messaging?

5. How do you log on to an IM server?

С Find terms in the text with the following meanings.

1. at a fixed price (lines 15-20)

2. a central system that provides information about whether users are online and passes instant messages between them (lines 35-40)

3. a friend list or contact list (lines 45-50)

4. happening immediately and without delay (lines 55-60)

5. artificial reality; a 3-D space generated by the computer (lines 60-65)

6. characters used when interacting with people online (lines 60-65)

Netiquette

A In pairs, do this netiquette quiz. Read about netiquette rules on the Web if necessary.

Netiquette, or net etiquette, is a general code of behaviour for communicating online.

О True

О False

TYPING IN CAPITALS LETTERS looks like:

О the message is very important.

О you're shouting.

What should you avoid doing in chat rooms?

О Being respectful

О Giving out personal or financial information Spamming means

О posting stupid comments in chat rooms.

С posting unsolicited advertising messages.

Before asking questions in a chat room or posting messages to forums, you should always

О read the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).

О introduce yourself and post a test message.

Avoid flame wars. Flames are

Q angry responses or offensive comments.

О people who break the rules of netiquette.

Keep messages short and to the point, and check spelling and grammar.

О True

С False

О

A

в Ю1 Have you ever experienced bad netiquette? Tell your partner what

happened.

R и free 4 a chat?

A Rewrite this IM chat, using full forms instead of abbreviations. Then look at the HELP box on page 92 to check your answers.

Abby: BTW, where r u going for ur holiday?

By the way, where are you going for your holiday?

Sue: Girona. Flave u been?

Abby: Yes. I went 2 Girona last summer.

Sue: Did u have a good time?

Abby: It's great, IMO. How r u going 2 travel?

Sue: We're flying.

Abby: Where r u staying?

Sue: In a youth hostel.

Abby: 1C. IOW, the cheapest place possible!

Sue: LOL! Yes. BTW, any recommendations?

Abby: Let me think. I'll send u a msg ASAP.

Sue: TIA!

Abby: Got 2 go. BFN!

/Л

В Rewrite this IM chat using abbreviations.

Chat abbreviations

www.CartoonStock.com

D О

Paulo:	By the way, are you free on Saturday?
Emma:	Sure - it would be good to meet face to face. Shall we go for a coffee?
Paulo:	Good plan. Cafe Moka makes the best coffee, in my opinion.
Emma:	It's the closest to your house in other words!
Paulo:	Laughing out loud! Yes, you're right! But the coffee really is good.
Emma:	See you at 4?
Paulo:	Great. Bye for now.

In pairs, practise having an online conversation. Write a short note and give it to your partner. Use abbreviations as necessary. Your partner will write a short response and give it back to you. Continue the conversation and try not to talk. Choose one of these topics.

• Your plans for the weekend

• What you did last night

• Your holiday plans

• What happened at school/work today

• Music/TV/The Web