Copyright: Copyright © 1997 E Corp.
Citation: Copied from eFax Help by E Corp.


eFax
CContents

Welcome to eFax help. this is the list of available help topics:

Copyright © 1998 E Corp. All rights reserved.


Introduction

eFax turns your computer into a fax machine that sends and receives faxes, even over the Internet. Using eFax, you can fax documents from your computer to any fax number in the world, anytime. Savings can reach as high as 80% compared to conventional faxing. In addition to being able to send and receive faxes from your computer, eFax also provides a wide variety of features for personalizing and automating your faxes.

In other words, eFax is…

… easy-to-use – Check for new faxes and voice messages in one place. Wizards guide you through installing, sending faxes, setting up your call answering system, and designing cover pages. Conveniently access fax numbers directly from your eFax phonebook.

… blazingly fast – Fax right from your computer to one or more people. Faxes transmit faster than any other fax program with improved fax compression.

… and very smart – eFax detects and corrects conditions that could otherwise cause faxes to fail. Send laser-quality faxes that are truly legible. Preview faxes on screen to be sure your fax looks the way you want it to.

Other features include:

•	Easy to use interface – similar to other E Corp. products

•	Full drag-and-drop support

•	Quick and simple options for sending and receiving faxes

•	Easily customizable Fax options

•	More!

Once eFax is installed on your system, and you launch it, it will appear in the tray located in the lower-right corner of your desktop, near the system clock. Left mouse click on the eFax icon will bring you all available options to choose from.

If you need specific help, please use the Index tool to search for any given keyword.


Contact

The best way to contact E Corp. is by … e-mail!

Please use the following e-mail addresses when contacting E Corp.:

Support	support@e-corp.com

Sales	sales@e-corp.com

Press	press@e-corp.com

If you need to send us postcards or mail use this snail mail address:

E Corp.

681 Andersen Drive

Pittsburgh, PA 15220

USA

tel. 412-921-2900

fax. 412-920-1287


Customer Support

Several different tools are available for eFax technical support.

•	The Online Help System

The eFax extensive online Help is the first place to turn for questions about the software.  Every piece of eFax functionality is described in great detail.  Solutions are easy to find whether you’re just walking through the software for the first time, or you’re stuck on a specific problem.

•	E Corp. on the Internet

You can contact E Corp. Support Services on the Web at:

http://www.e-corp.com/support.htm

Also, our E Corp. Help Online (ECHO) offers high-quality technical support options that help you get the answers you need right now.  You can reach ECHO on the Web at:

http://www.e-corp.com/echo.asp

You also may send us e-mail at:

support@e-corp.com

•	E Corp. off the Internet

Our address and phone numbers are:

E Corp.

681 Andersen Drive

Pittsburgh, PA  15220

USA

Tel: (412) 921 2900

Fax: (412) 920 1287


Web
E Corp. on the Web

Please visit E Corp. by using the following URL:

http://www.e-corp.com


Actions Toolbar

Action toolbar buttons are your console for access to six main eFax windows.

Incoming window

This window displays and allows you to manage all Incoming (received) faxes.

Outgoing window

This window displays and allows you to manage all Outgoing (sent or to be sent) faxes.

Folders window

This window contains all system and custom folders for fax storage and archiving.

eBook

The eBook (eFax address book) allows you to easily insert, manage and find people in one convenient place.

Scan Fax

The eFax scanner feature lets you capture high-impact quality images and documents, in black-and-white, that can be faxed later.

Settings windows

This window is a series of settings tabs. Each tab is very important for eFax setup, and has to be correctly filled with requested information. Please enter the information in each tab fields before you start using eFax.


Fax Options

In this area you can choose, review and set eFax preferences.

Select all fax devices you plan on using through eFax:

•	Local Fax modem

•	eFax Server

•	Internet Faxing

For further savings, determine your Off-peak hours, and have eFax send outgoing faxes during that time span. Usually, low-cost faxing can be either late at night (after 10:30PM) or early in the morning (before 6:30AM).

Status options help you see when the eFax console is active either receiving or sending mode. You can make one selection, or check them both (recommended).

Notification options. They can be visual (message box) or acoustic (beep sound). Also, each incoming fax can be automatically printed on your system’s default printer.


User Information

In order to start using eFax system, you need to fill in the blanks in this window. Entering as much information as you can will enable better communication between you and your future recipients. Take your time, and make sure to enter your email address correctly.

•	Name: Your full name

•	Organization: Your company (leave blank if eFax will be used at home)

•	Position: Your position within the company (leave blank if eFax will be used at home)

•	Address: Office or Home address - City, State, Country

•	Phone: Phone number including the area code

•	Fax: Fax number including the area code

•	Cellular: Cell phone number including the area code (Optional)

•	Email address: Your complete email address

•	Business Web: (Optional)

•	Personal Web: (Optional)

When you are done entering all the personal information, press the “Save” button to write

changes to your hard drive.


Modem Settings

eFax can be used with any TAPI (Telephone Application Protocol Interface) compatible modem, either internal, external, cellular or PCMCIA card type.

A modem is a peripheral device attached to your computer that connects your computer to a phone line. Modem software (such as eFax) converts data stored on your computer (for example, fax image files) into sound so that your modem can transfer the data via the phone line to another computer.

There are two types of modems you can use with your computer: external and internal. External modems are separate, box-like devices you plug into your computer. Internal modems are electronic circuit cards installed inside your computer.

eFax works with a wide variety of internal and external modems (including cellular and PCMCIA modems).

eFax lists all configured modems in the Modem Settings dialog. You can activate modems by selecting them in the Use this modem section.

 Use this button to select the modem you wish to use.

 Use this button to specify your modems’ properties.

The modem you selected will appear in the text box. From now on, eFax will be relying on this device for every Outgoing or Incoming faxes.

After the modem selection, we need to setup the operating parameters. They include Fax ID and Header line text, Retry wait, Dial attempts and Auto receive.

•	Fax ID can be your name (if individual) or your company or institution name.

•	Header line default settings are: $D $T Fax sent by $I using eFax    Page $P of $N

($D - date, $T - time, $I - eFax user name, $P - first page #, $N - total number of pages).

These settings are recommended, but if you feel some of them are unnecessary, just delete them from the text box, and they will not appear on your outgoing faxes.

•	Retry wait - number of seconds between two faxing attempts.

•	Dial attempts - total number of dial attempts. When this number is exceeded, eFax will store the fax as Undelivered.

•	Auto receive - enable this option for worry-free fax receiving. eFax will handle the rest. We highly recommend enabling automatic receive at all times.


eFax Server

If you are using eFax Server (part of E Corp.’s eServer server-side message management system), please enter your connection parameters in the provided fields. If you don’t have eFax Server running on your network, or you don’t plan on using eFax Server, you can ignore this tab.

Enter your eFax Server name or IP in the appropriate text box. Add your eServer User Name and password (generally your email address and password).

For any additional information fell free to contact your Network Administrator, he will be able to help you with the settings, and walk you through the whole setup process.


Internet Faxing

eFax Propels You Into the World of Internet Faxing

Internet faxing - Extends Your Capabilities Beyond the Desktop

Internet faxing - Is Your Key to Enhanced Communication Capabilities

Internet faxing - Provides Solutions to Your Fax Communication Needs

E Corp. and FaxSav offer you the most dependable, feature rich, low cost faxing service available through its global Internet fax network. By offering you a variety of services and products, from easy fax broadcasting, desktop faxing from an Internet connected LAN environment to low-cost faxing using a fax server, eFax using FaxSav has the solution that fits your document distribution needs.

No matter how you access eFax Global Internet Fax Network, it provides you with enhanced fax service that includes these benefits:

•	Fax expertise gained over 7 years of experience delivering faxes worldwide

•	Improved fax delivery performance through its multiple-retry schedules designed to help get your fax through

•	Management of your fax deliveries immediately freeing up your resources

•	Virtual real-time delivery - your fax is sent within seconds of receipt by the FaxSav network

•	Never pay for retries, partially delivered or undeliverable faxes

•	Automatic notification of fax delivery status

•	Low-cost Internet based rates to destinations worldwide

•	Customized corporate applications

•	Worldwide network accountability for your fax

Simply choose your preferred access to our network, from the Internet, fax machines or fax servers, try the service and experience the ease of use and savings you will gain from FaxSav's enhanced faxing.

Use Configure button if you don’t have the FaxSav account (required for Internet faxing), or to update your billing or credit card information. This will launch the FaxSav registration utility.


Incoming Faxes

All of your Incoming faxes are stored in the Incoming folder. Incoming folder is conveniently accessible from the Action Toolbar.

This icon represents a received fax message.

The Incoming folder provides a location in which to store received messages for short-term reference, modification, and reuse.

If you want to keep received faxes for long-term use, move them into your own custom archive folders. Archive folders offer the same features provided by the Incoming folder.

While in this folder, you can preview, print, or delete any of the messages.

Toolbar icons represent:

 View selected fax at full window size

 Preview selected fax in the lower portion of the eFax window

 Store selected fax messages into one of the storage folders.

 Print selected fax. eFax will prompt you to choose the printer.

Delete selected fax

When using right mouse click on the one of the Incoming faxes, choose among:

Open

Opens the selected fax message for review

Move…

Move the selected fax message to one of the system or custom storage folders.

Remove

Deletes the selected fax message

Properties…

Displays eFax Properties window. Here you can find out file name, location and size. Also, there are same Fax details like Sender, his Fax number, Subject, Date and any additional notes.


Outgoing Faxes

All of your Outgoing faxes are stored in the Outgoing folder. Outgoing folder is conveniently accessible from the Action Toolbar.

 This icon represents a sent fax message.

 This icon represents a fax message that is on hold (Queued on Hold).

 This icon represents a fax message scheduled to be sent at certain date and time.

 This icon represents an error during fax transmission.

The Outgoing folder provides a location for short-term storage of scheduled and held messages.

In the Outgoing folder, you can modify, remove, and view scheduled messages in the same way you do in the Incoming folder. You can also preview, hold messages, release held messages and modify delivery details for a scheduled or held message.

Messages that are in this folder can be easily reorganized by just clicking on the column header, like Recipient, Date, Fax No, etc. This action will organize messages in Ascending or Descending order, based upon chosen column contents (letters from A-Z or from Z-A, numbers from 0-9 or from 9-0).

Toolbar icons represent:

 View selected fax at full window size

 Preview selected fax in the lower portion of the eFax window

 Store selected fax messages into one of the storage folders.

 Resends selected fax (Transmit now)

 Hold fax (Stop transmission)

 Print selected fax. eFax will prompt you to choose the printer.

Delete selected fax

When using right mouse click on the one of the Outgoing faxes, choose among:

Open

Opens the selected fax message for review

Move…

Move the selected fax message to one of the system or custom storage folders.

Remove

Deletes the selected fax message

Fax Now

Sends the selected fax message immediately

Stop

Stops any current operation

Properties…

Displays eFax Properties window. Here you can find out file name, location and size. Also, there are same Fax details like Recipient, his Fax number, Subject, Date and any additional notes.


Cover page editor

Since you are already familiar with Word Processor type of software, this eFax utility will be more than easy to use. When creating a custom Cover page, you have two options:

Create your Cover page using CoverPage Wizard

or

Create your cover page from the blank document.

Either way you select, it is going to be easier than you think. Let’s assume you went with

CoverPage Wizard. This feature has it’s own area in this online help. Please refer to it.

There you will find detailed instructions on how to use CoverPage Wizard.

To create your cover page from the blank document, open the Cover page Editor window.

 Use this button to create new Cover page.

 Use this button to open an existing Cover page

 Use this button to save changes to your current Cover page

 Use this button to switch to Design mode

 Use this button to switch to Edit mode

Other options include Font type and size selection.

To add fields to your fax Cover page, use FaxPage menu. You can add: Text Field, Image Field or any of the Sender, Recipient and fax automatic fields. Automatic fields use your eFax settings to insert you personal information (Sender), fax information ( Fax) like page numbers, date, time, subject, etc.

Once you have all the wanted fields on the form, feel free to move them around, and position the to best suit your needs and taste for design. When done, don’t forget to save the Cover page file.


CoverPage Wizard

The CoverPage Wizard allows you to easily design your own cover page to use when sending faxes using eFax. Once finished, CoverPage Wizard will create your page and open it in Cover Page Editor for further modifications.

Cover page Wizard can be accessed from Cover page Editor File menu (Start CoverPage Wizard).

Once the Wizard is open, just click on the "Next" button to start using it, or "Cancel" to close it.

It is very intuitive and easy to use. Just follow the on-screen instructions. Available options are:

PAGE 1

Cover type: select between Business, Personal and Simple cover types. Based on this selection, CoverPage Wizard will automatically filter the following To and From fields.

To Fields: check the boxes in front of each choice. Every selected field will be included in the final Cover page layout.

From Fields: check the boxes in front of each choice. Every selected field will be included in the final Cover page layout.

Layout: can be either Stacked or Side by Side

Titles per entry: enter your own title in the final Cover page layout.

Title: select from standard fax titles. Pick one from the list box.

PAGE 2

Display Company Header: this option is enabled only in case Business Cover type was previously selected.

Display Subject Line: if selected , shows Subject line on your Cover page.

Display Page Information: if selected, shows page number on each one of the pages.

Confidential Language: recommended for Law offices and other businesses handling confidential and personal information. eFax will automatically include the portion of confidential notice text shown in the text box. If you wish or have a need for it, you can make changes to the standard confidential text template.

PAGE 3

Congratulations, you’re all set. Click on the "Next" button to Edit/Save your Cover Page or

"Back" to modify your options, or Cancel to exit this wizard if you are not completely satisfied with your selections and/or final result. If you choose to proceed, Cover page Editor will allow you to customize the template even further.


Fax viewer toolbar

This floating toolbar comes very handy when viewing your faxes. It will pop-up whenever you select Preview Fax in New window or Preview Fax in the same window. Available options are:

 Displays the previous page in the current fax document (available for multi-page faxes only).

 Displays the next page in the current fax document (available for multi-page faxes only).

 Zoom in.

 Zoom out.

 Zoom 100% (Restore original size).

 Zoom to fit the current page size.

 No rotation.

 90 degree rotation to the right.

 180 degree rotation to the right.

By using this toolbar, you can correct the incoming faxes that came in upside-down, sideways or take a closer look (zoom feature) into fax documents with small fonts or images.


Folders

If your convenience, we have created an advanced storage area inside eFax, to cover all of your needs for safe, quick and easy fax document storing and retrieval. There are two system folders as default, and you can create as many folders and nested sub-folders and you wish and need.

Use these buttons to:

 Create a new folder under the currently selected one.

 Delete currently selected folder.

Rename an existing folder.

Move a folder within the folder structure.


eFax Send Wizard

To send a document with eFax, just open the document, select File/Print, and pick eFax Printer driver from the Printer list box.

This will launch eFax Wizard, that will guide you through the rest of the faxing process.

You will be prompted to select the recipient from your eFax address book or to manually type in recipients name and fax number.

You may choose a cover page to accompany you fax transmission and you may even enter the comments and a last-minute fax title manually.

Just follow the on-screen instructions, and choose your preferences for the transmission.

The last step confirms the selections, and proceeds with fax formatting and sending.


Help contents
What are you looking for?

Please make your selection:

Fax Options

eFax User Information

eFax Modem Settings

eFax Server

Internet Faxing


Glossary

56k Line

A digital phone-line connection (leased line) capable of carrying 56,000 bits-per-second. At this speed, a Megabyte will take about 3 minutes to transfer. This is 4 times as fast as a 14,400bps modem.

A

ADN

(Advanced Digital Network) -- Usually refers to a 56Kbps leased-line.

Anonymous FTP

Using the FTP function of the Internet anonymously by not logging in with an actual, secret login ID and password. Often permitted by large, host computers who are willing to openly share some of the files on their system to outside users who otherwise would not be able to log in.

Archie

An ancient Internet search tool, not used much since way back in the good old days of 1994. It's an archive of filenames maintained at Internet FTP sites. Don't pine its passing, you didn't miss anything fun--the Web is much more fun.

ARPANet

(Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) -- The precursor to the Internet. Developed in the late 60's and early 70's by the US Department of Defense as an experiment in wide-area-networking that would survive a nuclear war.

ASCII

(American Standard Code for Information Interchange) -- This is the de facto world-wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes, each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111.

B

Backbone

A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. The term is relative, as a backbone in a small network will likely be much smaller than many non-backbone lines in a large network.

Bandwidth

How much "stuff" you can send through a connection. Usually measured in bits per second. A full page of English text is about 16,000 bits. A fast modem can move about 15,000 bits in one second. Full-motion full-screen video would require roughly 10,000,000 bits per second, depending on compression.

Baud

In common usage the "baud rate" of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second. Technically, "baud" is the number of times per second that the carrier signal shifts value - so a 2400 bit per second modem actually runs at 300 baud, but it moves 4 bits per baud (4 x 300 = 1200 bits per second).

BBS

(Bulletin Board System) -- A computerized meeting and announcement system that allows people to carry on discussions, upload and download files, and make announcements without the people being connected to the computer at the same time. There are many thousands (millions?) of BBS's around the world. Most are very small, running on a single IBM clone PC with 1 or 2 phone lines. Some are very large and the line between a BBS and a system like CompuServe gets crossed at some point, but it is not clearly drawn.

Binhex

(BINary HEXadecimal) -- A method for converting non-text files (non-ASCII) into ASCII. This is needed because Internet e-mail can only handle ASCII.

Bit

(Binary digIT) -- A single digit number in base-2, in other words, either a 1 or a zero. The smallest unit of computerized data. Bandwidth is usally measured in bits per second.

BITNET

(Because It's Time NETwork) -- A network of educational sites seperate from the Internet, but e-mail is freely exchanged between BITNET and the Internet. Listservs, the most popular form of e-mail discussion groups, originated on BITNET. BITNET machines are IBM VM machines, and the network is probably the only international network that is shrinking.

Bps

(Bits Per Second) -- A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another. A "28.8 modem" can move 28,800 bits per second.

Browser

Software that enables users to browse through the cyberspace of the World Wide Web. Netscape is the primary Internet browser today.

BTW

(By The Way) -- Shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum.

Byte

A set of Bits that represent a single character. Usually there are 8 Bits in a Byte, sometimes more, depending on how the measurement is being made.

C

Client

A software program that is used to contact and obtain data from a Server software program on another computer, often across a great distance. Each Client program is designed to work with one or more specific kinds of Server programs, and each Server requires a specific kind of Client. A "Web Browser" is a specific kind of Client.

Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk was originally a cultural sub-genre of science fiction taking place in a not-so-distant, dystopian, over-industrialized society. The term grew out of the work of William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, and has evolved into a cultural label encompassing many different kinds of human, machine, and punk attitudes. It includes clothing and lifestyle choices as well.

Cyberspace

Term originated by author William Gibson in his novel "Neuromancer", the word Cyberspace is currently used to describe the whole range of information resources available through computer networks.

D

Digerati

The digital version of literati, it is a reference to a vague cloud of people seen to be knowledgeable, hip, or otherwise in-the-know in regards to the digital revolution.

Domain Name

The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general. A given machine may have more than one Domain Name but a given Domain Name points to only one machine. Usually, all of the machines on a given Network will have the same thing as the right-hand portion of their Domain Names, e.g.

www.e-corp.com

ftp.e-corp.com

and so on. It is also possible for a Domain Name to exist but not be connected to an actual machine. This is often done so that a group or business can have an Internet e-mail address without having to establish a real Internet site. In these cases, some real Internet machine must handle the mail on behalf of the listed Domain Name.

E

E-mail

(Electronic Mail) -- Messages, usually text, sent from one person to another via computer. E-mail can also be sent automatically to a large number of addresses (Mailing List).

Ethernet

A very common method of networking computers in a LAN. Ethernet will handle about 10,000,000 bits per second and can be used with almost any kind of computer.

F

FAQ

(Frequently Asked Questions) -- FAQs are documents that list and answer the most common questions on a particular subject. There are hundreds of FAQs on subjects as diverse as Pet Grooming and Cryptography. FAQs are usually written by people who have tired of answering the same question over and over.

FDDI

(Fiber Distributed Data Interface) -- A standard for transmitting data on optical fiber cables at a rate of around 100,000,000 bits per second (10 times as fast as Ethernet, about twice as fast as T-3).

Finger

An Internet software tool for locating people on other Internet sites. Finger is also sometimes used to give access to non-personal information, but the most common use is to see if a person has an account at a particular Internet site. Some sites do not allow incoming Finger requests, but many do.

Fire Wall

A combination of hardware and software that seperates a LAN into two or more parts for security purposes.

Flame

Originally, flame meant to carry forth in a passionate manner in the spirit of honorable debate. "Flames" most often involved the use of flowery language and "flaming" well was an art form. More recently flame has come to refer to any kind of derogatory comment no matter how witless or crude.

Flame War

When an online discussion degenerates into a series of personal attacks against the debaters, rather than discussion of their positions. A heated exchange.

FTP

(File Transfer Protocol) -- A very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a special way to login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files. There are many Internet sites that have established publicly accessible repositories of material that can be obtained using FTP, by logging in using the account name "anonymous", thus these sites are called "anonymous ftp servers".

G

Gateway

The technical meaning is a hardware or software set-up that translates between two dissimilar protocols, for example Prodigy has a gateway that translates between its internal, proprietary e-mail format and Internet e-mail format. Another, sloppier meaning of gateway is to describe any mechanism for providing access to another system, e.g. AOL might be called a gateway to the Internet.

Gopher

A widely successful method of making menus of material available over the Internet. Gopher is a Client and Server style program, which requires that the user have a Gopher Client program. Although Gopher spread rapidly across the globe in only a couple of years, it is being largely supplanted by Hypertext, also known as WWW (World Wide Web). There are still thousands of Gopher Servers on the Internet and we can expect they will remain for a while.

H

Host

Any computer on a network that is a repository for services available to other computers on the network. It is quite common to have one host machine provide several services, such as WWW and USENET.

HTML

(HyperText Markup Language) -- The coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web. HTML looks a lot like old-fashioned typesetting code, where you surround a block of text with codes that indicate how it should appear. Additionally, in HTML you can specify that a block of text, or a word, is "linked " to another file on the Internet. HTML files are meant to be viewed using a World Wide Web Client Program, such as Mosaic or Netscape.

HTTP

(HyperText Transport Protocol) -- The protocol for moving hypertext files across the Internet. Requires an HTTP client program on one end, and an HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World Wide Web (WWW).

HyperText

Generally, any text that contains "links" to other documents - words or phrases in the document that can be chosen by a reader and which cause another document to be retrieved and displayed.

I

IMHO

(In My Humble Opinion) -- Shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum, IMHO indicates that the writer is aware that they are expressing a debatable view, probably on a subject already under discussion. One of may such shorthands in common use online, especially in discussion forums.

Internet

(Upper case I) The vast collection of inter-connected networks that all use the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from the ARPANET of the late 60's and early 70's. The Internet now (July 1995) connects roughly 60,000 independent networks into a vast global internet.

internet

(Lower case i) Any time you connect 2 or more networks together, you have an internet - as in inter-national or inter-state.

IP Number

Sometimes called a "dotted quad". A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g.

165.113.245.2

Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. Most machines also have one or more Domain Names that are easier for people to remember.

IRC

(Internet Relay Chat) -- Basically a huge multi-user live chat facility. There are a number of major IRC servers around the world which are linked to each other. Anyone can create a "channel", and anything that anyone types in a given channel is seen by all others in the channel. Private channels can (and are) created for multi-person "conference calls".

ISDN

(Integrated Services Digital Network) -- Basically a way to move more data over existing regular phone lines. ISDN is rapidly becoming available to much of the USA and in most markets it is priced very comparably to standard analog phone circuits. It can provide speeds of roughly 128,000 bits-per-second over regular phone lines. In practice, most people will be limited to 56,000 or 64,000 bits-per-second.

ISP

(Internet Service Provider) -- An institution that provides access to the Internet in some form, usually for money.

J

Java

Java is a new programming language invented by Sun Microsystems that is specifically designed for writing programs that can be safely downloaded to your computer through the Internet and immediately run without fear of viruses or other harm to your computer or files. Using small Java programs (called "Applets"), Web pages can include functions such as animations, calculators, and other fancy tricks.

We can expect to see a huge variety of features added to the Web using Java, since you can write a Java program to do almost anything a regular computer program can do, and then include that Java program in a Web page.

K

Kilobyte

A thousand bytes. Well, technically it’s 1024 (2^10) bytes.

L

LAN

(Local Area Network) -- A computer network limited to the immediate area, usually the same building or floor of a building.

Leased-line

Refers to a phone line that is rented for exclusive 24-hour, 7 -days-a-week use from your location to another location. The highest speed data connections require a leased line.

Listserv

The most common kind of mailing list, Listservs originated on BITNET but they are now common on the Internet.

Login

Noun or a verb. Noun: The account name used to gain access to a computer system. Not a secret (contrast with Password).

Verb: The act of entering into a computer system, e.g. "Login to the WELL and then go to the GBN conference."

M

Mailing list

A (usually automated) system that allows people to send e-mail to one address, whereupon their message is copied and sent to all of the other subscribers to the mailing list. In this way, people who have many different kinds of e-mail access can participate in discussions together.

Megabyte

A million bytes, or a thousand kilobytes.

MIME

(Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) -- The standard for attaching non-text files to standard Internet mail messages. Non-text files include graphics, spreadsheets, formatted word-processor documents, sound files, etc.

An email program is said to be "MIME Compliant" if it can both send and receive files using the MIME standard.

When non-text files are sent using the MIME standard they are converted (encoded) into text - although the resulting text is not really readable. Generally speaking the MIME standard is a way of specifying both the type of file being sent (e.g. a QuicktimeTM video file), and the method that should be used to turn it back into its original form. Besides email software, the MIME standard is also universally used by Web Servers to identify the files they are sending to Web Clients, in this way new file formats can be accommodated simply by updating the Browsers' list of pairs of MIME-Types and appropriate software for handling each type.

Modem

(MOdulator, DEModulator) -- A device that you connect to your computer and to a phone line, that allows the computer to talk to other computers through the phone system. Basically, modems do for computers what a telephone does for humans.

MOO

(Mud, Object Oriented) -- One of several kinds of multi-user role-playing environments, so far only text-based.

Mosaic

The first WWW browser that was available for the Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX, all with the same interface. "Mosaic" really started the popularity of the Web. The source-code to Mosaic has been licensed by several companies and there are several other pieces of software as good or better than Mosaic, most notably, Netscape.

MUD

(Multi-User Dungeon or Dimension) -- A (usually text-based) multi-user simulation environment. Some are purely for fun and flirting, others are used for serious software development, or education purposes and all that lies in between. A significant feature of most MUDs is that users can create things that stay after they leave and which other users can interact with in their absence, thus allowing a "world" to be built gradually and collectively.

MUSE

One kind of MUD - usually with little or no violence.

N

Netiquette

The etiquette on the Internet.

Netizen

Derived from the term citizen, referring to a citizen of the Internet, or someone who uses networked resources. The term connotes civic responsibility and participation.

Netscape

A WWW Browser and the name of a company. The NetscapeTM browser was originally based on the Mosaic program developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).

Netscape has grown in features rapidly and is widely recognized as the best and most popular web browser. Netscape Corporation also produces web server software. Netscape provided major improvements in speed and interface over other browsers, and has also engendered debate by creating new elements for the HTML language used by Web pages -- but the Netscape "extensions" to HTML are not universally supported.

The main author of Netscape, Mark Andreessen, was hired away from the NCSA by Jim Clark, and they founded a company called Mosaic Communications and soon changed the name to Netscape Communications Corporation.

Network

Any time you connect 2 or more computers together so that they can share resources, you have a computer network. Connect 2 or more networks together and you have an internet.

Newsgroup

The name for discussion groups on Usenet.

NIC

(Networked Information Center) -- Generally, any office that handles information for a network. The most famous of these on the Internet is the InterNIC, which is where new domain names are registered.

Node

Any single computer connected to a network.

P

Packet Switching

The method used to move data around on the Internet. In packet switching, all the data coming out of a machine is broken up into chunks, each chunk has the address of where it came from and where it is going. This enables chunks of data from many different sources to co-mingle on the same lines, and be sorted and directed to different routes by special machines along the way. This way many people can use the same lines at the same time.

Password

A code used to gain access to a locked system. Good passwords contain letters and non-letters and are not simple combinations such as “soup4u”. A good password might be: “e97oKw0W”.

POP

Two commonly used meanings: "Point of Presence" and "Post Office Protocol". A "Point of Presence" usually means a city or location where a network can be connected to, often with dialup phone lines. So if an Internet company says they will soon have a POP in Belgrade, it means that they will soon have a local phone number in Belgrade and/or a place where leased lines can connect to their network. A second meaning, "Post Office Protocol" refers to the way e-mail software such as Eudora gets mail from a mail server. When you obtain a SLIP, PPP, or shell account you almost always get a POP account with it, and it is this POP account that you tell your e-mail software to use to get your mail.

Port

3 meanings. First and most generally, a place where information goes into or out of a computer, or both. E.g. the "serial port" on a person computer is where a modem would be connected. On the Internet "port" often refers to a number that is part of a URL, appearing after a colon (:) right after the domain name. Every service on an Internet server "listens" on a particular port number on that server. Most services have standard port numbers; e.g. Web servers normally listen on port 80. Services can also listen on non-standard ports, in which case the port number must be specified in a URL when accessing the server, so you might see a URL of the form:

gopher://peg.cwis.uci.edu:7000/

which shows a gopher server running on a non-standard port (the standard gopher port is 70). Finally, "port" also refers to translating a piece of software to bring it from one type of computer system to another, e.g. to translate a Windows program so that is will run on a Macintosh.

Posting

A single message entered into a network communications system.

PPP

(Point to Point Protocol) -- Most well known as a protocol that allows a computer to use a regular telephone line and a modem to make TCP/IP connection and thus be really and truly on the Internet.

R

RFC

(Request For Comments) -- The name of the result and the process for creating a standard on the Internet. New standards are proposed and published on line, as a "Request For Comments". The Internet Engineering Task Force is a consensus-building body that facilitates discussion, and eventually a new standard is established, but the reference number/name for the standard retains the acronym "RFC", e.g. the official standard for e-mail is RFC 822.

Router

A special-purpose computer (or software package) that handles the connection between 2 or more networks. Routers spend all their time looking at the destination addresses of the packets passing through them and deciding which route to send them on.

S

Server

A computer, or a software package, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a WWW server, or to the machine on which the software is running, e.g. "Our mail server is down today, that's why e-mail isn't getting out." A single server machine could have several different server software packages running on it, thus providing many different servers to clients on the network.

SLIP

(Serial Line Internet Protocol) -- A standard for using a regular telephone line (a "serial line") and a modem to connect a computer as a real Internet site. SLIP is gradually being replaced by PPP.

SMDS

(Switched Multimegabit Data Service) -- A new standard for very high-speed data transfer.

Spam (or Spamming)

An inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list, or USENET or other networked communications facility as if it was a broadcast medium (which it is not) by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn't ask for it. The term probably comes from a famous Monty Python skit, which featured the word "spam" repeated over and over. The term may also have come from someone's low opinion of the food product with the same name, which is generally perceived as a generic content-free waste of resources. (Spam is a registered trademark of Hormel Corporation, for its processed meat product.)

Sysop

(Systems Operator) -- Anyone responsible for the physical operations of a computer system or network resource. A System Administrator decides how often backups and maintenance should be performed and the System Operator performs those tasks.

T

T-1

A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 1,544,000 bits-per-second. At maximum theoretical capacity, a T-1 line could move a megabyte in less than 10 seconds. That is still not fast enough for full-screen, full-motion video, for which you need at least 10,000,000 bits-per-second. T-1 is the fastest speed commonly used to connect networks to the Internet.

T-3

A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits-per-second. This is more than enough to do full-screen, full-motion video.

TCP/IP

(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) -- This is the suite of protocols that defines the Internet. Originally designed for the UNIX operating system, TCP/IP software is now available for every major kind of computer operating system. To be truly on the Internet, your computer must have TCP/IP software.

Telnet

The command and program used to login from one Internet site to another. The telnet command/program gets you to the "login:" prompt of another host.

Terminal

A device that allows you to send commands to a computer somewhere else. At a minimum, this usually means a keyboard and a display screen and some simple circuitry. Usually you will use terminal software in a personal computer - the software pretends to be ("emulates") a physical terminal and allows you to type commands to a computer somewhere else.

Terminal Server

A special purpose computer that has places to plug in many modems on one side, and a connection to a LAN or host machine on the other side. Thus the terminal server does the work of answering the calls and passes the connections on to the appropriate node. Most terminal servers can provide PPP or SLIP services if connected to the Internet.

TTFN

(Ta Ta For Now) -- Shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum.

U

UNIX

A computer operating system (the basic software running on a computer, underneath things like word processors and spreadsheets). UNIX is designed to be used by many people at the same time (it is "multi-user") and has TCP/IP built-in. It is the most common operating system for servers on the Internet.

URL

(Uniform Resource Locator) -- The standard way to give the address of any resource on the Internet that is part of the World Wide Web (WWW). A URL looks like this:

    http://www.e-corp.com/

or telnet://well.sf.ca.us

or news:new.newusers.questions

The most common way to use a URL is to enter into a WWW browser program, such as Netscape or Lynx.

Usenet

A world-wide system of discussion groups, with comments passed among hundreds of thousands of machines. Not all Usenet machines are on the Internet, maybe half. Usenet is completely decentralized, with over 10,000 discussion areas, called newsgroups.

V

Veronica

(Very Easy Rodent Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives) -- Developed at the University of Nevada, Veronica is a constantly updated database of the names of almost every menu item on thousands of gopher servers. The Veronica database can be searched from most major gopher menus.

W

WAIS

(Wide Area Information Servers) -- A commercial software package that allows the indexing of huge quantities of information, and then making those indices searchable across networks such as the Internet. A prominent feature of WAIS is that the search results are ranked ('scored") according to how relevant the "hits" are, and that subsequent searches can find "more stuff like that last batch" and thus refine the search process.

WAN

(Wide Area Network) -- Any internet or network that covers an area larger than a single building or campus.

Whois

The Whois Service provides a unified access point to the official Internet WHOIS server for person and organization queries. The whois command is used to look up records in the main database. Please note that requests like "www.example.com" will not yield a correct answer; whois can query only for second-level domain names. The default action for Whois is to do a very broad search, looking for matches to your target in many fields: handle, name, nicknames, hostname, net address, etc, and finding all record types.

WWW

(World Wide Web) -- Two meanings - First, loosely used: the whole constellation of resources that can be accessed using Gopher, FTP, HTTP, telnet, Usenet, WAIS and some other tools. Second, the universe of hypertext servers (HTTP servers) which are the servers that allow text, graphics, sound files, etc. to be mixed together.


Scan Fax

The eFax scanner feature lets you capture high-impact quality images and documents - to help you look your best. Add a black-and-white image, sharp line drawing or printed page of text to a outgoing fax.

Options to choose from are:

 Scan page

Use this button to immediately scan the page that is currently on your scanner.

 Select scanner (Properties)

Use this button to select and/or switch between the scanners that are installed on your system.

You can select among all TWAIN compatible scanners.

Ultimately, there is an option to fax the scanned page.


eBook
eBook (address and fax book)

The eBook (eFax address book) allows you to easily insert, manage and find people in one convenient place.

There are four main categories of listings in the eBook: People, Groups, Lists, and Recent.

When People tab is selected:

Add new People: To add new people to your eBook, click on the Add New People icon, which will open the eBook Entry wizard.

Delete entry: To delete an entry from your eBook, left click once on the entry to be deleted and click on the delete selected entry icon.

Show Business card: If you would like to see additional information about an entry in your eBook, left click on the entry and then click on the show business card icon.

FL & LF: The FL icon will store your eBook entries in alphabetical order by first name (First Name Last Name). The LF icon will store your eBook entries in alphabetical order by last name (Last Name First Name).

Search using LDAP: LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) will allow you to search for individuals throughout the world who have registered with "Four 11", "Big Foot", or any other server you enable. To search, simply type in the name, or the email address of the individual you would like to find, or both. Click on the server you would like to search, and then click on Search. To add an email to your eBook highlight the name you would like to add, and click on the add to eBook icon.

Finger: The Finger icon performs the standard finger function on any query you input.

Whois: The Whois icon performs the standard whois function on any query you input.

Import into eBook: If you are using another email program, such as Eudora, EmailConnection or Netscape Mail and would like to import an existing address book into your eBook, click on import into eBook, choose the location of the address book to be imported, and click on the open button.

Export from eBook: To export your eBook to the address book from another program, click on the export from eBook icon, and choose the location of the address book where you want to export, and click on the open button.

Name and Email banners: Clicking on the name banner will sort your list alphabetically by last name. Clicking on the name banner again will sort your list alphabetically by first name. You may also sort the same way for email addresses by clicking on the email banner.

When Groups tab is selected:

Add new Groups: To create a listing that will send fax to a group of fax numbers, click on the add new group icon.

 Group: To create your group, drag and drop entries from the right side of the wizard (this list contains your entire eBook) to the left side of the wizard. Then select a name for the new group and click on OK. Note: please keep in mind that ONE person can belong to ONE group only. If you want a person in two separate groups, or something similar, use the Lists tab instead.

Delete selected entry: To delete a group, left click on the group to be deleted and then click on the Delete Selected Entry icon.

When Lists tab is selected:

Lists: Use this function to create an email list of addresses that are not in your eBook. Click on the Add New Lists icon. Enter a name for the list. Enter in the fax numbers of the people you would like to receive this fax There is also an option in Filtering that enables you to create a mailing list from all received or sent faxes. Enable it, and every person that sends you e-mail (or to whom you sent fax) will be in your list.

When Recent tab is selected:

Recent: This tab will show you the last 10 people to whom you have sent fax.