There are tens of thousands of
virtual bulletin boards, also known as newsgroups, on almost every
subject you can imagine -- and then there are many more on subjects
that will probably boggle the imagination.
It's Saturday afternoon in Sweden and Kent is
stuck with an Excel related problem. He checks the help in
Excel but doesn't find an answer. It's the weekend and he is
at home so he can't ask one of his work colleagues. He could
check with the local help line. But that could cost money and,
in any case, it doesn't operate on weekends. Where does he
find the answer? With a quick post on one of the bulletin
boards (also known as newsgroups in the
language of the Internet) in cyberspace.
At 7:40 a.m. Eastern Standard Time,
he asks a question on the Excel newsgroup dedicated to
programming issues.
|
 Off it goes into
cyberspace and others around the world can now see it.
|
 In under
30 minutes he has three answers to his question, with
the first one only 17 after his post!
That is what one calls global
service available 24 hours a day every day of the year! |
 At his
convenience, Kent can now come back and check all those
responses. If they recommend different approaches
to his problem, he can decide which one makes the most
sense for his specific need. |
Are you restricted to solving problems you are
stuck on? Absolutely not! You might want to know the
limits of a program you really like and want to learn to use it more
effectively. Or you might want to learn how others are using a
particular program. Read another
example of someone who wanted help with PowerPoint and the Web.
Is it really all there is to it? Almost,
but not quite.
First, a few pointers
about what to expect in the virtual room filled with bulletin boards.
And, then, technical
tips on how to connect to this virtual world.
