European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 10, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Mastering Mode scan multiply your fun by Michael Himowitz the Baltimore evening Sun Ost things people do Wilh computers have counterparts in life Hal make whom relatively easy to Masler. If you be used a Lyp Wriler you can get the hang of word processing quickly enough. Ii you be worked with columns of numbers you can figure out whal a spreadsheet does. If you be sketched anything on paper you can Uncle Bland a graphics program. Because those programs Deal Wilh things Hal most people have done in real me they can be designed to imitate their real Lile counterparts the word processor gives you a Biank piece of typing Papette spreadsheet shows you an accountant s work pad. The graphics program presents you with a Sketchbook and a set of drawing tools. Since Iho tasks themselves Are familiar even now computer users can learn the intricacies of the software and Lake advantage of the computer s Power Wilh a Little Diligence. Many users All in love with their new Lound sophistication and would never go Back to the old Way of doing things but in one critical area  computers remain difficult to use. Computers Don t talk to one another the Way you and i do. They speak an arcane and technical language that has no analogy in real life. To communicate you have to know something about How computers work. There s no Way to mask it Wilh Clever software design. Even people who know what they re doing often have problems getting Twu computers together on a phone line. So it s not surprising that communications remains something of a Black Art. Thai is a shame because communications can multiply the usefulness of your computer by orders of magnitude. On line Dala bases such As Compuserve Genie the source. Dialog and Dow Jones offer an incredible variety of news and information about business finance investments demographics health Law and hobbies. With a computer equipped Lor communications you can Transfer documents or information anywhere in the world in minutes. If your recipient is wailing you can Send your document to his computer directly. Of you can use commercial electronic mail services such As easy link Sci mail or dial com. Electronic mail services act As middlemen. You dial up the service with your computer and Send your document loan electronic Mailbox. When your correspondent logs on with his computer he can pick up the mail. Either Way communication is virtually instantaneous and it s often a fraction of the Cost of sending a printed document using a next Day delivery service. In addition communications can be fun. There Are thousands of local computer bulletin boards whose users Swap opinions and software Over the phone. Most of the big on line data bases Olfer huge libraries of programs and sponsor special interest groups catering to just about every inheres a. To Lake advantage of All that you need the right hardware. Iho right software and a Little technical knowledge. You Don t have to become a computer expert but you do have to learn a Lew things that Aren l intuitive. First the hardware. To talk to a computer Over the phone your machine has to be equipped with a serial port and a Modem. A serial port is a pathway out of your machine usually a plug in the Back that can be used to Send Dala Over phone lines. It s also known As an r5-232 port. Nol All computers come with these ports As Standard equipment although most ism compatibles on the Market today do have them ii your computer does t have a serial port you la have to have one installed or do it yourself. The second piece of hardware is a Modem. A Modem translates the digital signals your computer generates Inlo acoustic Type signals that can be transmitted Over phone Linos. Modems come in a variety of shapes sizes and prices. You pay Lor Speed and features. The Speed is measured in the number of bits per second a bit is a digital one or Zero your Modem can handle and is Ollen referred to As the baud Rale. It lakes roughly 10 bits to make up a character so a 1,200-baud Modem can transmit or receive roughly 120 characters per second or t,20q words per minute. Years ago when the circuitry was expensive most modems operated at 300-baud. Today with prices Starling Aboul $100. Modems Hal operate at 1,200 baud Are the Norm and 2,400 baud modems Are becoming popular. Obviously it you re communicating Long distance or accessing a data base that charges by the hour the quicker you can Transfer material the belter. Some modems Are external which Means they re enclosed in cases and connect to your computer s serial port Wilh a Cable. Others Are internal. They re on printed circuit boards Hal plug into one of Iho expansion slots of your computer. Most internal modems Are designed for ism compatible machines. Internal modems Are cheaper and Don t require a serial port. On the other hand if something goes wrong with one you have to Lake your computer apart to gel to it. From a porn Romance standpoint u does t Mailer which kind you buy. I prefer an external Modem because i can reset it More easily when something goes wrong and in communications you can always count on something going wrong. Energy a i tech centralized Etc Page 14 the stars and stripes monday of