The Internet for
People Who The Secret of the Internet, REVEALED! The Internet, cyberspace, the information superhighway, e-mail, the World Wide Web. Seemingly overnight, this Internet gizmo is everywhere and hyped as all things to all people. Want to be a centimillionaire next week? Just go public with a business that might have something to do with the Internet. What! You don't have a registered high level domain name and interactive Web presence?! How DO you live with yourself? You can’t tell the difference between a U.R.L. and H.T.M.L.? Peasant! You think that Archie, Veronica and Jughead are comic strip characters? Hopeless! At least that’s how one can feel in the face of all the jargon and hype. It’s really not that hard to understand, but we've got a little work to do. Let's cut through all the techno-B.S. and get down to the essentials: The Internet is a whole bunch of computers hooked together to share information. That's it, you now understand the Internet. It's Miller time. You don't believe me? Really, honest, the Internet is just a bunch of computers, all over the place, that are connected, mostly by fancy phone lines, to share information on their hard drives. Think of the Internet as if it were the phone system. Personal computers are the telephones. E-mail is like leaving a message on someone's answering machine. What's that you say? Unlike computers, the telephone system is familiar, easy to use and reliable. Sure, now. It’s familiar and the bugs have been worked out of it. Think how daunting it must have been for great-great-grandma. She had to turn the crank and yell, hope the dry cells had juice and remember the exchanges. Can you imagine what it was like to place a long distance call through a dozen operators shoving plugs into switchboards, waiting an hour to hear a faint voice that probably couldn't hear you? Same for the Model-T Ford. New technology tends to linger in the realm of the hobbyist, the tinkerer and the enthusiast before it becomes a part of the landscape to everyone else. An unfamiliar lexicon of techno-speak is bandied about by those in the know until the lingo creeps into the popular media and invades everyone’s daily conversation. Don't you suppose that "dial tone," "receiver," and "area code" were cryptic techno-babble once upon a time? A connection to the Internet allows you to do some things that the phone system alone cannot do (or at least not as well). Over the Internet, you can look at pictures, read text and send and receive electronically-encoded documents. Using the telephone system, you could, during certain hours of the day, call the reference section of your public library and, if the reference librarian was willing and not too busy, he or she might look up the population of Washington, D.C. for you. The librarian might be less willing to read you the history of Washington, D.C. and wholly unable to help you find a hotel room there. Now, suppose you had used the Internet. You could certainly determine that the population of Washington, D.C. is 585,221 persons. You could also check the current Washington weather, examine a satellite photo of the city, take a virtual tour of the White House, check the latest sports scores for D.C. teams, find out movie times and locations, view a picture of the Apollo 11 command module at the Smithsonian Institution, check residential real estate listings, identify streets favored for solicitation by male or female "escorts," peruse reviews of D.C. restaurants and find out what cultural events are coming to the Kennedy Center. Three glorious, wasted hours later, you'll probably regret you didn't just call the librarian! What distinguishes the Internet from the other information tools at our disposal is that it allows us to access an enormous amount of information --useful, trivial, scintillating and tedious information-- directly, without a human intermediary, from any location, at any time of the day or night. Moreover, the Internet is interactive: we can contribute information -- put in our two cents -- in many forms: offer an opinion about a movie, publish a novel electronically, send a message to Uncle Bert or General Motors, share (via recorded audio) your personal song stylings of the greatest hits of Neil Sedaka, post up-to-the-minute photos of your fish tank and pose questions to persons around the world or around the corner. You can also talk to people over the Internet (so cheaply as to be effectively free); but, economics aside, the telephone companies still do a much better job of that. Cheesy Simile Number Two Perhaps the "Internet is like the telephone system" analogy didn’t thrill you. No sweat. Let’s try another cheesy simile. Think of the Internet like a big, big, BIG library, where anyone gets to put anything they choose on the shelves. You would have wonderful encyclopedia and almanacs, stunning art books, timely and insightful periodicals and useful reference tomes. But, you would also have comic books, grocery lists, kid's drawings, terrorist manifestos, a fair amount of porno and lots and lots of advertisements. But, wait! What's this? The books are connected together by threads. Whenever you come across a point that interests you, just follow the thread and it leads to another book on that specific subject. In fact, as you step back and look, all those strings seem to be forming a web, a World Wide Web. Get it? Simple! Welcome to the World Wide Web. E-mail aside, for most folks who have recently come aboard the Internet juggernaut, the Internet and the World Wide Web are synonymous. In truth, the Web is really only part of the Internet, but it is the most gee-whiz multimedia part, and it seems to be the place where newcomers (dubbed "Newbies" by Internet old hands) spend almost all their time. Thus, this paper will focus almost exclusively on the World Wide Web. Keep in mind that there are tremendously useful, though less opulent, areas within the Internet that you should know exist. For example, FTP sites, Gopher sites, Newsgroups and WAIS. These text-based resources are the "guts" of the Internet for longtime users. Fortunately for the rest of us, the latest Internet software offers ready access to these resources, often without much indication that you are operating in a different realm. On the Internet, "Web sites" are the books in our mega-library, and "Web pages" are the pages in those books. A "home page" is the first page of a Web site and often functions as a table of contents or hub of a site. We pay a visit to our mega-library by connecting our personal computer to the Internet and then browsing the stacks to grab whatever catches our eye. The pages appear on our screen, transmitted ("downloaded") over the modem by telephone or via our office's local area network (a LAN in technobabble). Text or pictures on the pages may be hyperlinked-- electronically tied to related information located elsewhere on the Internet. By simply clicking our mouse on the hyperlinked text or picture, a new Web page appears on our computer's screen, resplendent with text, sound, video, animation, still images or any combination of same. If you were reading this paper on the World Wide Web, each reference to a place, person or company would likely be hyperlinked. The references would appear in another color, usually underlined, and clicking on the reference with your mouse would present different or more detailed information for each reference. "Let's Go Surfing Now. Everybody's Learning How. Come on a Safari With Me." Cowbunga! Surf’s Up! Surfing the 'Net means jumping from hyperlink to hyperlink harvesting information as the spirit moves you. It's like channel surfing your T.V., but with the Internet, there's always something good on. Now, with the new Web TVs, you can even sit on the couch with a remote and surf the `Net. Be a couch cyberpotato! Getting on the 'Net Getting on the 'Net for the first time can be a real pain. The hardware is unnecessarily complex and temperamental, and the software is often obtuse and poorly documented. There are many ways that an Internet hookup can go awry: faulty hardware, conflicting interrupt settings, improper cabling, incorrect software setup, software incompatibility, substandard phone connection and a flaky Internet service provider, just to name a few. Despite their amazing technical prowess, the folks behind the hardware and software should be ashamed -- the word "horsewhipped" jumps to mind -- that they can’t make their products as simple and reliable as the scores of other appliances and machines we use every day. Can you imagine having to "boot up" a microwave oven or swap circuit boards and shift jumper wires inside a television set? We wouldn’t stand for it. Yet, we accept that absurdity in our personal computers. As infuriating as it can be to get on line, perhaps the most amazing thing about the ‘Net is that more than fifty million people have connected in the U.S. and Canada alone. I promise you it’s worth all the trouble, and hey, you might be one of the lucky ones who get on without a hitch. Offering recommendations of computer hardware is a bit like pointing out the prettiest cloud in the sky. The technology is moving ahead so rapidly that a recommendation is stale before the ink is dry. Keep that in mind as you consider my soon-to-be-outdated suggestions. To begin, you should have the following: Computer You need one of them beige boxes with the little light up numbers: a "multimedia" personal computer that includes an SVGA monitor and video card, a sound card and speakers. If you are buying this computer, don't even think about spending money on anything less than a Pentium processor, running at upwards of 166 MHz. This week, the top of the line is probably the 450Hz Pentium II, but a fully loaded version of that powerhouse can set you back nearly two grand. As a rule of thumb, get the largest hard drive and the most RAM (Random Access Memory) your budget will allow. Computer neophytes often confuse the two. A hard drive is a non-volatile storage device. Information saved on a hard drive remains there, even when you turn off your computer. The hard drive handles bulk storage of programs, files, data, etc. The hard drive is not the same as computer memory. RAM is the computer’s memory. RAM is used by the computer for the management and manipulation of blocks of digital data, such as your programs, while the computer is running. When your computer is turned off (or when its power is interrupted), all of the information in RAM goes directly to digital heaven, lost forever. This is why it is so important to periodically save ("back up") your work to the hard drive, unless the program you are running does so automatically. For that matter, you need to periodically back up important data from your hard drive as well, to floppy disks, magnetic tape or another hard drive. Think of the hard drive as the part of us that can remember our own name, how to ride a bicycle, or that trip to Walt Disney World in ‘75 with Aunt Flossie and the cousins. Think of RAM as the part of us that remembers a phone number for no longer than it takes to read the number in the directory and dial it. A minute into the call, we would have to look up the number again. When I bought my first personal computer a dozen years ago, I got a hard drive capable of storing 20 megabytes (20 million units of digital information). I knew I could never fill up so vast a drive. Today, it is not remarkable for a single suite of programs to consume dozens of megabytes of hard drive space A 2 gigabyte hard drive (2 billion bytes) or larger is now bare minimum standard. Your RAM needs will be dictated by your operating system (e.g., DOS, OS/2, Linux, Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98 or Windows NT 4.0) and the software applications you run. Sixteen megabytes of RAM is entry level (up from 8 megabytes just a year ago) and particularly with the latest operating systems, twice that amount can significantly improve system performance. I recommend Windows 98 and no less than 32 megabytes of RAM. Don't cut corners on your video monitor as you may be spending countless hours staring at the screen. SVGA (super VGA) resolution is standard. Look for a video card with at least two megabytes of on-board memory, four or more is better. If eyestrain is a problem, steer clear of the 14" monitors and consider going to a 17" monitor. They can cost twice as much as their little brothers, but the larger screens significantly improve the Web surfing experience. Seek the smallest dot pitch for the highest clarity and definition. Any desktop monitor and video card combination should support at least 800x600 resolution at 16 bit color depth. Many Web sites feature background music, sound bites or real-time audio. You can only experience these features with a sound card and speakers. There is a substantial variation in speaker quality, and quality is not always closely tied to price. Good speakers and a wave table sound card can really make a positive difference. I like the Labtec LCS-3010 speakers combined with a Creative Technologies AWE64 Wavetable soundcard, but many other selections will do a fine job. Speakers are an easy component to upgrade, and you may want to start with a set of inexpensive speakers until you determine your ultimate needs. As most software is now available only on CDs, a CD-ROM drive is a necessity. Available speeds vary widely from 12X to about 100X. 24X-32X is the norm. Unless you want to watch movies on your computer, you can forgo the DVD (Digital Versitile Disc) drive for the moment as there is no software available in that format. Modem A modem is a device that allows your computer to communicate with another computer over the telephone lines. Your modem is your link to the Internet. The speed of your modem connection determines the speed at which you can send and receive information, and effectively determines your satisfaction level while Web surfing. Graphical information of the type found on the Web can be tedious to receive on anything but the fastest modems. Don’t even consider 14.4K (kilobaud per second) modems. Entry level now is 33.6K, and you will probably elect to go with a 56K modem using the now-standardized V.90 protocol, which may be able to exchange data on optimum connections at up to 53 kilobaud per second (yes, 53K, not 56K, due to an old FCC regulation). Avoid 56K modems that support only outdated, proprietary standards such as x2 or K56flex. If you do buy one of these older modems, you may be able to upgrade the modem’s internal software to the V.90 standard by running a piece of software that "flashes the modem’s BIOS;" that is, replaces the modem’s internal software. Such upgrades are often available for download –usually for free-- over the Internet. Check the modem manufacturer’s "Product Support" area on their website. As higher speed connections are not available from every Internet service provider, go with a modem that supports the fastest speed your IS provider --and the quality of your phone line-- will allow. Brand names do matter where modems are concerned, so stick to the best-known manufacturers. If you are willing to foot the bill, an ISDN line will significantly enhance the pace of your Web surfing. An Integrated Services Digital Network line is a special digital phone line that facilitates transfer of a much larger volume of data more speedily than a standard analog telephone connection; i.e., an ISDN line transfers data at 64 or 128K. An ISDN connection will require that you have an ISDN terminal adapter, and ISDN connections are notoriously difficult to set up initially. Again, be certain that your Internet Service Provider supports an ISDN connection. Note that both your Internet Service Provider and the phone company will charge you substantially more to connect by ISDN. All connections to the Internet by modem start to feel very slow, very soon. The near future (two years?) holds the promise of much faster Internet access via ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) or cable modems. A fortunate few already have cable modem service. However, for most of us, these technologies have not been widely implemented as 1999 begins and, thus, they are little more than points on the horizon to watch and wait for. Internet Connection Software You will need at least two pieces of software, sometimes built into your operating system (usually Windows 95/98) or sold as part of an Internet connectivity package. You must have software that can establish a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol connection, called a TCP/IP stack. You must also have a Browser, a program that creates the graphical user interface for navigating the Web. Think of the TCP/IP stack as a telephone outlet and the browser as the phone you plug into that outlet. There are many browsers available, but the leading products are the Netscape Navigator and the Microsoft Internet Explorer. Netscape is currently used by more people, and historically, it has set the standard for browser technology. The Microsoft Internet Explorer offers much to recommend it, perhaps foremost among them being that it is offered without charge by Microsoft, the undisputed 800 pound gorilla of the software industry. The Internet Explorer is my first choice, but that choice seems to be, for now, a minority opinion. If you are running Microsoft Windows 95 or Widows 98 as your computer's operating system, the TCP/IP features are built right in as part of the Dial Up Networking function (in the "My Computer" folder). If you are not already a Windows 95/98 user, ease of Internet connectivity may be reason enough to upgrade your operating system. In addition to the TCP/IP stack and browser, you will surely want an e-mail program. All Internet connectivity packages include some type of e-mail program and a number are available for downloading over the 'Net. One of the most popular packages is called Eudora. The Windows 95 operating systems include an uninspiring-though-adequate universal e-mail program called the Microsoft Exchange. Windows 98 contains a much better e-mail client called Outlook Express. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape also build e-mail functions into their browsers. I use the Microsoft Outlook 98 integrated e-mail and calendar program and like it very much. While we are preparing our software wish list, add an FTP client program. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and it is one means by which you can send and receive files over the Internet. FTP will prove important when you want to send or retrieve a document or download software. Here again, an FTP client is customarily a part of all the principal Internet connectivity software suites and is built into the Windows 95 operating system. Excellent shareware and freeware FTP clients can also be downloaded from the Internet. Files moved over the Internet are often compressed -- made smaller -- so that they take less time to transfer. These compressed files must be uncompressed before use. Some compressed files are self-extracting (meaning they uncompress themselves when run) and others will require the use of a utility program such as the wonderful PKzip shareware or the now popular WinZip (still more readily available software to add to your collection). Internet Service Provider Last, but not least, you need an Internet Service Provider (ISP). ISPs run the gamut from small businesses operating out of someone's garage, to universities, to online service giants like America Online and to communication behemoths like A,T&T. Online services maintain their own in-house networks, available only to their members and also provide more-or-less direct access to the Internet. These services have some advantages but they tend to be the most costly route for an active Web surfer. If you expect to spend just a few hours a month online (perhaps just to check stock prices or transmit some e-mail), you may find that one of the large online services is for you. They offer a user-friendly interface, a complete software package and can usually furnish a fair amount of hand holding to new users. However, if you find yourself spending many hours on the 'Net each month -- and those hours do add up -- a fixed-price, unlimited access direct connection to the Internet is probably your best bet. Most communities now have ISPs offering unlimited access ranging in price from $15.00-$30.00 per month, less if you prepay several months in advance. In choosing an Internet Service Provider, consider several factors in addition to price:
Once you've gotten your hardware set up and your software packages installed, you will need to configure your TCP/IP program so it can access your Internet Service Provider. To do this you will need to know several things: What is your service provider’s Domain Name? A domain name (sometimes called a Fully Qualified Domain Name or FQDN) is the registered word-based name of the system followed by a period and a three letter extension signifying the kind of organization operating the system. For example, the domain name for America Online is aol.com. The .com extension signifies a company or commercial institution. The domain name for Rice University is rice.edu, with the .edu extension signifying an educational institution. Other extensions include .gov for a government site, .net for a network gateway, .mil for a military site and .org for private organizations that don't fall naturally into one of the other categories. Domain names are registered with the Internet Network Information Center or INTERNIC -- the closest thing the anarchic Internet has to a central authority. Names are generally available on a first-come, first-served basis. What is your Provider's IP Address? An Internet Protocol or IP address is a unique series of four numbers joined by periods and sometimes called a Dotted Quad. It is the numerical designation of the host system that connects you to the Internet and is cross-referenced to the domain name such that either the name or the number can be employed to correctly designate your host system. For example, the IP address for the author’s host system is 198.66.160.253. What is your User ID and Password? When you established your service account with your ISP, you should have selected or been assigned both a User ID (likely to be based upon your name or a favored alias) and a password, ideally a combination of letters and numbers sufficiently long and complex to defeat a hacker's effort to decode it. As for using your birth date, child’s name or maiden name, forget it. In fact, avoid using just a word found in the dictionary or a proper name because a hacker can use a dictionary program to try every word or name to uncover your password. As you visit Web sites, you will occasionally be asked to select a user ID and password for access to the particular site. As a security precaution, don’t use the same password that gives you access to your Internet Service Provider. While we are on the subject of security, don’t be put off by all the media hyperbole about the lack of security on the Internet. Fact is, the Internet is about as secure as your phone service or the U.S. Mail. If some determined soul wants to violate your privacy or learn your credit card number, he or she will succeed. Phones can be tapped, mailboxes broken into and credit card receipts stolen. Those risks do not stop us from engaging in day-to-day commerce and communications and neither should we be deterred from using the ‘Net. Think how often we hand our credit cards to waiters and cashiers who are complete strangers to us or hold a private conversation over our telephone...worse, our cellular telephone. The Internet is secure enough and only someone with well-honed technical skills and too much time on their hands is likely to breach that security. You need to know the local or toll-free telephone number to connect to the system at the maximum speed supported by your modem. You might inquire if your Internet service provider offers access numbers that are less prone to busy signals or which offer better connection quality. Be sure that you are given a number that will not engender any hidden connect charges. I'm On!!....Where the Heck Am I? Where you start out when you first get on the Internet is likely to be a function of the browser you selected. Until you change the settings, a Netscape browser will bring up the Netscape home page and -- surprise! -- the Microsoft product brings up a Microsoft home page (which can be customized to your personal specifications with respect to the, inter alia, news, entertainment, financial and search engine links on the page). Once you have found your own familiar stomping ground on the Web, you may want to change the start page. Your browser will allow you to change the start page in an menu selection usually called "options," "preferences" or "settings." Every place on the Web has a specific, unambiguous address called a Uniform Resource Locator or URL. URLs are those things with the colon and slashes that usually start "http://" (for HyperText Transmission Protocol) and which nearly every company now puts in its advertising. Every information item on the Web, including each of the pictures or sounds associated with each Web page, has a unique URL which identifies that item to anyone, anywhere in the world. The URL for the White House is http://www.whitehouse.gov, for the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, it's http://www.ttla.com, for a less-than-five minute-old photo from atop the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, it's http://moon.kpix.com/live/big.html and for the daily Dilbert comic strip, the URL is http://www.dilbert.com. Computers are notoriously unforgiving of errors in case (that is, mixing up capital and small letters), incorrect spacing and misplaced punctuation. In these matters, computers are really, really stupid. Where URLs are concerned, never assume that proper names are capitalized. Expect the occasional error message, and when you get it, recheck the URL with care. If it's right, try again. The computer hosting the Web page may simply have been too busy serving other Web surfers. Keep in mind that Web pages and URLs come and go as often as Monica Lewinsky at the White House gate. It may be that the page you seek has moved or no longer exists. Sometimes, dropping the address information which follows the last forward slash in the URL will get you where you want to go. Also, if you pay careful attention to the structure of URLs, you may be able to correctly guess the location of a person or company on the Web. Where's All the Good Stuff? Returning to the mega-library analogy, the World Wide Web has no official card catalogue, and the stacks are piled to the ceiling with millions of books thrown on the shelves in no particular order. Now you know why they call the software you use a "browser" and not a "finder." But, don't despair, help is available in the form of many search engines that allow you to search the Web by keywords and that, in some instances, index Web sites by progressively more narrow subject topics. One well-known search engine is YAHOO (http://www.yahoo.com) which is a friendly starting point for your first forays onto the Net. Other search engines are Lycos (http://www.lycos.com), Excite (http://www.excite.com), Infoseek (http://www.infoseek.com), Alta Vista (http://www.altavista.digital.com) and Dogpile (http://www.dogpile.com). Web surfers often find a search engine they like and make the search engine's home page their browser's start page. Keep in mind that no search engine is exhaustive, and you may want to run a search using several such services to be sure you have identified all links which meet your search criteria. The search engines listed above may all be used without charge. Using the search engines is simple and fairly intuitive. Some, like Alta Vista, present you with a search form (often just a blank entry box) and produce a cornucopia of sites that contain the words you specify. Others, like Yahoo, offer a brief description of Web sites using a successively more narrow subject index. Using Yahoo, you would be best served to enter a general subject area by clicking on the subject name (i.e., Business and Economy, Reference, Government, Law) and then search by keywords within the selected subcategory. Otherwise, if you search the entire database of the search engine, you may find yourself wading through dozens or hundreds of irrelevant references. Also, it’s worth the effort to poke around through the topical indices as you will gain some insight into the way in which the database is structured, the "style," as it were, of the particular search engine. Be sure to read the instructions (the "help page" or "FAQ," for "Frequently Asked Questions") which can be found at the home page for each search engine to learn the best way to use the search engine to find what you are seeking. Typically, Web sites will contain links to other Web sites. The hyperlinking of one site to another is the great strength of the Web, a feature that enables you to get where you are going even when you are not too sure of your destination. Hyperlinking is, at times, confusing, and the Web can easily be transformed into a confounding maze if you don’t remember to leave an electronic trail of bread crumbs to mark your route. But, never fear, your browser will permit you to "bookmark" a site to which you want to return, usually by pushing a button icon near the top of your screen (look for a feature called "Add Bookmark" or "Add to Favorites"). Additionally, if you forget to mark your path as you go, browsers offer arrow keys that allow you to move back and forth along the path you have traveled, retracing your steps through intervening hyperlinks. Your browser maintains a history file of your last-traveled path, which can be reviewed to locate a site to which you wish to return. Customarily, a mouse click on the prior way station returns you to the selected site. Doing Serious Work on the ’Net After you have gotten your fill of all the fun stuff on the Web, you may find that mounting connect charges force you to earn a little money through the horror of gainful employment. The good news is that you may not have to get off your computer to do it! Let’s say that you have been unable to find a respectable job, and like me, you have stooped to practicing law. Let’s say you are pursuing a personal injury claim for a client involving a defective product. A search of Web resources will help you on many fronts. You might begin your search by looking at the Web site of the manufacturer of the product to collect product specifications, identify local distributors, check out the company’s balance sheet and learn the names of corporate officers to be served with process. You could even download pictures of the product to use in the preparation of demonstrative evidence. The Web will open the door to applicable government and industry standards, let you access SEC records and help you locate experts and litigation support professionals. Perhaps the greatest value of the Internet is the way in which it fosters networking among persons of similar interests. Via the Web and e-mail, you can locate other lawyers handling similar cases and share information and resources. For example, if I were prosecuting a products liability claim for injuries arising from the failure to equip a Caterpillar excavator with rearview mirrors, I might begin my exploration at Caterpillar’s own corporate web site (http://www.cat.com). While corporate Web sites are designed to depict their corporate sponsors in a beatific light, such sites may nevertheless yield a treasure trove of useful data. A visit to the excavator products directory of the Caterpillar site brings me information about the excavator product line and distinguishing product characteristics. It also acquaints me with some of the component terminology unique to the product so that I am better able to mask my ignorance in drafting pleadings and taking depositions. While I’m there, I download several handsome pictures of the product, including some depicting the mirrors we will contend are essential to safe visibility. The site also offers a helpful electronic index revealing the name, address and telephone number of the local Caterpillar dealer, who will cheerfully sell me scale models of the killer excavator for demonstrative purposes and who will likely have exemplar products on hand for inspection by consulting experts. Another corner of the Caterpillar Web site reveals the inspiring fact that, during 1997, the company earned $1.7 billion in profit on over $18.9 billion in revenues. Although a further look around the Caterpillar Web site reveals that the company’s Chairman is Don Fites and digs up a few officers and directors named in press releases, a quick surf over to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Web site (http://www.sec.gov) and a look through its EDGAR database pulls up the most recent Caterpillar 10-K filing listing the names, ages, titles and compensation of all principal officers and directors, detailed financial information, and the fact that the company maintains several plants and facilities within Texas. A brief foray to a Caterpillar dealer’s Web site in, jeez ya know, Fargo, N.D., reveals a used exemplar product, offered for sale and now including the requisite mirrors. The dealer site even offers high resolution photos of the equipment. The Web allows a fast, cost-free check of applicable OSHA standards and a host of other industry standards published online. The American National Standards Institute (home page (http://www.ansi.org) offers a list of ANSI publications regarding operator visibility issues (including an option to purchase copies online) and a hyperlinked index of organizations that promulgate standards, such as the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (http://www.hfes.org) -- a fertile place to find experts to assist in the development of the case. A few keystrokes later, I stop by one of the many sites set up for lawyers, and collecting e-mail addresses of other products liability counsel throughout the country, I can transmit a brief plea for information to dozens or hundreds of other experienced products liability lawyers in hopes of turning up someone who has collected the smoking gun documents about the defendant company and its defective product. A stop at the Texas Trial Lawyer’s Association’s DepoConnect site (http://www.depoconnect.com) affords me the opportunity to search tens of thousands of online depositions to gather information on issues and experts. Heading back into the wealth of governmental data that has come on line, I pick up some useful statistics from the Department of Labor and several social science statistics sources (say that three times fast!) to bolster my damage proof with data reflecting the lifespan and earning capacity of the plaintiffs’ decedent. And so it goes. Cutting through the Internet hype, I obtained little information that I couldn’t have assembled through such other familiar channels as the public library, a corporate annual report and a few phone calls, faxes or letters (now dubbed "snail mail" by the digiterati). The Internet has not re-invented the wheel. Still, right at my own desk, with little expense and with a modest investment of time, I can pull together a wealth of useful information that I might not otherwise have bothered to secure or obtain until it was too late to use to best effect. Of course, the practice of law is by no means the only endeavor that benefits from free or low-cost access to detailed information on people, places, companies and products. What business wouldn’t benefit? A list of useful sites is attached as appendix "B" to this article. An interactive version of the same list can be reached online at http://www.craig.ball.net/hotlinks.html. Please keep in mind that the Internet is an ever- changing place, such that sites come and go and addresses change. If you fail to connect to a listed site, run the name of the site through a search engine or, if all else fails, e-mail me (craig@ball.net) and maybe I can find it for you. Coffee Break: A Word About Java and Bandwidth Since the dawn of the personal computer a short sixteen or so years ago, computer users have been faced with the old "Beta versus VHS" choice that new technologies too often present. With computers, the choice has been do I buy an Apple product or do I purchase an IBM-compatible P.C.? You had to choose because a program written for one wouldn’t run on the other. The competing "platforms" were incompatible. There were also compatibility problems between operating systems such as DOS and UNIX. Although users of different platforms were able to exchange e-mail because of the common information transfer schemes ("protocols") used for Internet communications, they usually couldn’t share applications (programs) or data, like formatted word processor documents or spreadsheets. Enter Java. Java is a computer language that will run on any of the platforms accessing the Internet. The excitement surrounding Java stems from the concept that, rather than buying personal copies of computer programs, like your word processor or a favorite game, you would simply download an application over the Internet when you needed it, paying a modest fee to the company supplying the software. It would be like "pay-per-view" for software. Ideally, your computer, working hand-in-glove with other computers on the Internet, would recognize when you needed a particular application to accomplish a task and download it for you on-the-fly. It sounds great. The problem with Java, as with many of the much-ballyhooed features of the still-to-be Information Superhighway, is that current data transfer technologies are too slow for the promised magic to materialize. The problem is one of "bandwidth." Bandwidth describes the ability of a communication technology -- be it a copper wire telephone line, your cable T.V. service, a direct-broadcast satellite or a fiber optic cable -- to transmit data over time. A pair of copper wires like those found in a telephone line --even a fancy ISDN line -- can only transmit so much data in a space of time and no more. A coaxial cable, like those that carry cable T.V. to our homes, can transmit much more information than a telephone line, and a fiber optic cable much more still when compared with a coaxial cable. Until we can increase the bandwidth of the information "pipe" into our homes and offices, much of the promise of the Internet and the Information Superhighway will be out-of-reach. The company that wins the bandwidth battle and furnishes the information pipe will likely make a whole bunch of money. That’s why telephone companies are pushing ISDN lines and cable companies are racing to develop and market cable modems. When the bandwidth problem is licked -- and chances are we will see at least some interim solutions within the next two years -- the way we entertain ourselves, buy products, communicate and, yes, even earn our living, will change–perhaps dramatically-- and very likely for the better.
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Legal Assistants Division State Bar of Texas |