Here are just a few ways to communicate:

Electronic Mail

Electronic mail, or 'e-mail', is a way of communicating with other users of the Internet.

Millions of people around the world who use the Internet have their own individual e-mail address, much like a home address.

IE: the email address for Amiga Realm is [email protected]

E-mail is the easiest way of sending a message to someone on the Internet.

You can send an e-mail message to someone on the other side of the world for the cost of a local phone call. You can also attach documents, images, programs, sound files and even moving pictures to an e-mail message.

E-mail is also fast: it can take minutes or even seconds for an e-mail message to reach the recipient, even if they are thousands of miles away.

Another benefit of having an e-mail account is the option to join to electronic 'mailing lists'. These allow you to subscribe to the electronic equivalent of an interactive magazine or newspaper. Some mailing lists just send you updates and single messages; others allow you to post a response to everyone else on the list.

For more information on e-mail and e-mail software check out the Amiga Realm Internet Software Directory.

Usenet Newsgroups

Newsgroups give you another exciting way to communicate with people on the Internet. When you join a newsgroup you can discuss and share information with other people on a variety of topics which may be social, personal, business-oriented or just plain entertaining.

You can participate in discussions, find answers to valuable information or show off your expertise about a certain topic by responding to issues and queries people in the newsgroup bring up.

To obtain access to a newsgroup, you should contact your Internet Service Provider for instructions.

You will need additional software such as News Group Reader, to connect to these newsgroups. You can sometimes use this software for e-mail too.

Thor and Microdot are just some of the newsreaders available for download online. To find out more about other software available, both offline and online, visit the Amiga Realm Software Directory. Click here for a list of newsgroups

Internet Relay Chat

Online Chat, or Internet Relay Chat (IRC) as it is sometimes called, is a way of talking directly to another Internet user in real time using your computer.

Chat is very different from e-mail. When you send an e-mail message, it is stored on a computer for the recipient to pick up later. When you're in a chat session, you 'converse' by typing messages that are instantly sent to other chat participants.

Chat can be a lot of fun and you'll get to make new friends and meet people who are interested in similar things to you. To make the best use of IRC, you should make yourself familiar with all the different commands and chat rooms, and you should also be aware of chat 'netiquette'.

Netiquette is the term used for good etiquette on the Internet. There are no written laws as such, but abusive or destructive behaviour is generally not tolerated by other users.

There are often special guests and celebrities in special chat rooms, so you may even get to chat with someone famous.

Abbreviations & Expressions in IRC An emoticon (also known as a "smiley") is a symbol composed of a few text characters, and used as a kind of emotional shorthand to add emotions or expression to a sentence. Click here for a complete list of emoticon characters.

If you're in a channel where conversation moves fast chances are, by the time you type your text, the channel has already moved on to another topic. Or it may be that it's already too late for your reply.

The best way to avoid this is to type in short sentences. All you have to do is press the Enter key more often. Also, abbreviations or acronyms of commonly used phrases make typing easier. Click here for a list of the most commonly used abbreviations.

To help you understand the running of an IRC Channel you need to understand a little about its structure. Click here for list of the most common components.

Finally, laws for safe and fun chatting, especially for younger users.

• Never
  • agree to meet anyone in real life
  • give out your real identity over the Internet
  • give out your home telephone number
  • give out your mobile number
  • give out your pager number
  • give out your home address
  • give out your work/school/college/university address
• Do
  • Have Fun!
  • Be Smart

If you enjoy using your Amiga to play games, but don't often get to beat someone at your favourite game, you need to discover Online Gaming!