By Catherine Green
The Internet is possibly the ultimate in democracy. Anybody with a little technical know-how can post something for the whole world to read.
This can be good. You can learn the latest in arthritis treatment, read foreign newspapers, settle arguments about who hit the most home runs in 1950, book airline tickets and hotels, get a rice pudding recipe that may equal your grandmother’s …
In sum, you can find information on just about anything.
This can also be bad. The childhood game of "whisper down the lane," in which a sentence is whispered from one person to the next, has nothing on the Internet. In the game, the meaning of the original sentence may be totally changed by the final transmission. On the Net, rumors, gossip or malicious misinformation can appear on an equal footing with true facts.
So there is a caveat. Know your source. For example, if you want information about a specific ailment, choose an authoritative site like www.webmd.com, www.mayoclinic.com or www.phillyhealthinfo.org,
a comprehensive directory of health services and events in the Greater Philadelphia area.
If you want to know more about someone in the news, for example, just type that person’s name in Google. You may get dozens of links to articles about this person. Again, know your source. Some of the links may take you to the website of a rumormonger with an axe to grind. Just don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.
And what is this Internet? And the World Wide Web? According to www.wikipedia.org, a free online encyclopedia, the Internet is "a publicly accessible worldwide system of interconnected computer networks."
And the Web? Again, Wikipedia: "A system of interlinked documents accessed on the Internet."
If you could benefit from some Internet training, go to: www.learnthenet.com. It will tell you just about anything you want to know, in language you can understand.
If you use a computer only for e-mail, keeping in touch with far-away friends and family members, or to play solitaire, you’re missing out on a lot. And if you don’t use a computer at all, you’re falling behind your peers. A National Institutes of Health study quotes a U.S. Department of Commerce report that people over 60 form the fastest-growing group of computer users.
If you want to join them, here are some resources:
- The Free Library of Philadelphia (215-686-5322) has computer training for seniors and others.
- Generations on Line (215-222-6400) offers free Internet training and free email and search options in 36 languages. It’s available at most libraries and some senior centers.
Many community senior centers and some churches offer computer classes, and access to computers and the Internet. For a list of senior centers: the PCA Helpline at 215-765-9040; www.pcaCares.org.
By Naomi and Henry Klein
Is your grandchild using what seems to be a foreign language in e-mails to you? Here's one we recently received from Erica:
"Hey, Grandpop and Grandmom, just checking in, how are u? This morning I went to the mall with my friends and bought a pair of shoes that would go well with the dress you bought me."
Grandparents: "Would you like them as an early birthday present?"
Erica: "Yes plz. I will be in philly on fri so can I pick them up then?"
Grandparents: "YES, just make sure to call ahead.”
Erica: "ok! see u fri, 143."
The new language is called Instant Messaging (IM for short). Spelling and pronunciation are forgotten — if they were ever learned in school.
It's instant and it's short
Because IM messages — also called texting — are limited to 160 characters, a new shorthand had to be invented. Apostrophes, commas, capitalization are ignored; vowels may be crushed; silent 'e' is forever silent; words are replaced by symbols (4 = for, as in 4giv); new abbreviations and acronyms are coined to sound like the full word (you is u, you're is ur).
It's instant, and it's short.
For instance, some of the IM vocabulary spelled out in upper or lower case, includes:
CYRMA call your mother
CYRFA call your father
PPL people
BRB be right back
BTW by the way
CUL see you later
TY thank you
PLZ please
BCUZ because
IMO in my opinion
EM? excuse me?
H&K hugs and kisses
HAND have a nice day
HF have fun
LOL laughing out loud
POS parents over shoulder
PIR parents in room
PAW parents are watching
KPC keeping parents clueless
idk I don't know
xoxo hugs and kisses
1to1 one to one
143 I love you
183 I hate you
2g2bt too good to be true
404 I haven't a clue
4eae forever and ever
9 parents are watching
99 parents no longer watching
Try netlingo
If you'd like to learn more about your grandchilden's new language, point your computer to www.netlingo.com.
"IM epitomizes the notion of the always-connected, multi-tasking student, sending and receiving messages at all hours, from a wide spectrum of devices, while doing several other things at the same time," says an EDUCAUSE review.
Grandparents: does this sound like someone you know?
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