KEEPING THE NEWS

Netscape Navigator's mail and news facilities are very similar, and actually look very much alike. There are, however, important differences in the way each handles incoming messages, or articles in the case of the news facility. Essentially, you can automatically store received e-mail messages on your local hard disk or leave them on a server, while news articles are always stored on the server. You can see them displayed on your computer when you access the server online, but you must save anything you want to keep yourself. The easiest way to do this is to select the article(s) that you want to save (while you're in the News window), then choose File|Save Message(s) As. In the dialog box, choose the folder where you want to save it (them) and name the file. Click "Save" and you're all set. Actually, it's usually good policy to save a bunch of articles at once to be read later, when you're disconnected from the 'Net.

SAVING YOURSELF

As we saw in another tip, Netscape Navigator doesn't automatically save the articles you read in newsgroups. You can, however, automatically save anything you post to a newsgroup. (A good idea if you want to protect yourself from being misquoted!) There are actually a couple of saving options. You can email a copy to yourself, add the posting to a running text file, or both. These options are set in the Mail and News Preferences box. To set them, select Options|Mail and News Preferences, then click the Composition tab. If you want to mail a copy to yourself, enter your e-mail address in the News Messages field of the "By default, email a copy of outgoing message to:" option. If you want to save the article to a text file on your hard disk, enter the full path and file name in the News File field of the "By default, copy outgoing message to the file:" option. If you want to do both, enter that info in both. When you're done, click OK to close the box and save your settings.

GROOVY THREADS, MAN

A thread is, of course, a series of newsgroup articles that relate to the same topic. This is a convenient way to read everything posted about a particular topic, but be aware that Netscape Navigator does not thread automatically. However, it does give you the ability to thread articles and set sorting criteria. If you don't turn on the threading option, Navigator lists all articles in the order they were received, which could get quite confusing. To set the threading and sorting, select Options|Mail and News Preferences, then click the Organization tab. To thread, click the Thread News Messages option. Now select a Sorting option. Because you have chosen to thread the articles (you can sort without threading, actually), it's probably better to choose Subject here. Click OK to close the box and save your settings.

ONE-TIME THREAD

The previous tip showed you how to set Netscape Navigator to thread and sort your newsgroup articles automatically. Netscape also allows you to thread without actually setting the option through the Preferences box. To do this, open the News window, then choose View|Sort|Thread Messages. The articles immediately get in thread order.

HEADS UP

Tired of all that header information that appears with every newsgroup article you read? Go to the Netscape News menu and select Options|Show Headers, then choose the option Brief. Rather than all those lines of header stuff, you get a single line telling you the subject, who it's from, and the date posted. Conversely, if you feel you don't get enough information in the header, choose the option All from the same menu. This gives you a few more lines of information about the article. Why would you want this? Well, it may help you figure out the true origin of the article if this is in question, or it may help you figure out some technical glitch with the message.

FLAG ON THE PLAY

Browsing through a newsgroup list of articles can be like leafing through a magazine. You don't always read everything you want at first, but sometimes make a mental (or physical) note about ones that interest you, and that you want to get back to. You can do the same thing in Netscape Navigator News by "flagging" the articles that interest you, then accessing them later. To do this, click the flag column in the same row as the article that you want to flag. True to form, a little flag icon appears in the column. Now, when you want to go back to the flagged articles, you can easily scroll between them (because many will be out of the window).Here's how: Select Go from the Navigator News menu, then select the appropriate option (First Flagged, Next Flagged, or Previous Flagged).

DON'T READ `EM OR WEEP

It's pretty common to come across newsgroup threads that don't interest you at all. In these cases, you probably don't want or need the thread's article headers cluttering up the news window. To take care of this, mark the thread as having been read. Select the top article in the thread and click Thread on the menu bar. All articles are marked "read." You can do the same thing for the entire newsgroup if you want. In this instance, select the newsgroup in question and click Group on the menu bar.

DECOMPRESSION CHAMBER

When you go out on the Internet and get files via FTP, you'll probably notice that many files are compressed. We don't need to get into the technical details of file compression, but let's just say it involves some very sophisticated ways to make files as small as possible. What you do need to know, however, is that most compressed files must be decompressed before they're usable. The compressed file is really only good for storage and transferring. The only exceptions are compressed sound and graphic files, which you can hear or see without running a decompression program. Netscape Navigator, in fact, automatically decompresses them. So, in order to decompress files that need it, you must get a compression/decompression program. One of the best is WinZip 6, which you can get by accessing http://www.winzip.com. Follow the instructions on the WinZip home page to download a copy. (Note: You can download and try WinZip free of charge. If you decide to keep and use the program, it costs $29. Volume discounts are available.)

GRAPHIC COMPRESSION

When you look at various FTP sites, you may notice a curious thing. Although many files are compressed (or zipped), graphic files, such as .GIF's, are not. This is because .GIF and other graphics files are already compressed in their standard format. They have to be because graphic files contain so many repeated bits of information (like background colors), that presenting every pixel in its exact location would result in an enormous file size. GIF files are, in fact, compressed almost as much as they can be, and running a compression program, such as WinZip or PKZIP, on them may actually make them bigger. Why? Rather than squeezing a few more bits of space, the compression program adds information to the file. This is usually information such as how the file was compressed and how to decompress it.

DESTINATION: UNKNOWN

Often when you download a file, you get a dialog box called "Unknown File Type." All this means is that no helper application or special action has been configured for the file type in question. You can configure Netscape Navigator to handle these files automatically. To set this up, click the More Info button in the dialog box. You can also configure an application that will run the file right away once it's downloaded. To do this, click the Pick App button. Your other option is to save the file without running it right away. To do this, click Save File, then save the file to your computer's hard disk.

HEAVY TRAFFIC ON THE FTP

FTP sites are like some aging highway systems. They weren't really designed to handle the amount of traffic they currently get. This often results in heavy traffic and, yes, traffic jams. Using FTP actually differs a little from accessing Web sites in this respect. In Web browsing you essentially get on the site, get the information you need, then get off. With FTP, however, you keep logged onto the FTP server while you scour the directory or download files. Now consider that there may be hundreds or thousands (or more) users who do the same thing at the same time, and you get an idea of how traffic jams up. This usually results in a message from the server that tells you too many users are already connected to the server you want to connect to. Other times you won't be so lucky, and you simply can't connect, making it seem like Netscape Navigator is doing nothing at all.

There's not much you can do to rectify this other than to try, try again. If you know the site is particularly popular, you may want to try logging on when there are likely to be the fewest number of users (like 3:00 AM local time, say). Saving this, you may find that the FTP server has a "mirror site," which are other FTP servers that contain the same files and directory structure as the primary site. Many large public FTP servers have mirror sites and give you a list of them when they give you the "busy" message.

EXACT FTP

If you know exactly what you want from an FTP server, you can get there directly without going through the server itself. Just enter the full directory into the Location box as you would any URL, for example,

then press Enter. You can include specific file names in the URL as well.

COMMENTS, PLEASE?

Looking through FTP sites may bring you into contact with a particular document called an RFC or Request for Comment. These are documents put out on public FTP sites that allow users to read and comment on the content of the document. They usually contain very specialized, specific technical information about the Internet. RFC's aren't meant to be light reading, but they can contain interesting and valuable information, particularly if you aspire to true geek-dom. One called RFC 1325 contains all kinds of tips for new Internet users, while another called RFC 1208 contains an extensive glossary of networking terms. If you want more information about RFC's, go to the following FTP sites:

The former has instructions for finding and downloading RFC's, and the latter has short descriptions of all current RFC's.

ARCHIE'S PLACE

FTP is a terrific way to get files over the Internet. However, there's so much information out there that finding what you need can be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. In other words, you need some good search tools. One of the oldest and best is called Archie, an Internet service that allows you to search the indexes of most files available at anonymous FTP sites. These indexes are kept on special Archie servers around the world. To get to Archie, enter the URL

That'll bring you to the host Archie site. Scroll down until you get to the actual Archie Request Form area that contains the search information. Follow the prompts to initiate a search.

THE SEARCHERS

The last tip introduced you to the Archie search service for FTP servers. It's a pretty effective search tool, and in most cases you only need to know a part of a file name to search on (in fact, you can even make a reasonable guess as to the characters it contains). Let's say that you want to locate WinZip 6, but can't remember the exact file name. You can make a reasonable guess that "winzip" appears somewhere in the file name, so you can enter this character string and search for that. Archie fills in any gaps.

NO GOING BACK

Have you ever browsed from site to site, then suddenly found that your Back Button is grayed out, preventing you from backing to the previous site? This likely happens because Navigator supports the Target element in HTML, which is used to open separate browser windows. If you have your browser window at full size, the second window sits on top of the first, thereby obscuring it. You don't even know you have the second window open. If you suspect this is the case, press Ctrl-Tab to cycle through the currently open Navigator windows. You can also resize or move the second window or just close it.

NATURAL SELECTION

If you want to quickly highlight everything available on a Web page, press Ctrl-A from the keyboard. All that's "selectable" is selected, making it easy to copy to the clipboard (for example).

MEANS TO AN END

To get to the very end of a Web page in Navigator, press Ctrl-End from the keyboard.

YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN

In our last tip, we sent you the very end of a Web page with Ctrl-End. Now that you're at the end of the page, press Ctrl-Home to go immediately back to the top of the page. This actually works from anywhere in the page.

THROBBING BEAT

Although Netscape Navigator remains very cool, aren't you just a little tired of that capital "N" getting showered by meteors every time you do something? Well, suffer no longer--you can replace that little icon with yet another "throbber." (Don't you just love these technical terms?) There's a way cool site called Throbbers at

that gives you the lowdown on how to do this and provides the throbber material. Check it out.

BOOKMARK HARMONY

Want to get your Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer bookmarks to live in peace and harmony? Take a gander at NavEx, a free program that gets you Navigator bookmarks into Explorer and vice versa. You can find out all about it and download a copy at

GET SHOCKED

Plug-ins have rapidly become essential Netscape Navigator extras. These are the extra programs that integrate with Navigator to do things that it can't on its own. Lately so many plug-in programs have come on the scene that it makes your head spin. The next few tips will let you know what you really need. The first and most absolutely essential plug-in is Shockwave. More and more sites are involving interactive activities that are built with Shockwave. Most of these fall into the "cool" entertainment site category, but some are actually quite useful. The bottom line: Get Shockwave now. There are several versions now, so you can find the one you want at http://www.macromedia.com

THE REAL DEALS

Audio-streaming technology makes it possible to listen to the radio over the Internet. There are several audio-streaming plug-ins out there, but RealAudio was there first and remains the best and most widely used. Now that streaming video is on the scene, RealAudio has been upgraded to handle that, with the moniker, RealPlayer. To get the Real deal, visit the Real Media site at http://www.real.com.

HOUSE OF 3D

The Internet cyber world involves way more than simple two-dimensional text and graphics. In fact, it's pretty commonplace to travel to 3D virtual worlds and work with 3D objects. You need a plug-in to allow you to do this, and most Netscape Navigator packages now include Live 3D. This technology is changing pretty rapidly, however, so you should make sure you have the latest and greatest version. You can find out more at the Netscape home site at http://home.netscape.com

CAPTAIN VIDEO

Video over the Internet doesn't exactly compare to viewing video images on TV. The size of the files can be prohibitive and not always worth the time it takes to download. But there are some really good video files that you may not find anywhere else, so it makes sense to have a video plug-in. The top dog here is QuickTime, which lets you not only see video clips, but also music, MIDI, and audio files. Most of the Web sites that offer video, including such major media sites as CNN, use the QuickTime format. You can get QuickTime at http://www.quicktime.apple.com.

S FOR SECURE

What's that extra "s" for? If you see a URL that begins with "https" you know it's located on a server that runs Netscape's Internet security standard, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). This means that you are assured the transaction between you and the server is secure. You can also look at the key icon in the lower left corner of the browser window. If this is solid with a blue background, you know you are connected to a secure server. If it's broken, the server is not secure.

SECURITY MIX-UP

Netscape's SSL protocol allows Web documents to contain both secure and insecure data. If you access such a document through a secureserver--using the "https" URL--the insecure information is hidden and replaced with an icon that indicates mixed security. If you want to access this insecure information, connect to the same address, but use the regular "http" URL.

Get Back to Where You Once Belonged

Don't reach al-l-l-l the way up to the toolbar to click the Back button. Just right-click any page and a pop-up menu will appear offering an easy way back. With this menu, you can also bookmark the current page or create a Windows desktop icon for the current page.

Quick URL Copying

Do you often share links with others? URLs can be a pain to transcribe, especially those really long ones. A better solution is to copy the URL to the clipboard and paste it into your e-mail message or word processor. If you're accustomed to doing this by highlighting the URL in the Location field and choosing Copy from the Edit menu, you're doing it the long, hard way. See that little chain icon to the left of the Location field? Just double click that, and you'll put the current page's URL in the clipboard. Now, paste it where you like.

Means to an End

To get to the very end of a Web page in Navigator, press Ctrl-End. Now that you're at the end, press Ctrl-Home to go immediately back to the top of the page.

(Don't) Take It From the Top

You're deep into a site with frames when the page hangs. You click Reload. Doh! The page reloads at the top frame instead of where you were. Instead of clicking the Reload button, pull down the Edit menu and choose Reload Frame.

Turn Off Java applets

OK, we all know how "cool" Java applets are, but are they really that useful? That's up to your own taste and needs, but they definitely do slow the loading of Web pages. So if you want to speed this up, and think you can live without those cool Java or JavaScript applets, turn them off. In Navigator 3.x, select Options, Network Preferences. Then click the Languages tab and deselect Enable Java and Enable JavaScript.

In Navigator 4.x, select Edit, Preferences, then click Advanced. In the Advanced window deselect Enable Java and Enable JavaScript. You might miss some cool stuff, but at least you should see the important stuff faster.

TOOTHY INDICATIONS

When you view a secure document in Netscape Navigator, the number of teeth on the key icon indicates the type of encryption used. If there are two teeth, the document uses high-grade encryption, which cannot be exported from the U.S. to other countries. If it has one tooth, it uses low-grade encryption, which is allowed for U.S. export.

CERTIFICATE PROGRAM

Personal Certificates are another way that Netscape Navigator keeps things secure. These are electronic keys that identify you to a secure server. Essentially, they tell the server that you are indeed you. To find out more about Personal Certificates and how to obtain them, open Netscape Navigator (make sure you are connected to the Internet), then choose Options|Security Preferences and click on the Personal Certificates tab. To obtain one, click on Obtain New Certificate and follow all the necessary steps.

THE CERTIFYING AUTHORITY

VeriSign is the current Certifying Authority for Personal Certificates, and you can obtain Personal Certificates directly from the company (rather than going through the Security Preferences options). The address is:http://www.verisign.com

QUICK, BUT DANGEROUS

Our last tip told you not to worry about secure information being cached on your hard drive. However, getting secure documents can be a low process, because a fresh document is retrieved every time. So, if you are very sure your computer is safe from a hard drive hack, you can tell Navigator to cache SSL documents. To do this, open Navigator and choose Options|Network Preferences, then click on the Cache tab. At the bottom of the tab, check the option, Allow Persistent Caching of Pages Retrieved Through SSL. Your secure pages will get through more quickly, but you may risk a security breach.

SITE SEEN

SITE In addition to Personal Certificates, Netscape Navigator uses Site Certificates to enhance security. Essentially, in order to operate securely, a Web server must get a special certificate, and then it sends you a copy of the certificate information when you connect through SSL. To see this information choose Options|Security Preferences, then click on the Site Certificates tab. The information here enables you to make sure that any data you send goes only to the certificate owner. You can also specify if you want to allow connections to the owners of specific Site Certificates, or to sites that certain certifying authorities have certified. To do any of this, select the Site Certificate from the list and click on Edit Certificate.

JAVA CONSCIOUS

Running Java applets for the most part does not constitute a security breach. However, because these are programs that download and run on your system, you may think that the risk is not worth taking, no matter how small. If this is the case, you can tell Navigator not to enable Java programs or JavaScript. To do this, choose Options|Network Preferences then click on the Languages tab. Uncheck the option, Enable Java and (if you want) Enable JavaScript.

NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON'T

Press Ctrl-Alt-S to turn the status bar on or off (that's the bar at the bottom of the Navigator screen that contains security, document, and mailbox status).

INSTANT JAVASCRIPT

Want some quick JavaScript? Enter "javascript:", "livescript:", or "mocha:" (without the quotes) in the Location box. The page that displays is a field where you can enter lines of JavaScript code, which Navigator interprets immediately.

URL STATUS

Press Ctrl-Alt-T to display a dialog box that provides information about your active URLs. This can be useful for troubleshooting access or other URL problems.

SOMETHING FISHY

This one's just for fun. Press Ctrl-Alt-F and you access the infamous Netscape "FishCam" page.

WHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT?

Enter "about:" (without the quotes) in the Location box and you get information about your Netscape software.

DOCUMENTATION

When you enter "about:document" (without the quotes) in the Location box, you access a page that contains information about the page you have loaded currently.

PLUG-IN MANIA

There are two ways to find out if you have a plug-in installed correctly. You can either choose Help|About Plug-ins, or enter "about:plugins" (without the quotes) in the Location box. Either way you get a list of all the plug-ins that are recognized by your copy of Navigator, including the file name and location of the plug-ins on your computer, the data types supported by each plug-in, and any other information provided by the plug-in developers. If you've just installed a plug-in, it should show up on the page. If you don't see it, try downloading the file again or installing it again.

CACHE COW

Remember to clear out your cache every now and again, especially if you find that your performance is slowing down. To clear the memory cache, open Navigator, choose Options|Network Preferences and select the Cache tab. Click on the Clear Memory Cache Now button, then click on OK from the confirmation box that appears. Once the memory cache is cleaned out, things should continue humming along.

LATEST AND GREATEST

If you absolutely must have the latest version of whatever pages you access through the Web, make sure you set your Navigator to check for document revisions every time. To do this, choose Options|Network Preferences and click on the Cache tab; then select the option Every Time. This means Navigator will check for revisions every time you retrieve the document, rather than using a cached version. Of course, this may slow your performance, so use it only when you must.

THE MORE THE SPEEDIER

If you're looking to speed up the time it takes to connect to a Web site--and who isn't?--try increasing the number of connections to your server. When a server has more than one connection to it, Netscape can bring in a Web page's text and graphics (even multiple images) at the same time. To do this, open Netscape Navigator and choose Options|Network Preferences, which opens the Preferences dialog box. Click on the Connections tab and enter the number of connections you want in the field Number of Connections (the default is 4).

BUFFER, THE SLOW CONNECTION KILLER

Increasing Navigator's Network Buffer Size is another weapon in the speedier connections game. Basically, the Network Buffer Size controls the amount of data that your computer receives during each transmission. To set this, choose Options|Network Preferences, then click on the Connections tab. The default size is 32K, which is enough for most computers, but you can enter a larger amount if you really want to speed the connection. Be very careful here, however, because you may actually end up slowing things down. The increased buffer size might let so much information through that your computer won't be able to handle it.

AS MANY BROWSERS AS YOU NEED

Sometimes you just need to work on more than one Web page at a time. If this is so, remember that you can open several Navigator browsers simultaneously. Just select File|New Browser, or press Ctrl-N. The new browser window opens with the previous one underneath.

IMAGE IS NOTHING

The easiest way to speed up Web page access is to do it without all those space and time hogging graphic images. To do this, choose Options from the Netscape Navigator menu and deselect the option Auto Load Images. With this option turned off, the Web pages display without the graphics but with icons that indicate their presence on the page. If you want to see the images, click on the Images icon (this icon is only active when you have Auto Load Images deselected). This is also very handy if you want to print out the text only from the page (and printing will be faster, too).

ALPHABET SOUP

Here's a quick rundown of some of the most common file formats that you run into when surfing the Internet: GIF, JPEG, and TIFF refer to graphics files. GIF and JPEG graphics are usually used for inline images in Web pages, while TIFF files are commonly found in desktop publishing programs. AIFF, AU, MIDI, and WAVE refer to data types that contain sound--music, speech, or whatever. AU is the native sound on Sun computers, and WAVE is the native sound on Windows computers. QuickTime, AVI, and MPEG refer to video data types. QuickTime was developed for Apple, while AVI was developed for Microsoft. Finally, VRML refers to the programming language of virtual reality (Virtual Reality Markup Language), which allows for interactive 3D worlds on the Net. You usually need plug-in applications to display or interact with any of these data types, so look for information about plug-ins in upcoming tips.

EMBEDDED IN THE PAGE

An embedded plug-in is probably the most common plug-in type. It is actually set in the HTML page (embedded in it), and loads when Navigator displays the page. Embedded plug-ins are similar to inline graphics, except that they're live. They are generally used for controlling and displaying multimedia files. An example of this is the MPEG player, which displays an MPEG video as a part of the Web page, along with the usual graphics, text, and other designs.

THE FULL-PAGE MONTY

A full-page plug-in is similar to an embedded plug-in, but it does not appear in the page along with the other images, text, and files. Rather, the full-page plug-in opens and fills in a new Navigator window when activated, which happens when the user clicks on a hyperlink to the plug-in file or opens a local file that the plug-in recognizes. Full-page plug-ins are used most often to display documents created with word processing or desktop publishing programs, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0.

HIDDEN AGENDA

A hidden plug-in runs in the background of the Web page and allows you to look at and scroll through the page as it plays. You won't see any plug-in file or interface as this happens. This is usually used to play audio files as you view the Web page.

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Many plug-ins use a feature called streaming, which reduces the amount of time it takes to view multimedia files from the Internet. If a plug-in supports streaming, the entire file doesn't have to load before you can see it. Once a part of the file has loaded, the plug-in implements a progressive viewer. One advantage to this is that you don't need to wait for the entire file to load if you decide you don't want to see it in its entirety. Just click on Stop and you're all set.

DO THE COOLTALK

CoolTalk is a very useful product that allows you to talk to another person or send other types of data through Netscape Navigator over the Internet or intranets in real time. It's like using your computer as a kind of super-phone. The only catch is that in order to use this two-way communication, the person at the other end has to be running CoolTalk at the same time. But that should be no problem, as the CoolTalk program is included with Netscape. Setting it up is pretty easy, but there are a few hardware requirements. Specifically, you need the following on your computer:

• At least a 486 running at a speed of at least 50MHz, and with at least 8MB of RAM.
• A modem with at least 14.4-kbps speed if you have a SLIP or PPP connection.
• A Windows-compatible sound card with speakers and microphone if you want to use the voice features.

That's all you need; stay tuned for the next few tips to see how to use CoolTalk.

CONFIGURING COOLTALK

You can run CoolTalk either on its own (stand-alone) or from within Netscape Navigator. Today we'll show you how to run it in stand-alone mode. First, look in your computer's directory for the Navigator folder or program group for the CoolTalk icon. Double-click on this icon and you get the first CoolTalk setup wizard. Each subsequent wizard prompts you for information about your computer as it relates to CoolTalk. (For example, one wizard asks if you have a sound card installed; if you do, there are a series of wizards that set up and test it.) Once you get through all the setup wizards (the whole process takes no more than five to ten minutes), you will see the CoolTalk conference window. That's it--you're all set to do some cool talking.

MODEM SPEED 'EM

When setting up CoolTalk, one wizard asks you to select your modem speed. If you have a modem connection, you are fine with the default selection "14000 bps." However, if you have a hardwired or direct connection, select "28800 bps or higher bitrate."

HERE'S MY CARD

During the CoolTalk setup you are asked to fill out a "business card." This is a means by which you can be identified when you call another user through CoolTalk. You can think of it as an expanded caller ID, because it can include all kinds of information, such as name, address, phone, number, and even a photo. When someone calls you, all you have to do is press a button in the conference window, and the business card appears. Hey, you might as well know whom you're talking to, right?

PHOTO FUN

When filling out your CoolTalk business card you can let everyone know what you look like by adding a photo. You can either do this from a file or from a picture that's copied to your computer's clipboard. To add the photo from a file, click on the button to the immediate right of the Photo field. A file selection dialog box appears that allows you to select a picture file from your system. If you have a picture pasted to your clipboard, just click on the button to the far right of the Photo field, and the picture pastes right in.

NOTE: You can add any photo you want, even one that's not you; or you can add any graphic file you want, such as a company logo.

CHANGING COOL SETTINGS

If you want to change any setting that you made during the CoolTalk setup, you can go through all the wizards again. To do this, double-click on the CoolTalk icon, which opens the conference window, and select Help|Setup Wizard.

COOLTALK USER INFO

When you click on the large CoolTalk button on the right side of the CoolTalk conference window, an About dialog box appears. This shows your business card in the Participant tab, information about your Internet host in the Host tab, and information about CoolTalk in the CoolTalk tab.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN

In a previous tip explained the volume panels in the CoolTalk conference window. You'll also notice that the top panel, the one that indicates your volume, has a couple of red arrows inside it. These don't have anything to do with the overall volume; rather, they allow you to set the silence level. Basically, this refers to all the background noise that your microphone picks up in addition to your voice when you speak into it. To set the silence level higher--in others words, ignore more outside noise--drag the red arrow buttons to the right with your mouse. The silence level you set is indicated in the bottom left status field.

SOUND PRINTS

The large black box in the center of the CoolTalk conference window is actually two panels, each of which indicates the audio volume level. The top panel indicates your volume (as the speaker), and the bottom panel indicates the volume coming from the person speaking to you. To adjust the level of either, click on the plus and minus symbols on the right side of the panels.

SAMPLE SELECTION

If you have a sound card in your computer, you can use the audio part of CoolTalk. At one point in the setup process, you are prompted to test the audio playback at 8-kHz sampling rate. This is simply the rate at which the analog sound, such as your voice, is turned into digital information. This information can then be stored on a computer and played back. Sampling is how the computer "listens" to an analog sound at regular intervals, and the information collected at these points can be reassembled for playback. The sample rate, then, affects how this playback sounds. Specifically, the higher the sample rate, the better it sounds because the sound is sampled at more times per second.

TESTING, TESTING

Before you actually make a call with CoolTalk, you should test your audio levels. To do this, click on the microphone icon to the level of the top volume panel. This lets you test the sound level without being connected. Now speak into your microphone--you'll see audio indicator bars moving across the panel. If these bars are bright green, your audio level is acceptable for conversation; if the bars are dark green, the sound is too low; and if the bars are red, the sound is way too high. If the sound is too low or too high, adjust the silence level until you get to the ideal sound level.

COOL CONNECTION

Now that you've tested your CoolTalk audio, get connected. First make sure you're connected to the Internet, then click on the Conference button in the CoolTalk window (the one with the two heads). This opens the Open Conference dialog box with the Address Book tab selected. Now just enter the Internet address of the CoolTalk user you want to contact in the entry field (this can be an e-mail address, such as joe_user@domain.com or a numeric IP address, such as 199.123.02), then click on OK. You should hear a ring as CoolTalk attempts to establish the connection. Once a connection is established, the status window reads "Waiting . . ." and the microphone icon is depressed. It should also display the picture that's included in the recipient's business card. Now all you have to do is talk into the microphone and listen for a response. When you say something the status message reads "Talking," and when the recipient says something it reads "Receiving." That's it. To end the conference; click on the Conference button again. A dialog box asks if you want to leave the conference in progress, click on Yes and the CoolTalk window goes idle.

WHO'S CALLING?

As you recall from the last tip, when you connect with another CoolTalk user, you see his or her picture appear in the large square button in the CoolTalk window. Click on this button at this point and you see this user's business card. When you click on the Host or CoolTalk tabs, you get information about the user's system.

QUICK CALL

CoolTalk lets you create speed dial buttons for those frequently called CoolTalkers. To add a speed dial button, click on the Conference button from the CoolTalk window, which opens the Open Conference dialog box to the Address Book tab. Select the user for whom you want to create a speed dial button and click on the Add to Speed Dial button. A New Button Properties dialog box appears. Enter or change the button label and the user's address, then click on Add. The new button appears in the speed dial button bar of the CoolTalk window. Now just click on this when you want to make a connection, rather than going to the Conference button.

BUTTON CHANGES

OK, so you just added a bunch of speed dial buttons to the CoolTalk window, but now you need to make some changes. Maybe you want to change the label, maybe you entered the wrong address, or maybe you want to delete the button. No problem. To change your speed dial buttons, select the button and click on the right mouse button once, which brings up a context menu. If you want to change the label or address, click on Properties.

BETTER TO RECEIVE?

The last few tips showed you most of what you need to know about placing CoolTalk calls, but what happens when you're on the receiving end? First remember that, as with placing a call, you must have CoolTalk running to receive a CoolTalk call. If someone calls you, you get an Invitation dialog box. The caller is identified in the Caller-ID field. If you don't want to talk, just click on Reject. If you do want to talk, click on Accept; the CoolTalk window reappears with the microphone icon depressed, and you're ready to talk.

VERY ACCEPTING

If you just can't say no to an incoming call, CoolTalk let's you automatically answer all calls without clicking on the Accept button. To set this, select Conference, Options from the CoolTalk menu, which opens the Options dialog box. Look in the Conference tab for a section called Accept Invitations; then select Always. Of course, if you don't want to accept calls at all, choose the Never option, which is sort of like unplugging your telephone. Click on OK to close the Options box and save your changes.

SORRY, I CAN'T COME TO THE COMPUTER RIGHT NOW . . .

Just like a telephone, CoolTalk includes an answering machine. When you have it on, it answers your calls automatically and records messages from the caller. Before you turn this on, however, you should set it up for the message that you want. Select Conference, Options from the CoolTalk menu, then choose the Answering Machine tab in the Options dialog box. There are two sections in the tab: Incoming Messages and Greeting. The first, of course, stores all your incoming messages in a folder on your computer's system. If you want to change this, just change the folder location. Now change the answering machine greeting (CoolTalk does have a generic default greeting), click on the red record button to start recording the new file. Speak your piece into your microphone, then click on the square Stop button. That's it. If you want to make sure you've got the greeting the way you want, click on the playback button and you'll hear your newly recorded message. When you're finished, click on Close to close the Options box. Back in the CoolTalk window, click on the Answering Machine button (the one that looks like an audiocassette) to activate the answering machine.

GRAMMY-WINNING GREETING

Don't like the sound of your own recorded voice? Well, you don't have to use the greeting you just recorded for your CoolTalk answering machine greeting; any .WAV file will do. So if you want, go out and hire the Stones or James Earl Jones to record your greeting message, then save this on your computer as a .WAV file. Now open CoolTalk and choose Conference, Options and select the Answering Machine tab. In the Greeting section, click on the Browse button and choose the .WAV file that you want as the greeting. Again, click on Close to close the Options box and save your changes.

AUTOMATIC OPENING

If you downloaded HistoryTree, the Netscape Navigator plug-in that allows you to visualize your history list, you know that the HistoryTree window opens automatically when you open Navigator. You do have the option to turn this off and just have HistoryTree run in the background, ready to be opened whenever you need it. To do this, select Tools, Options, Open When Browser Opens from the HistoryTree menu.

A BUNCH OF .GIFS

Forever downloading graphics? A Netscape plug-in called Multi-File Downloader allows you to download many .GIF images--up to 100--in a single batch. This is a shareware application that you can download and register from http://www.fox.net/plugins/multifile.html

MAILTO LINK

Web page developers often include "mailto" tags in their Web pages. These are links that act a lot like URLs, except when you click on them the Navigator mail window opens, usually with a specified mailing address in the To field. How do you know when you've come across a mailto: link? Generally, you can't tell just by looking at them--it's up to the page developer to tell you what the link does. They're often used as a way for Web site visitors to send feedback e-mail to the developers.

COLUMN REARRANGING

If you want to change the order of the columns in the Navigator mail message pane, just grab the column heading and drag it to a new location (to the left or right). You might, for example, want to see your messages by Subject or Date first, rather than Sender.

FLAG ON THE PLAY

You can flag certain messages to make them stand out from the crowd in the message window. This is useful to remind yourself to reply to certain messages. To flag a message, select it and then click on the dot in the "flag" column. A little red flag icon appears next to the message. (To make it go away, just click on it again.)

BEEN THERE, READ THAT

When you get new mail, the new messages appear in the message window in bold and there's a green "unread" icon in the unread column. When you open the message, it removes the green icon and the bold, marking the message as "read." You can, however, make read messages revert back to unread status. Just click on the dot in the read column--the green icon pops up and the message information appears in bold. (If you change your mind, just click on it again.)

HEADER THE CLASS

An e-mail message is full of information about the route it took to your mailbox. You usually see a truncated form of the message header, which generally shows the sender's name and address, the date and time sent, and the subject line. If you want to really see where the message has been, select Options, Show Headers, All from the Netscape Mail menu. A long list of domain names and other fairly useless stuff appears.

LESS FILLING

Of course, sometimes you don't need to see much header information at all. To get a downright terse header, select Option, Show Headers, Brief from the Netscape Mail menu. Now, only important information--such as the sender's name, the time sent, and an abbreviated subject--appears in the header.

HIDDEN MESSAGE TRICK

Scary inbox, eh? If you only want to see messages that you haven't read yet, select Options, Show Only Unread Messages from the Netscape Mail menu. Now that's better, isn't it? The read messages haven't disappeared, they're just hiding out. Select Options, Show All and they're back.

CLEANING THE CLUTTER

Mailboxes can get pretty full pretty fast, which eats up your disk space. This is why you should periodically free up some space in the mail folders. One way to do this without deleting anything is to compress a folder, which gets rid of wasted space and bytes. To do this, select File, Compress Folder from the Netscape Mail menu.

FINDERS, KEEPERS

Looking for a specific word, name, link, or what have you in a Web page? Press Ctrl-F, which brings up the Find dialog box. Enter what you're looking for in the Find What field, then select the direction for the search (based on where your cursor is now). Now click Find Next to initiate the search. For a more specific search, choose the Match Case option, which ensures that only those results with matching capitalization are returned.

If you use the Find command while you're in the Netscape Mail window, you can search both mail headers and individual messages.

QUICK OUT

Press Ctrl-W to quickly close the Netscape Navigator browser window. Make sure you've saved or bookmarked the page you're on, however, because the browser window closes immediately.

READY, SET, RELOAD

Who needs menus when you can perform many Navigator functions right from the keyboard? To reload a page, simply press Ctrl-R.

TAKE A MEMO

You don't need to be in the Netscape Mail window to write a message. Press Ctrl-M any time you have Navigator open--whether you're in the browser, mail window, or news window--and the message composition window opens.

INTO THE BOOKMARKS

Press Ctrl-B from the Navigator browser and the bookmark window opensimmediately.

HEY, A NEW BROWSER

When you want to open a new Navigator browser, simply press Ctrl-N.The new browser opens, while the old one minimizes.

JUST SCROLLING THROUGH

If you have more than one browser window open at the same time, youcan scroll through them. To do it, press Ctrl-Tab. Just remember tokeep tabs on which browser you're in as you do this!

MAKE YOUR MARK (BOOK, THAT IS)

There are a few ways to add a bookmark, but the quickest way is topress Ctrl-D while you're at a Web site. The URL is added to yourbookmark list immediately.

FOLLOWING BREAD CRUMBS

Want to go back a few steps in your Web browsing? Press Ctrl-H whenyou're in the Navigator browser. The History window box opens,showing your most recently visited sites.

GREAT ESCAPE

If you want to stop a page from loading, press Esc for the quickesthalt.

MOVEABLE WALLS

Using frames is a good way for the Web page designer to organize thecontent of the page, but they can be a little inconvenient sometimes.Here's a flexible way to play around with the frame size. Just pointyour cursor on the frame border. When it becomes a double-arrow icon,click and drag the border to move it left or right (or up and down,depending on the location of the frame).

THE INSIDE FRAME STORY

Frames are sort of like pages within the page. You know how Navigatorallows you to see source code for a page? Well, you can do the samething with a single frame. Click once inside the frame and chooseView, Frame Source from the Navigator menu. The frame's inner secretsare revealed.