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diff --git a/.md/tutorials/www/how-to-use-the-internet.md b/.md/tutorials/www/how-to-use-the-internet.md index 925f367..f5b98a3 100644 --- a/.md/tutorials/www/how-to-use-the-internet.md +++ b/.md/tutorials/www/how-to-use-the-internet.md @@ -1,65 +1,76 @@ ## Why? -Changing times and a forgetful youth have forced me to write this guide. - -I am increasingly disturbed by the amount of people I meet (young and -old) that navigate their lives at least in part online, but are unable -to use the internet for it's intended purpose: finding infomation. -Writing to someone or posting a picture of your cat seems to be second -nature for most people, but converting a picture from a PDF or looking -up a study (or even a word!) you saw in an article is something else -entirely. - -For the most part, it is not anyone's fault or laziness. It's -the fault of what the internet *has become*. For one, there's just so -much more *stuff* now; it's hard to know exactly where to start and who -to trust. And so much of that stuff is now *garbage*, either in the way -it's presented--with disruptive ads that don't close correctly--or in -the way it's written--vague, misleading, or straight incorrect. But for -seconds: no one really teaches you how to use this thing do they? There -are no courses on "How to use a search engine" or "How to find good -posts on a forum," yet these are the kinds of skills you really need if -you want to navigate the modern world without getting constantly -distracted, misled, or totally lost. - -There are of course, countless guides on "netiquette" geared towards -every possible internet subculture you can find. While many of them have -influenced this document and give many helpful tips on writing good -informative posts, none of them really go over what I think is -most important: what to do with the information you're reading. - -This will probably be an evolving document as new services and websites -become available (or go down), but much of this material in the -beginning should be pretty generally applicable no matter what services -are available. +Why *would* anyone want to use the Internet, +really? + +Unfortunately, almost none of us use the Internet +for it's intended purpose: finding infomation. + +Writing to someone or posting a picture of +your cat seems to be second nature for most +people, but converting a picture from a PDF or +looking up a study (or even a word!) you saw +in an article is something else entirely. + +While that's in part the fault of our laziness, +it's equally the fault of what the Internet has +become. For one, there's just so much more *stuff* +now; it's hard to know exactly where to start and +who to trust. And so much of that stuff is now +*garbage*, either in the way it's presented--with +disruptive ads that don't close correctly--or in +the way it's written--vague, misleading, or +straight incorrect. But for seconds: no one really +teaches you how to use this thing do they? There +are no courses on "How to use a search engine" or +"How to find good posts on a forum," yet these are +the kinds of skills you really need if you want to +navigate the modern world without getting +constantly distracted, misled, or totally lost. + +There are of course, countless guides on +"netiquette" geared towards every possible +internet subculture you can find. While many of +them have influenced this document and give many +helpful tips on writing good informative posts, +none of them really go over what I think is most +important: what to do with the information you're +reading. + +This will probably be an evolving document as new +services and websites become available (or go +down), but much of this material in the beginning +should be pretty generally applicable no matter +what services are available. ## How to use a web browser ## How to use a search engine -As for which search engine to use: you should use all of them, until you -get the results you need. In my experience, none of the major search -engines are particularly good and I get inconsistent searches on all of -them depending on what I'm searching. There is much preaching these days -about privacy concerns, but to be honest I don't believe any service is -more "private" than another. These are all privacy nightmares, your best -bet is to just search often and as varied as you can. +As for which search engine to use: you should use +all of them, until you get the results you need. +In my experience, none of the major search engines +are particularly good and I get inconsistent +searches on all of them depending on what I'm +searching. There is much preaching these days +about privacy concerns, but to be honest I don't +believe any service is more "private" than +another. These are all privacy nightmares, your +best bet is to just search often and as varied as +you can. ## How to read and find scholarly articles ### How to use Wikipedia -A common complaint lodged at me whenever I recommend Wikipedia is that -it's not a source of truth since they found X mistake somewhere, or made -Y edit when they were a teenager that's still there. No one has ever (or -should ever) claim Wikipedia is reliable. Frankly, you should not -consider *any* source to be reliable, but that's a separate issue. If -you know how to use Wikipedia you can use it to get closer to a true -understanding of whatever you're studying. - -For starters, as a general rule, you should not trust anything you read -on a topic that is less than 20 years old. We're still living through -the history at this point and new things can come to light. +A common complaint lodged at me whenever I +recommend Wikipedia is that it's not a source of +truth since they found X mistake somewhere, or +made Y edit when they were a teenager that's still +there. No one has ever (or should ever) claim +Wikipedia is a source of truth on it's own. But +you can use it to find more sources and maybe get +a little closer. ### How to find articles with Google Scholar @@ -67,12 +78,17 @@ the history at this point and new things can come to light. ### How to use tor to browse anonymously -Many in the advertising world will boast about using a VPN for -anonymity, or using a VPN in conjuction with Tor to "increase privacy." -This is simply a misunderstanding of terms. A VPN provides *privacy* of -the user's connection since it provides encryption--only the VPN -provider can "see" what is searched. The goal of Tor is *anonymity* not -privacy. Anonymity means "no one knows who you are" not "no one knows -what you're doing." Technically, traffic is encrypted between nodes of -the Tor service, so some level of privacy is provided as well, but this -is most effective when using hidden services, not using Tor in general. +Many in the advertising world will boast about +using a VPN for anonymity, or using a VPN in +conjuction with Tor to "increase privacy." This is +simply a misunderstanding of terms. A VPN provides +*privacy* of the user's connection since it +provides encryption--only the VPN provider can +"see" what is searched. The goal of Tor is +*anonymity* not privacy. Anonymity means "no one +knows who you are" not "no one knows what you're +doing." Technically, traffic is encrypted between +nodes of the Tor service, so some level of privacy +is provided as well, but this is most effective +when using hidden services, not using Tor in +general. |