Telnet - Blinkenlights

After playing with Telnet and being very successful with my email task (refer previous entry - Note to readers: send all acknowledgements and applause directly to my email address).

I decided to move onto the blinkenlights task.

I found using Telnet this time quite easy (yes i am the Master of Telnet..hehehehe). The actual blinkenlights Star Wars thingo I found very clever but very boring. It made me realise exactly how far technology had come.

This is an example of what i saw on towel.blinkenlights.nl

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This was a program which was used in my High School years (ooops showing my age), and wow haven't things progressed - nicely i must add.

To the creators I give you a bow, the time and patience is probably unheard of in todays technological world. Quick and easy is the motto for todays computer users, no more waiting for screens to load, we want it all and we want it NOW.

Task A - Telnet

I finally managed to work out how to get into the Telnet feature on my computer. I clicked on Start/Run and then typed in Telnet, up popped a black screen.

I was completely unsure what to do at this stage so being female and not scared to ask for help, i pressed the ? key, which threw up a very basic help guide.

After a few key clicks, and after taking a stab in the dark and confirming that I was indeed using a VT100 compatable pc...i was indeed in the Library Site....YAY !!!!

I was able to follow the basic instructions and email the required list of books to my student email address. I felt great. I was able to master this after much intrepidation.

My opinion of the Telnet feature is "wow", this stuff is hard work. If I was working in my position today and having to use this type of system, lets just say, I would be bald from ripping my hair out. It is slow and tedious, although I am sure that in the past this was technology was the best and many many people (hey Mum !) used this system and managed to perform their duties effectively and efficiently...all I can say is thank god for the evolution of technology.

I decided to do a search regarding the uses of Telnet and found the following interesting points at

http://www.walthowe.com/navnet/faq/telnet.html

1. Telnet is a text only protocol

2. If you are a gamer, there are a number of text based games still available through telnet. See Yahoo's page on MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons).

3. Outside of games, unless you already know of a particular use, such as connecting to a particular government database, you probably have no use for it.Today a few game site still have some applications that are run on Telnet.

Even though I found it slow and so "old fashion", if the World Wide Web was to go down this would at least enable a connection to be made to another system if required.

All in all a very good learning experience for me.