Module 1 - Telnet & Blinkenlights

I have only just started Module One - I have been a bit slack, or busy depending on how you look at it!Reading through the Welcome/Introduction page it all seems a bit daunting to start these tasks, but the information provided to us along the way to complete the tasks makes it all a lot easier to follow!I just did the Telnet task, at first i did not really understand what a Telnet was, or where to find one. I searched Windows Telnet in Google, and didn’t find anything specifically named "Windows Telnet", but i found a lot of options and i chose a Telnet called ZOC Terminal 5.1.

After I downloaded it I wasn’t really sure how to use it but there was a "Help" option which I read on how to connect to Telnet. I figured out how to do it and connected to the Deakin Library, typed in Bennahum in the Author section, with it coming up with two options. I then chose the print option and filled out my email address when prompted. I then checked my Curtin email address and found the email in there. I found it quite interesting to access the Deakin Library via a Telnet. I expected it to be something like Internet Explorer but it was completely different and did not even open through Internet Explorer, it was a whole other application itself. I then had a look at towel.blinkenlights.nl, which i found interesting as well. It said for better coloured options to download another Telnet, but i just continued with the one i was using. I thought it was amazing how they had made the Star Wars animation through nothing but symbols that exist on the keyboard. That would take a lot of hard work and time to be able to complete something like that! I am not a fan of Star Wars so did not watch the entire thing, but i was quite impressed with what i saw.

I still do not have a great understanding or knowledge of Telnet but now i have some idea of what kind of things it is capable of, and the types of sites we can connect to. I can kind of see how Telnet was one of the first Internet Applications, as it seems quite basic as opposed to the web or other internet applications i have seen before. It is interesting how it provides people with a very important capacity to treat distant computers as if they were 'on their desktop'.

Overall this task has given me some idea of what these Modules are going to be like. Obviously not all of them are going to have anything to do with Telnet, but following the steps provided with this task has given me some reassurance that the rest of the modules will be simple to follow.