Today’s Technologies for Scouting

© All rights reserved, Wayne A. Burke, PE 23 March 2002 wabx@pipeline.comThese are my opinions, not those of my employer or the Boy Scouts of America

Where are We ???

How many of you are:

– (a) Programmers, Hackers, Computer junkies– (b) Just comfortable around computers– (c) Intimidated by the average 13 year old’s

knowledge of computersDon’t sit on

your

questions!

“Shout Out”

Some Key Terms

• Internet• E-Mail • WWW – The WORLD WIDE WEB • USENET Newsgroups • CyberSpace• Chat Rooms

Technology is a Tool

• The Information Age ???or

• Just clutter !!!

Skilled use of Technology gives us Tools to sift

Information out of Clutter

The Computer

• You’ve come a long way baby …• Mechanical Computers• BIG !!! Electrical Machines• Smaller Mainframes• Handheld Pentium Class

An Example

• 40,000 “Customers” at Jambo 2001• Over 25,000 visits to SCUBA• Computerized Database• “Findable” Scouts• Few Lost and Found Items

Communication

• Communication is really the Bottom Line

• Use Technology Tools

• Don’t run aground for failure to communicate

Internet

• There are today, multiple “pipelines” of data to your home and office.

• TV / US Mail / Telephone / Internet• You’ve always used the first three … now

use the Internet

What is the Internet

• Not a single entity … Nobody Owns it !• It is thousands of individually owned

computers, connected by a myriad of telephone and cable systems

• Uses voluntary standards, and basically free sharing of assets

The WEB

• The World Wide Web, the long haul trucker of the Information Superhighway

• Individual Pages, in individual Sites, link to and fro to blanket the world

• Basically free (to you), for the “cost” of wading through a few advertisements. (Okay maybe not a few)

As much as 37¢ each to the advertiser

E-Mail• Just like the US Postal Service

– but faster, almost the speed of light– Write a letter - pay a bill - send a

manuscript to the publisher …

Put it in the mailbox,or on the Internet

E-Mail

Want to mail a schedule to 20 people ?

• Postal Service: Copy, fold, stuff envelopes, stamp, and take to the box … wait patiently

• E-Mail: Click on Send to Troop Committee

USENET• The Users Network• Made up of strictly defined (but often

violated) Group Rules• Can be valuable - or a waste of time• No accountability in the system leaves it

open to advertisers (SPAM), pornography and rumors

rec.scouting.usa

aus.org.scouting

can.scout-guide

Put the Tools to Work

• Knowledge is Power - Get Some• There’s Data out there, let the Computer

help you find it, and share it• It’s free to send and dig for data• Use “Search Engines” on the Web and

“Knowbots” on the USENET

Make it Easy

• Want to distribute a draft document, a plan or schedule for comments ?

• E-Mail it, or put it on your personal Web Page, like this presentation - www.pipeline.com/~wabx/stshow.ppt

• For a real audience use a List Server, in the Scout SCUBA network, send a message to the list - voilá 400 people get the word!

Ask the World

• What’s bothering you, post it on USENET• Around the world are literally thousands of

people with an answer to your question (some of them are right)

• Caveat Emptor, is an understatement• Post in the right place and the right way, or

you’ll be “FlamedFlamed”

The World’s a Dangerous Place

• You mustmust supervise children; Scouts included, on the Internet

• There are predators that will lure children into revealing identity and addresses

• The Net by it’s open nature contains vast quantities of pornographic and other material unsuitable for minors

Chat “Rooms”

• IRQ - Internet Relay Chat,• AIM - AOL’s Instant Messenger,

and other Chat services can be a great way to converse, real time, on-line with friends, family and cyber acquaintances

Previous warning and cautions apply here too.

WEB Links

• Probably the most productive asset• Links will sometimes not work (broken)• Usually, you will find more than you could

have imagined, since a page that interests you, probably links to other pages that will also.

Some Favorites

• BSA Online - The National Council  www.bsa.scouting.org

• Unofficial useful siteswww.scouter.com www.usscouts.com www.scouts.com   

• Knots (Animated Knots from England)www.mistral.co.uk/42brghtn/knots/42ktlink.html

If you can’t handle it …Ask a Scout