Next week, this class will meet in a computer lab. I am going to introduce you to a place on the Internet where you can meet and have "conversations" with other people in English. You can use the people you meet there as informants for your research project, or you can go there to practice your English or to make friends.
The place I am going to take you is called SchMOOze University. It was started in 1994 as a place for students and teachers of English to get together and practice language and intercultural communication. About 400 people from all over the world belong to SchMOOze University, so you can find someone there almost any time of day. People go to SchMOOze University to make friends there.
You can use telnet (the system that you use for e-mail here at school) to go to SchMOOze University. While you are there, you will see descriptions of various places. When you arrive, you will be at the entrance gates. You will see a short paragraph describing the entrance gates and what you can see from there. There will also be a line that says, "Obvious exits". (Everywhere you go on the SchMOOze University campus has this line.) When you want to leave the place where you are, you type in one of the exits. For example, from the entrance, you can go north into the South Mall by typing "north".
To connect to SchMOOze University, type:
telnet schmooze.hunter.cuny.edu 8888 [enter]
After a (hopefully) short time, you will see a drawing of the entrance gate. Type "connect guest [enter]" (without quotation marks). You will be asked for a name that you want to use. Type the name you want to use, and then push enter. You can use any name you want, as long as no one is using it. (It is best not to use a name that identifies you as female.) You will be asked if this is the name you want to use. If so, type "yes" and push enter. If you want to change it, type "no" and push enter. You will also be asked for a description. Type in a short description. (One sentence is enough.) Write the description here.
__________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
Write the description and push enter.
Type "classroom [enter]". That will take you immediately to the classroom at SchMOOze University. (You do not have to do this all the time, but please do it the first time we do this in class.)
While you are at SchMOOze University, there are various things you can do. 1. You can "talk" to other players. There are various ways to do that. (In the following examples, you are a player named "Blues."
a. If you want to say something to everyone who is in the same room or space with you, type:
"Hello, how are you? [enter]
You will see:
You ask, "Hello, how are you?"
Everyone else in the room or space will see:
Blues [Guest] asks, "Hello, how are you?"
b. If you want to say something to only one person in the same room or space, type:
whisper "Hello, how are you?" to Monkey
Monkey will see:
Blues whispers "Hello, how are you?"
c. If you want to say something to a person who is not in the same room or space with you, type:
page Monkey Hello, how are you? [enter]
You will get a message that your message has been sent to Monkey.
Monkey will see:
Blues pages "Hello, how are you?"
2. You can perform actions. To perform an action, type:
:waves to Monkey. [enter]
You and everyone in the room or space will see:
Blues [Guest] waves to Monkey.
3. You can move around on the campus.
a. As I told you before, you can move through an exit by typing the name of the exit. Look for the line that says "obvious exits" and type one of the exits.
b. You can move by joining another person. For example, if Monkey is in 55 Rue Plumet (her dorm room) you can join her by typing:
@join Monkey [enter]
If you type that, you will be moved to wherever Monkey is.
(Note: You should ask permission before joining someone who is in a private room, like a dorm room or an office.
To ask permission, type:
knock Monkey [enter]
(Monkey will either invite you to enter or tell you that she is busy.)
4. You can look at people and things on the campus. To see a description of the place where you are, type:
look here
You will see a description of the room or space where you are.
To see a description of a person, type:
look
You will see the description that person gave for him/herself.
5. You can find out who else is on campus. Type:
@who
You will see a list of names and information about how long the person has been on campus, how long since they have been active (since they last entered a command or speech), and where they are. This is also useful when you want to know where someone else is.
5. You can see a map of SchMOOze University. Type:
map
You will see a map of SchMOOze University. There will be an -X- where you are.
6. When you are ready to leave SchMOOze University, type:
@quit
There are other things you can do on campus. For example, you can go to the Student Union Building and play games or go to the cafeteria and order food. You can go to the library and read. Explore the campus and find out what else there is to do.
Registering a name
WARNING:
It is easier if you have your own identity at SchMOOze University. You can get one by sending an e-mail message to:
Do not give your telephone number or address to anyone you meet on the Internet.
Copyright@ S. Kathleen Kitao/CALL-EJ 1998-99