MODULE 2 - CHAT TASK REFLECTIONS

This task looked fairly simple but in reality required a bit of team work and effort. This task was to be done after discussion with other students in the group and after a good start I quickly posted on webct, seeking those that wanted to chat on MSN.

Then the worst happened, my computers were stolen and I had no means of checking for responses to my posts or other threads on webct. This has meant that I have fallen way behind and now need to work harder to catch up.

Earlier in the week , I managed to add some fellow students to my MSN and work out a suitable time for a group chat, Saturday 11 January 2009 @ 6pm. Also was lucky enough to be invited to join the NET 11 group on ICQ @ 7pm on the same day.

So today, I decided to download ICQ and join up in preparation for Sunday. The download and sign up was fairly simple but when I tried to log in, the following message came up:

I then spent the next half hour or so trying to solve the issue. Apparently ICQ was trying to access port 5190 which was by default blocked on my router's firewall. I had to open the port 5190 on my router's via "Port Triggering Setup", so ICQ could access its access / authentication server "login.icq.com". Now ICQ is fully operational.

Once this was done, the second part involved adding fellow students as contacts, ready for Sunday's chat but this was not to be my lucky day. I went to the webct discussion board to gather ICQ id numbers which I then attempted to enter into my ICQ account 466912921. The message that I kept receiving was;

So spending several hours re attempting and reading other threads on webct, I discovered a link that took me directly to the NET 11 group in ICQ that met on Sunday 4th of January 2009 and will now be meeting up each Sunday for the duration of our studies. I added myself there but for some reason my photo or name did not transfer across, instead I exist as a number only.

Tomorrow I will re attempt to add contacts into my ICQ account directly so guys all "fingers crossed" as Ashna really needs it.

I also spent some time reading topic's of interest on the webct discussion board and also added my 2 cents worth into the topic about"Second World". The discussion centred on whether the net was "reality". I found the different opinions interesting but my stance on this matter is that I see the net as a tool or means to carry out many important tasks and functions and a link to my real life but do not consider the "net" a real world. To me its still virtual .

I have decided to keep moving with my modules as I may not have regular access to a computer for the next few weeks and will post the chat tasks as soon as accomplished.

Ash