E-mail refers to the sending and receiving of electronic letters/messages and

documents over the internet.

a) The word E-mail however may also mean the actual message that is sent.

b) It is a service that enables the exchange of electronic messages over ICT

devices. It is also the transmission of messages to one or more recipients over a
network.

c) Each individual connected to the internet has a unique email address that acts
like a post office box; which handles physical mails. One can receive and send
mails/messages to or from all over the world.

d) Unlike the paper mail (snail mail) where the recipient would take hours or days
to receive mails, e-mail is very fast, because it takes few seconds to reach the
recipient regardless of where they are in the world.

e) E-mails can be sent over the internet or LAN. Unlike in paper mails where it is
only the recipient who needs to have an address, in e-mails, for people to
communicate both the sender and the recipient must have e-mail addresses.

f) Like the normal postal address, an e-mail address directs the computers on the
internet on where to deliver the e-mail message. This delivery process like the
internet is configured to some protocols (rules)

The e-mail system can be configured to use any of these 3 protocols. These are:-

 SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

 POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3)
 IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)

E-mail systems exist in 3 different modes depending on the type of protocol being
used.

 Local E-mail system: This one is designed to work within the organization’s
boundary. For example, on a company’s LAN. It normally uses SMTP

 International E-mail System: This type of mail system is designed for a wide
area coverage normally on a company’s LAN, extranet or via the internet.

 Dual mail system: This works well in both environments. It can be used for
local e-mail messages as well as international e-mail messages.
Some of these e-mail systems use some standardized application packages like Lotus
Domino, Lotus cc: mail server, Eudora Pro, Quick Mail office, Microsoft outlook,
Pegasus, Turnpike etc.

The choice of an e-mail package mainly depends on the number of individuals to be

connected and the affordability of the system requirements of that particular
application. Most of these e-mail applications require vast storage space among
others.
E-mail software falls under a special group of application packages called
Communication Software

E-Mail Addresses
An e-mail account or e-mail address may consist of simple names or words while
others may consist of complicated phrases of words. This will always depend on the e-
mail system being used. For example, an e-mail address for a LAN may need only
your username like peter, whereas in an international setting, the server name and the
country initials may be necessary or a prerequisite. Normally e-mail accounts take up
the general form of:-

 [email protected] initials. For example; [email protected]

indicates that the user name is guma which is at a server called yahoo which is a
company in Uganda.
 Or an e-mail address like [email protected] indicates that the user name guma
is at a server called yahoo which is a commercial site.

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Elements of an Email Message#

When you think of an email message, you might think of the person you’re sending it
to and what you’re going to say. However, an effective email has many more elements
than these few. Double check these parts before sending your next email.

What is the email about? A good subject line summarizes the email and makes it
sound important enough for the reader to open. Subject lines like “Hello” or
“Meeting” are vague and make it difficult to know what the email will be about.

The email address of the person who sent the message appears here. Most email
services display the person’s name before their email address to make it easier to
identify them. When you press “reply,” your email will only go to this person.

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 If you are receiving the message, your email address probably won’t appear here.
Instead, you might see wording like “to me.” Message recipients might also include
email addresses in these sections:
 Carbon Copy (CC) – people who receive the email for their own information, but
who are not expected to reply. When you press “reply all,” all of these addresses
receive your response.
 Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) – people who receive the email but are not listed as
recipients. Senders use the BCC section if they don’t want recipients to know who
else has received the email. They do not receive “reply all” responses.

After the subject line, your email salutation, or greeting, is the next part that the
recipient will see. It should match the tone you’re trying to set in the rest of your
email. Don’t skip this part unless you are emailing back and forth quickly with
someone in a virtual conversation.

The email body contains the message of the email. Effective emails keep their email
bodies short and add more extensive information to the attachments. For formal
emails, such as messages to an employer or emails to your teacher, it’s best to
avoid common email abbreviations.

Types of Email Accounts or Addresses

There are two types of e-mail accounts
 Offline accounts/addresses
 Online accounts/addresses

Online accounts/addresses
These use the IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) Protocol and therefore
exists on the internet and can be accessed from anywhere around the world as long as
there is internet. Online accounts sometimes are given free of charge by some
companies like Yahoo, Hotmail, Google, etc.

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 1. Free messaging
Email is free. You can actually send and receive email messages massively at no cost
forever. It offers a far more cheap option of communication than phone calls and text
messages. Once you register and get your email address, you can then send loads of
business emails and several other types at no cost.
2. Quick message delivery
Email messages are delivered almost immediately. It is instant messaging as it is
delivered within a blink/twinkle. The speed of delivery of the email messages
eliminates the delay of waiting to establish phone calls.

3. Ability to send multimedia messages

The email allows the users to send any type of file like pictures, videos, texts,
audio, document files, etc. This is done by making use of the attachment option.
Pictures and videos provide a better description of messages than plaintexts.

4. Easy referencing
One of the advantages of email is that you can send email messages even when the
recipient is offline. The delivered message can be stored and saved for him to read at
any time. This provides a better and easier referencing as the emails can be reviewed
and arranged for easy perusal at any point in time. The days and time of delivery will
be recorded for reference purpose.
5. Simplicity
Sending and receiving emails are very simple and easy. As a beginner, you can easily
handle the mail “Compose” option. The mails arrangements are automatic, so the user
does not find it difficult to navigate through the sending and receiving processes.
6. It’s globalized
The email is web-based hence users can have access to it anywhere and anytime so
long there is internet availability. Users can send emails to colleagues, friends and
relatives anywhere in the world. Among the advantages of email, this point stands
out since you can send email to anyone irrespective of their location.
7. Emails support the planets/globes/spheres
Yes! Emails do not require paper or anything green. It offers huge benefits for the
planet. As we know, papers are manufactured from a tree but emails do not require the
bringing down of any trees. If all communications were done through emails, then the
environment would have been saved because there would be no need for papers.

8. Less expensive advertising

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Email offers a cheap and easy platform for companies and businesses to reach out to
their customers. It is one of the cheapest and easiest methods of advertisements as
loads of emails can be sent to thousands and even millions of receivers at the same
time with very little effort.

9. Automated messaging and automated response

Emails can function as virtual assistants. They offer the platform for users to
configure automatic sending of emails. Users can compose emails and then set the
scheduled time for the emails to be sent automatically even when he is offline.
You can even set up email auto-responder to send your emails automatically whenever
you receive an email. Using autoresponder is no doubt one of the advantages of
email.
10.Flexibility
Email messaging is very flexible and convenient. You can send messages at any time
of the day. There is no limit to the number of messages you can send and you can send
to multiple recipients at the same time.

Having gone through the advantages of email, Let us also look at the various
disadvantages of email.

1. Poor privacy
All electronic mails must pass through mail server protocols. This exposes the mail to
incessant/nonstop exposure and information leakage if the network server is hacked.
In light of this, email messaging has little or no privacy.

2. Virus infection
This is one of the major disadvantages of emails. Viruses and over malicious files can
be sent through emails and when such emails are opened, the viruses will spread and
cause damage to the computer.

3. Spamming
Spams are unwanted emails that are sent randomly to the email server. Such emails
can be quite disgusting. Most spammy emails usually carry viruses and can easily
damage the computer system.

4. Lack of cordiality
Email does not have a personal touch for cordiality since there is no audio or face to
face interaction. For instance, Some messages require to be conveyed in auditory

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mode if such messages are sent as emails then the efficacy of the information might be
lacking.

5. Overlooking of messages.
Email does not have delivery alerts hence most of the messages are usually
overlooked and this can cause message overloading.

6. Distraction
Emails can cause an incessant distraction at work especially when you are freaky with
the internet. Users may become used to reloading to check for new emails. This can
waste lots of time and reduce efficiency at work.

7. Misunderstanding
People usually misunderstand some email messages. This might be caused by an
error in spelling by the sender or incoherent expression.

8. The spread of fake stories

Rumours and fake information can easily be spread to thousands or Millions of people
via the email. This can be very detrimental as so many may be misled by the wrong
information.

9. The stress of password recovery

Users that forget their emails are usually out through a series of password recovery
steps. This can be very strenuous and time-consuming. Most people lose their emails
as a result of this.

10.Addiction
Checking for new emails can be very addictive. Users easily become addicted to
reloading their phones their email platforms to check for new messages.

And there you have it, the advantages and disadvantages of email. If you have
questions, drop it below in the comment box.

Offline Accounts
These are usually provided by the ISP. They normally use the POP3 protocol. Emails
are hosted from the ISP’s server before being downloaded onto your computer’s inbox
on the hard disk. These emails require subscription, and therefore when the
subscription is not valid, they can no longer be received.
Offline mails can’t be accessed from anywhere.
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Parts of an E-mail Address
 Username; for example gumagb is a username in the email address
[email protected]. It identifies the owner of the address. It is coined by the
user (owner) during account registration process called Sign up
 @; This symbol is read as ‘at’. It separates the username from the other parts of

the address.

 Server name; for example yahoo in the address [email protected]. It indicates

that the server computer that hosts the e-mail address for guma is yahoo. Other
e-mail hosts or servers include Gmail by Google, hotmail, etc.
 The period (.); This is read as ‘dot’. It is used to separate different parts of an e-
mail address.
 Domain name; for example com, identifies the type of institution offering a
particular service. E.g. com, co.uk, ac.ug, sc.ug and others. Some common
domain names include:
 .edu----------- educational institution
 .gov------------ government institution
 .org------------ Non-governmental organization
 .mil------------ military institution
 .com----------- Commercial organization
 .co-------------- Company
 .sc--------------- school
 .ac--------------- academic institution especially higher learning
 .net ------------- internet service provider

In some instances another two letter extension is added after the domain name to show
the country where the website is located. For example; www.mbararahigh .sc.ug

A DOMAIN NAME
This is the text version of an IP address, which makes all the numeric IP address
easier to remember and use. A domain name e.g. www.nkpublishing house.com) is a
text version of an IP address (e.g. 216.200.47.93)
N.B The World Wide Web is one of the most popular services on the internet.

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The World Wide Web (WWW) also called the web consists of a worldwide collection
of electronic documents. Each of these documents on the web is called a Web Page.

What is a web page: Is a simple document displayable by a browser (A web

browser is application software for accessing the World Wide Web/webpages).

Such documents are written in the HTML language (What is HTML? · HTML
stands for Hyper Text Markup Language for creating Web pages) A web page can
contain text, graphics, animations, audio (i.e. multi-media elements/ <header>), as
well as built-in connections called hyper links to other documents.

A HYPERLINK / link is a text or an icon that you can click on to get to another
website or related web page or part of a web page. A link can be a word, a phrase or
an image. The shape of the pointer usually changes to a small hand with a pointing
index finger when it is pointed on a link.

A HOME PAGE. Is a starting page or a table of contents for a website / or A home

page is the default or front page of a site. It is the first page that visitors see when they
load a URL (URL is an acronym for Uniform Resource Locator and is a reference
(an address) to a resource on the Internet. A URL has two main components:
Protocol identifier: For the URL http://example.com, the protocol identifier is
http).
A WEBSITE. This is a collection of related web pages.

A WEB BROWSER. This is a software program used to access and view web pages.
Examples of web browsers include;

Most Popular Mobile Browsers (2019)

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10 | C o v i d 1 9
 Internet Explorer.  Opera.
 Google Chrome.  Konqueror.
 Mozilla Firefox.  Lynx.
 Safari.
 20 Top Best Free Fastest Web Browser List for PC
 1. Google  9. SeaMonkey  15. Superbird
Chrome  10. Deepnet  16.
 2. Mozilla Explorer SlimBrowser
Firefox  11. Avant  17. Wyzo
 3. Internet Browser Browser
explorer  12. Epic  18. Camino
 4. Opera Browser  19. NetGroove
 5. Torch  13. QupZilla  20.
 6. Safari Browser BlackHawk
 7. Maxthon  14. Yandex
 8. RockMelt Browser

 20 Top best Free Fastest Web Browser List for Android

 1. Opera Mini  8. Maxthon  15. Protected
 2. UC browser  9. NC Browser Porn Browser
Mini Free  16. Net Viewer
 3. Chrome for  10. Link Lite
Android Bubble  17.
 4. Firefox for  11. Falcon FireMonkey
Android Browser  18. Skyfire
 5. Dolphin  12. Oneweb Browser
Browser Browser  19. Polarity
 6. CM Secure  13. Guava Browser
Browser Browser  20. Steel
 7. Adblock  14. Cubicle Browser
browser

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Today’s browsers also support push technology in which web based content is
downloaded automatically to the computer at regular intervals or whenever the site is
updated.
Each web page has a unique address called Uniform Resource Locator (URL) which
tells the browser where to locate the document.

A WEB SERVER. This is a computer that delivers web pages requested by users.
Multiple websites can be stored on the same web server.

A WEB MASTER. This is the individual for developing web pages and maintaining
a website.

SURFING THE WEB. This is the activity of jumping from one web page to another.

THE UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR (URL)

This is the unique address of a web page which tells the browser where to locate the
document. The URL tells the browser where to locate the web page.
URL: http://www.nkpublishinghouse.com/internet/data
Protocol: http
Domain name: www.nkpublishinghouse.com
Path: internet/data
N.B: http stands for hypertext transfer Protocol, which is a standard that enables
pages to transfer on the web.

WEB PUBLISHING. This is the development and maintenance of web pages. The
five steps to web publishing are;
 Planning a website
 Analyzing and designing a website
 Creating a website
 Deploying a website
 Hosting a web
A SEARCH ENGINE
A Search engine is a software program that can be used to find websites, web
pages and files on the internet. To find a website, a user just enters a word or a
phrase called the keywords or search text.

The URLs of several Internet search engines are URL

listed below.
Excite www.excite.com
Google www.google.com
Hotbot www.hotbot.com
Lycos www.lycos.com
Yahoo www.yahoo.com
Webcrawler www.webcrawler.com

MULTIMEDIA. This refers to using computers to integrate text, graphics,

animation, audio and video into one application. A web page contains text graphic,
animations. Audio and video (i.e. multimedia elements) as well as built in
connections called hyperlinks to other documents.

GRAPHICS. These are a digital representation of information such as drawing, a

chart or photograph. Graphics were the first media to enhance the originally text
based internet. Common graphical formats on the web are JPEG and GIF.
N.B
1. GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format which uses compression
techniques to reduce file size.
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2. JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts group which is a graphical image
using compression techniques to reduce the file size. It often used for scanned
photographs, artwork and other images that include smooth transition of colours.

ANIMATION. Is the appearance of motion that is created by displaying a series

of still images in rapid sequence.

STREAMING. This is the process of transferring data in a continuous and even

flow, which allows users to access and use a file before it has been transmitted
completely. An electronic music instrument such as a keyboard, synthesizer or
drum machine is connected to a computer. The frequency or a pitch and other
musical data received is converted to digital data that can be read and stored by the
computer. The computer can in turn send signals back to the electronic music
instrument.

Some websites use streaming Audio on the web which allows a user to listen to the
sound as it downloads to the computer. Two accepted standards for streaming
audio on the web are;
- Windows media player
- Real audio

N.B: MPEG is a popular video compression standard defined by the moving

picture Experts group (MPEG)

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ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
Electronic commerce (E-commerce) is a financial business transaction that occurs
over an electronic network such as the internet. Online shopping and banking are
two popular types of E-commerce that uses either electronic money (e-money) or
electronic data interchange (EDI)
Electronic Money. This is a means of paying for goods and services over the
internet.
EDI (Electronic data Interchange) is a set of standards that control the transfer of
business data and information among computers both with in and among
companies.
E-commerce business can be grouped into three basic models:
(a) Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce consists of the sale of goods to the
general public.
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(b) Consumer to consumer (C2C) e-commerce occurs when one consumer sells
directly to another, such as in an online auction.
(c) Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce consists of businesses providing
goods and services to another r business.

ADVANTAGES OF E-COMMERCE
- Transactions can occur instantly and globally, thus save time for participants on
both ends.
- Transactions can occur 24 hours per day.
- Businesses have access to millions of people over internet connects.
- Businesses have the ability to gather customer information, analyse it and react if
appropriate.
- Information can be exchanged and be available quickly.
- Distribution costs for information is reduced or eliminated.
- Manufacturers can buy and sell directly avoiding the cost of middleman.
- Feedback can be immediate.
- Customers can compare prices easily.

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