instructions for Talking With muse talk!

the horizontal line that runs along the bottom of the MuseTalk! window is called the Talk Line. It contains a box called the Input Message box. This box is the place you enter text you want to send to other visitors from your keyboard.

• When you arrive at the MuseTalk! page, the input message field will be blank and the SIGN ON prompt on the left of the Input Message box will invite you to sign on.
• To get started, type your screen name into the message field and press ENTER on your keyboard; or click the Send Message box below the Input Message Field.
• You won't see anything at first. Wait a moment for the Sign On prompt to change to the Talk prompt.
• When the prompt reads TALK, type your first comment, question, answer, or other remark into the field and select ENTER; or click the Send Message box below the Input Message Field.
• Wait a moment. You'll soon see your message appear in the MuseTalk! window near the top of the Muse Talk! screen. It will consist of: 1) the date and time MuseTalk! received your message [in square brackets like these], followed by 2) your screen name (in bold), followed by 3) the text of the message you typed into the message box. Everyone else tuned into MuseTalk! at Electricka's web site also will see your message.

—note— museTalk! date & time Message date and time are displayed at the top of the screen: A message's date and time are approximate. Message date and time are for the Eastern Time Zone in the U.S. If desired, Must Talkers can mentally apply a time zone offset to adjust date and time to local conditions. Or, message date and time can be disregarded. Muse Talk! uses the date and time to ensure that messages received from different Muse Talkers are displayed in the order in which they were sent. Date and time on your screen may not agree with date and time at your location, but that doesn't affect the message order; you can ignore it. What counts is that MuseTalk! correctly applies its own local time to each Muse Talker's message when it's received.

• After you send your first message, wait for a response from another visitor.
• After you've read the response, you're free to send another message.
• To send another message, type your new message as before and press the ENTER key when finished typing.
• Message text moves to the right of the Message Input box as you enter new text:
  • If you keep typing, old text will scroll out of sight to the right until it disappears from the box.
  • Don't worry if your message too long to see it in its entirety; it's all there. To see the part of your message that's out of sight, place the cursor in the Message Input box and scroll to the right.
• Clicking the double right-pointing arrow under the Input Message box has the same effect as pressing the ENTER key. You may press the ENTER key or click the double arrow icon to send your message:
  • Every time you type a new message into the Talk Line you must press the ENTER key or click the double arrow box to send it.
  • the double arrow box is a handy way to send long messages that you have typed into the Message Input box, especially ones that are so long they have disappeared at the right side of the box.
• Type an additional message into the Message Input box any time the box is clear of text:
  • Send a message you have typed into the Message Input box after you have received responses from the people on the other end of your conversation.
  • There's no need to reenter your screen name each time you type a new message. It will be automatically entered for you when you send your next message.
• New messages arrive at the top of your Muse Talk! screen. They form a list. The list of messages automatically scrolls upward as new messages arrive at the bottom of the list:
  • When the screen fills with messages, a scroll bar appears at the right.
  • Once the screen is full, as more messages arrive, old messages disappear at the top. Scroll up/down to see earlier/later messages.

—note— limit on message length A message can be no longer than 255 characters.

When you're finished Muse Talking and don't expect to Muse Talk again soon, be sure to sign off before you leave the MuseTalk! page. When you sign off, a message appears that lets other Muse Talkers know you're gone. It's the courteous way to go. Signing off also frees MuseTalk! resources for other visitors to use.

To sign off (quit), click the "X" icon next to the double right-pointing arrow at the extreme right of the Talk Line. The Talk Line is located at the bottom of the MuseTalk! page.

When you sign off, a new page appears that lets you decide what to do next:

• Return to the MuseTalk! page by selecting the BACK button at the top or bottom of the new page, Electricka's picture, or the words "Click here to Chat."
• Return to the MuseTalk! home page by clicking the words, "click here to return to the MuseTalk! home page."

—note— when and why to sign Off If you've been Muse Talking and decide to quit, sign off. To sign off, you must click the "X" at the bottom of the MuseTalk! page. If you think you'll be using MuseTalk! again soon, do not sign off when you close the new page. When you return to the MuseTalk! page, you'll be able to continue Muse Talking without signing on again. Don't sign off if you want to monitor messages being sent by others.

Emoticons & Smiles

Emoticons are images that represent emotions, opinions, or comments. Insert them in your messages; they give you a shorthand for self expression.

A set of emoticons {Ref.} has become an informal worldwide standard among computer users. This de facto standard is now in widespread use on web sites everywhere. MuseTalk! has adopted this standard.

• For information explaining emoticons, visit the Emoticon site reference {Ref.}.
• For information on smile images, visit the Smile site reference {Ref.}.

how to use MuseTalk! emoticons:

• To access a list of emoticons that you can insert into MuseTalk! messages, click the Emoticon button near the bottom of the MuseTalk! page. A window will open that contains a set of emoticon images (smiles).
• Pick the smile that expresses your emotion or the comment you want to make. Note the keyboard character sequence for that smile.
• To insert your emoticon into a MuseTalk! message, type the emoticon's text string into the message where you want it to appear. MuseTalk! will automatically replace the character string with the corresponding smile icon.

How to muse talk While Working With Electricka's Pages or with Other Sites

Work with other pages at this or other sites while you monitor MuseTalk! conversations. Keep MuseTalk! handy for the next time you want to send a message:

• Resize the MuseTalk! window until it is wide enough to see enough of each message line to make sense of what you're reading, but not so wide it obscures other windows.
• Drag the MuseTalk! window to a section of the screen where it does not block your view of other windows.
• Try sizing the MuseTalk! window so that it's wide and shallow, then place it along the bottom of the screen.
• So as not to interrupt what you are doing while you are monitoring conversations, position the MuseTalk! window so you can view any page at ETAF (or another site) while you read messages "out of the corner of your eye."
• To talk about the contents of a page with ETAF visitors while viewing it, send them a message telling them to open that page. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves!
• Don't forget to close the MuseTalk! window when you're finished with it.

privacy

—warning— museTalk! privacy Everyone tuned into MuseTalk! sees all messages sent by anyone and everyone else tuned into MuseTalk! Remember: No conversations are private.

Exercise Channel Discipline

MuseTalk! is a single communication channel; all Muse Talkers on the channel are sharing it at one time. Therefore, the number of simultaneous conversations that may go on in MuseTalk! is limited by practical considerations. It's up to you not to abuse the system:

• Try not to start new conversations when the MuseTalk! channel is full or busy.
• Avoid sending unnecessary messages.
• Keep messages brief and small.
• To avoid confusion:
  • Wait for a reply from all the Muse Talkers at the other end of your conversation before sending your next message.
  • If multiple conversations are underway, participate in only one.
• When more than one conversation is underway, "who's answering which message" can be confusing. If several talkers in a single conversation have answered your message at one time, it may not be clear who you are responding to with your next message. In such situations, state the screen name of your recipient (or recipients) in your message. If you are addressing everyone listening, say so.
• Don't forget to sign off and close the MuseTalk! window when you're finished using it.

Suggestions for Effective Communication

• MuseTalk! is about and for the arts. Please limit your conversation to relevant topics.
• For best results, keep your entries brief.
• Be courteous.
• No inappropriate language.
• Please keep your conversations calm, neutral, and anonymous {Ref.}.
• Don't monopolize the conversation. Take turns with other talkers; give them a fair chance to be heard.
• Give others time to respond to your message before jumping in with another message of your own.