...Getting Connected (3 of 4) -- Upload/Download/Capture

    Uploading is the process of sending a file from your computer to a
system on the Net. Downloading is retrieving a file from somewhere on the
Net to your computer. In general, things in cyberspace go "up" to the Net
and "down" to you.
    Chances are your software will come with a choice of several
 protocols  to use for these transfers.  These protocols are systems
designed to ensure that line noise or static does not cause errors that
could ruin whatever information you are trying to transfer. Essentially,
when using a protocol, you are transferring a file in a series of pieces.
After each piece is sent or received, your computer and the Net system
compare it. If the two pieces don't match exactly, they transfer it
again, until they agree that the information they both have is identical.
If, after several tries, the information just doesn't make it across,
you'll either get an error message or your screen will freeze.  In that
case, try it again.  If, after five tries, you are still stymied,
something is wrong with a) the file; b) the telephone line; c) the system
you're connected to; or d) you own computer.
    From time to time, you will likely see messages on the Net that you
want to save for later viewing -- a recipe, a particularly witty remark,
something you want to write your Congressman about, whatever. This is
where screen capturing and logging come in.
    When you tell your communications software to capture a screen, it
opens a file in your computer (usually in the same directory or folder
used by the software) and "dumps" an image of whatever happens to be on
your screen at the time.
    Logging works a bit differently.  When you issue a logging command,
you tell the software to open a file (again, usually in the same
directory or folder as used by the software) and then give it a name.
Then, until you turn off the logging command, everything that scrolls on
your screen is copied into that file, sort of like recording on video
tape.  This is useful for capturing long documents that scroll for
several pages -- using screen capture, you would have to repeat the same
command for each new screen.