I am fairly familiar with the keys here. Because they are like an electric typewriter. But w hat is that?” I indicated to the oval mouse.
“A mouse.”
“Why do that call it that?”
“Notice how this cord comes out of it?” She lifted the white line.
“Yes.”
“Earlier version, really early version looked like a mouse and the a name stuck . This maneuvers , ” s he pointed to an arrow on the screen , “ t his.”
I watched the arrow move and then her hand. “That’s amazing.”
“ You click where you want it to go. Here , try. ”
She grabbed my hand and placed it on the mouse.
“Move it around and watch the screen.”
I did. A simple thing, just moving the arrow around and around.
“Are you writing a paper? Or are you going on line?”
“That’s the word.”
She smiled and titled her head.
“I told that boy I wanted to do research on unsolved murder mysteries. And that I thought about looking at microfilm and he said try on line. What is this ‘ on line ’ ? Is i t like a row of books , r ow of information manuals, newspapers, what?”
“ You’re kidding , right?”
I shook my head.
“This is not a joke.” She looked around. “Like one of the boys isn’t joking me?”
“No, really, I’m clueless.”
“And I thought m y mom was. Were you on an island or something? ” She hurriedly lifted her hand. “Kidding.”
“Sort of. I was …” I pause. Really? Was I going to tell her I was locked away for eighteen years in an institute for the criminally insane? No. I thought. “I was very religious and was in a part of the world that didn’t have any of this. No television, no computers, no on line stuff .”
“And the first thing you look up is murders?”
“ Yeah , ” I answered with an apologetic look.
“Cool.”
I liked the girl. Her name was Stacey and before she set me free to do my research, she educated me on a thing called the Internet. What it is, what is does , and how people use it.
Recreation and information ; it is vast.
Anything I wanted to know was there. I just needed to know how to look. She explained it was always what it seemed and how I had to use things called ‘key words’. She emphasized that they were important. That I would put in key words and hit the enter button and a long list of places would pop up.
Links, she called the m . But there were pages after pages and it wasn’t just what was on my screen.
I got a lesson that took close to a half an hour and I took notes. She was really informative. Teaching me little things, and then telling me she was posted in the lab and would be on hand to help if I needed it.
“You’re ready to do your first search. If there are things you want print up on the screen you can. Just call me, it might be tricky. I’ll help. It’s ten cents a page.”
“Thank you.”
“Remember, key words.”
“ Stacy?” I called her name as she started to leave. “Can you just stand here while I try the first search? Make sure I do it right.”
“Sure. Go on. Click the arrow in that search space. Make sure it’s blinking.”
I moved the arrow to the search bar and click ed . I was proud. I did it.
“Now what are you looking up?”
“Unsolved murders. Maybe bodies found in local areas.”
“Okay, type the words and use commas. Try … Give me a town?”
“Colville.”
She moved her hands to the keyboard and typed for me.
Unsolved Murders, Bodies found, Colville.
She hit enter.
“Now watch,” she said.
An entire page of blue sentences appeared . Under them were small paragraphs of descriptions.
“There you have it. Click on what you want to read. Meaning put the arrow on the sentence ; if it turns into a hand , it’s good to go. If you don’t see anything you like on this page …” She moved the screen to where it said something about results. “Try a different page . There are over two hundred thousand results.”
“Wow.”
“Don’t be impressed , though. Some are repeats. And
“A mouse.”
“Why do that call it that?”
“Notice how this cord comes out of it?” She lifted the white line.
“Yes.”
“Earlier version, really early version looked like a mouse and the a name stuck . This maneuvers , ” s he pointed to an arrow on the screen , “ t his.”
I watched the arrow move and then her hand. “That’s amazing.”
“ You click where you want it to go. Here , try. ”
She grabbed my hand and placed it on the mouse.
“Move it around and watch the screen.”
I did. A simple thing, just moving the arrow around and around.
“Are you writing a paper? Or are you going on line?”
“That’s the word.”
She smiled and titled her head.
“I told that boy I wanted to do research on unsolved murder mysteries. And that I thought about looking at microfilm and he said try on line. What is this ‘ on line ’ ? Is i t like a row of books , r ow of information manuals, newspapers, what?”
“ You’re kidding , right?”
I shook my head.
“This is not a joke.” She looked around. “Like one of the boys isn’t joking me?”
“No, really, I’m clueless.”
“And I thought m y mom was. Were you on an island or something? ” She hurriedly lifted her hand. “Kidding.”
“Sort of. I was …” I pause. Really? Was I going to tell her I was locked away for eighteen years in an institute for the criminally insane? No. I thought. “I was very religious and was in a part of the world that didn’t have any of this. No television, no computers, no on line stuff .”
“And the first thing you look up is murders?”
“ Yeah , ” I answered with an apologetic look.
“Cool.”
I liked the girl. Her name was Stacey and before she set me free to do my research, she educated me on a thing called the Internet. What it is, what is does , and how people use it.
Recreation and information ; it is vast.
Anything I wanted to know was there. I just needed to know how to look. She explained it was always what it seemed and how I had to use things called ‘key words’. She emphasized that they were important. That I would put in key words and hit the enter button and a long list of places would pop up.
Links, she called the m . But there were pages after pages and it wasn’t just what was on my screen.
I got a lesson that took close to a half an hour and I took notes. She was really informative. Teaching me little things, and then telling me she was posted in the lab and would be on hand to help if I needed it.
“You’re ready to do your first search. If there are things you want print up on the screen you can. Just call me, it might be tricky. I’ll help. It’s ten cents a page.”
“Thank you.”
“Remember, key words.”
“ Stacy?” I called her name as she started to leave. “Can you just stand here while I try the first search? Make sure I do it right.”
“Sure. Go on. Click the arrow in that search space. Make sure it’s blinking.”
I moved the arrow to the search bar and click ed . I was proud. I did it.
“Now what are you looking up?”
“Unsolved murders. Maybe bodies found in local areas.”
“Okay, type the words and use commas. Try … Give me a town?”
“Colville.”
She moved her hands to the keyboard and typed for me.
Unsolved Murders, Bodies found, Colville.
She hit enter.
“Now watch,” she said.
An entire page of blue sentences appeared . Under them were small paragraphs of descriptions.
“There you have it. Click on what you want to read. Meaning put the arrow on the sentence ; if it turns into a hand , it’s good to go. If you don’t see anything you like on this page …” She moved the screen to where it said something about results. “Try a different page . There are over two hundred thousand results.”
“Wow.”
“Don’t be impressed , though. Some are repeats. And
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