FAQ/Policies. Spreading the word of Jesus Christ.

Introduction:
This information is intended as a brief explanation of the complex, ever changing world of the Internet. It is also a posting of our Policies and Conditions of Use. You should read the entire page since you will agree to it upon entering the PRIVATE areas of the site.

Like Miss Manners, in the real world of business dinners and wedding receptions, there is an expected amount of proper behavior from any cyber traveler.

However, like many weddings I've been to, often Uncle Charlie gets a little too happy and thinks he can still dance like John Travolta, only ending up passing out after ripping his pants.

Please try to remember the following when using Hope Ministries, or any web service:

Basics:
Remember what your mom always told you about "do onto others..." ? Well it applies doubly in the electronic world of the Internet. Why do I say doubly? Because it's a lot easier to lose your composure and common sense here in cyber space than in real life because you're carrying on a conversation with a computer screen and keyboard rather than a live person. It is a lot easier to be nasty by pounding obscenities or
inflammatory language into a keyboard than spout them to my face.

"Flaming":
Flaming is a term to describe E-Mail messages that are very opinionated in nature, hopefully, just a healthy, Adult disagreement over a philosophy, idea, etc. However, a "Flame War", is a Series of these letters, usually not as "constructive" directed at a few people from a few people.

I think you can see how this would sour the mood of all the others involved on say a public mailing list as Hope Ministries maintains. So, have an opinion, just communicate it in a responsible Adult manner. And don't forget to add the acronym: IMHO: translated means In My Honest Opinion. That way we know you understand you're just saying what you personally believe.

Give and Take:
Hmmm. Sounds like a lot of adages my Mom says. I guess that means Mom is onto something! By Give and Take I mean don't just download files, take ideas and information from others, constantly Flame people and not give something back. Information of your own, successes of your own, interesting links, etc. Give something back.

Proper Language Skills:
Thank God for spell check and grammar check. Try to utilize or buy these easy to find tools, it sure does help when someone takes the time to spell and speak the language correctly. Now, this isn't a "snobbish" thing, just a little less irritating especially when you have so little personal time left in your day and you end up spending it opening tons of E-Mail. And, just as important:

Speaking of Time Management:
Everything on the internet takes up space. First, a web site is put on a SERVER (see glossary). It is stored on the SERVER's HARD DRIVE (see glossary) where it takes up space. Then, you come along and ask to see the site with all of its pictures and text, and so the SERVER DOWNLOADS (see glossary) it to you.

Now it takes up space on your HARD DRIVE too. In our hectic worlds we need it yesterday, right? Well then, on the Web we all should try to minimize the "chaff" we put out there in the vast cyber ocean.

As a cyber user you should respect other people's time and not submit files to other people to download when they are so large they would take awhile to get onto their hard drive. In this case you should WARN the person(s) that the file you are submitting to them is large and give its size.

Unfortunately, some people have taken advantage of the "Wild West Atmosphere" of the Internet to do a lot of harmful things to a lot of people. From spreading hoaxes about current events and "medical miracles" to fraud, and theft.

It is easy for people to be tempted. Sitting in their den or living room. Just remember, whatever you do online you are leaving your fingerprint. We are all assigned ISP numbers and they can be tracked. Even if you are a smart crook, you can be found. The Pentagon and CIA among other agencies log hundreds and thousands of attempted break ins to their computers monthly. The real good ones get in occasionally, and they get serious jail time.

So the lesson to be learned? It IS the Wild Wild West out here, but the Marshall is around and he will nab you if you give him a reason to.

A Real good adage to remember in life. People are going to irritate you, even offend you by either honest mistakes they make, or outright offensive behavior.

If someone is just ignorant, politely help them, privately. If someone is obviously out of their mind, (In your opinion), don't even justify their message, don't add to the problem.

First of all, the Chat Room on Hope Ministries is not handled directly on this site. It is managed, (like the mailing list), on another site altogether. So when these other companies have problems, you may have the Web Page down, but not the Chat Room, the Mail List down, but not the Web Page, etc.

Having said that, make sure you review the Net Etiquette above. It ALL applies to the use of the Chat Room. When logging in, if you do not feel comfortable submitting information into the form there, put in anything you want, it will accept any input. (Except obscenities).

Speaking of Obscenities, the company that manages the Chat Room has a database of Obscenities it Filters out of the conversation there. Hopefully it won't be an issue.

We have a special duty here at Hope Ministries since we are spreading the Good Words of Jesus.

If someone wants to disrupt that mission in any way Hope ministries considers Obscene, Profane, or Blasphemous, the Ministry reserves the right to expel any person(s) without warning and prevent that person/people from ever returning or accessing said services again.

In consideration of this policy, all those that enter the Chat Room or agree to use the Mailing List understand that these are PRIVATE SERVICES subject to the TERMS and EDITORIAL CONTROL of Hope Ministries, Inc. All decisions made by Hope ministries are final.

Additionally, if anything Illegal occurs in the Chat Room or in the Mailing List, it will be Promptly Reported To The Appropriate Authorities.

Without wasting too much of our time repeating what you already read above (or should have), we DO have to stress that the extra services on the Hope Ministries web site are handled by different companies or SERVERS (see glossary). So any one of them could be down and still not affect the other. SO if you cannot access something on our service, but you can other things, this is why, and chances are we already know about it.

Helpful Hints:
Research our Mission here and find out what we stand for. By doing this before joining you will not be surprised by our content or expectations. Often new people join a mailing list, and then after finding out how much mail they get, or what the subjects are, they leave quickly. (Kind of rude).

PLEASE follow our Guidelines listed above and throughout. Please try to keep the topics within the general realm of our subject matter. For instance; "Who Do You Think Will Win The Super Bowl" probably isn't on topic.

If you will be away for awhile, un-subscribe from the list to save you the heartache of having to wade through so much mail upon your return. You can easily join when you come back, and you can always check our archives to see what you missed.

You write your message. You send your message. If you send it to me directly only I get it. If you send it to our Mailing List Address it will be sent to that other company we told you about. Their computer will then Copy it to ALL THE PEOPLE ON THE LIST.

Moderated means the messages are not instantly copied to everyone. Hope Ministries, Inc. reads them before they are sent to the list.

Interactive because you can respond to each other back and forth and carry on a conversation with the whole group. There are Mailing Lists out there where you only get to read messages, these are called Reactive Lists.

Browser:
The program you use to decipher the special programming used across the Web (called HTML).

Cookie:
A cookie is a Text File that a Web Site records onto your hard drive when you visit them. This way when you return to their Site they can identify who you are. (Helpful for ordering things, etc.) Since the information resides on your personal Hard Drive, you shouldn't worry too much about Privacy issues. However, you can disable cookies in your Browser's Preferences menu. If you do that though, many sites will not let you in. (Hope Ministries uses no cookies).

Cyberspace:
Mr. William Gibson coined the phrase in a book he wrote called "Neuromancer". It means the whole universe of electronic data available via computer networks.

Domain Name:
The name given to a site to find it in the open universe. (An address). It is usually: "Domain Name". com.

GIF: (Graphic Interchange Format).
One of the most common graphic file formats used on the net. Used for simple color graphics, not photos. Makes for a very small file size.

GIGabyte: 1024 Megabytes.
Or, a Million bytes of data. Or: approximately 20 - 30 programs per GIG. (rough number). Usually used in reference to Hard Drive space.

HTML: Hyper Text Markup Language.
In much the same way we need a Translator when speaking to someone from another country, HTML is simply a Programing Language designed to work on ANY COMPUTER IN THE WORLD by using ONE UNIFORM Language.

HTTP: Hyper Text Transport Protocol.
The Universal Programming Language designed to Transport the HTML programming.

INTERNET:
A familiar phrase used to describe the collection of interconnected computers and networks that all evolved from the ARPANET in the 60's and 70's. A network originally designed for Educational and Military uses. Now it influences the economy of the free world. (scary isn't it?).

IP Number: Internet Protocol Number:
It is the number assigned to every machine on the internet. We all have one. The number is broken up into four segments separated by dots: 123.456.789.0

ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network.
It can go to 128 BPS, that's over 400 percent faster than an average connection.

ISP: Internet Service Provider.
Simply, a company or organization that provides you access to the internet. (AOL / PRODIGY, etc.).

JAVA:
Is a programming language designed by Sun Microsystems. JAVA can be downloaded safely into your web page without fear of viruses, and they perform various interactive functions in web pages. Applets are smaller versions of JAVA that allow animations and other neat little tricks on a web page.

JPEG: (Joint Photographic Experts Group).
JPEG is simply another file format for saving images. JPEG is best suited for photos. It compresses the image greatly.

LISTSERV ©:
Is a registered trademark of L-Soft Int'l. Commonly misused to describe all mailing list setups. It is programming to manage a mailing list on a server.

MAILING LIST:
A system by which people can send E-Mail to one address whereupon their message is copied and sent to all the other people on the list.

MODEM: Stands for: MODulator/DEModulator.
That little thing in your computer (or outside it) that speaks in a language other computers can understand for the purposes of transmitting data.

NETSCAPE:
The company and the name of its software made to help you navigate the web.

NETWORK:
Whenever you connect two or more computers together, Bingo, you have a network.

SERVER: (Here's a Big One!!).
A Computer OR A Software Package that provides SERVices to other computers on a network. It can be on a company INTRANET or on the WWW. It simply means a computer and/or its programming is used to help more than one computer in a network of computers. (Currently Hope Ministries uses three companies and three or more Servers for all of its pages and services.)

SPAM: The sending of a message to a large number of people who never asked for it.

T-1 / T-3 LINES:
These lines are provided by the phone company for high fees and connected directly to your computer. T-1 is capable of moving 1,544,000 Bits Per Second. (That's on the order of 5000 percent faster than the average modem). T-3 is 44,736,000 BPS. (That's 15,533 percent faster than a regular modem)

TERABYTE:
Remember our definitions of Gigs on a hard drive? Well a Terabyte is 1,000 Gigs. That's a lot of copies of Doom!

URL: Uniform Resource Locator.
Simply stands for the address we give each other to find a web page. Like:
http://millennium.fortunecity.com/garston/291/hope/index.html

I. COPYRIGHT:
The contents of Hope Ministries Web Site are intended for personal, noncommercial use.
All materials on this site, (including, but not limited to, articles, photographs, images, illustrations, audio and video clips also known as "The Content") are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws, and are owned or controlled by Hope Ministries or the party credited as the provider of the content, software, or other materials.

This site is protected by copyright as a collective work and/or compilation, pursuant to US Copyright laws, international conventions and other copyright laws.

You may download or copy the content and other downloadable items displayed on this service for personal, noncommercial use only, provided that You maintain all copyright and other notices contained in such content.

Copying or storing of any content for other than personal, noncommercial use is expressly prohibited without the prior written permission from Hope Ministries, Inc. or the copyright holder identified in proprietary notices including copyright notices.

II. LINKS / SPONSORS / OUTSIDE SERVICES:
Hope Ministries provides links to other related Internet Sites, resources, and sponsors. Since Hope ministries is not responsible for the availability of these outside resources or their contents, You should direct any concerns regarding any external link to its site Administrator or Webmaster.

III. RELEASE OF LIABILITY:
You hereby indemnify, defend and hold Hope Ministries, Inc., and all officers, directors, owners, agents, information providers, web site designers and managers, affiliates, licensers and licensees (collectively, the "Indemnified Parties") harmless from any and all liability and costs incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising out of any breach by You in your use of this site, (or any links), of this Agreement or the foregoing representations, warranties and convenants, including, without limitation, reasonable attorney fees.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
You hereby acknowledge that use of this site is at Your sole risk.

This Agreement has been made in and construed and enforced in accordance with Connecticut Law. Any action to enforce this agreement shall be brought in the federal or state courts located in the county of New London.

Hope Ministries, Inc. is a Christian nonprofit Connecticut Corporation headquartered in Norwich, Ct.

Mail Lists and Chat Rooms provided on this site are PRIVATE and remain under the EDITORIAL control of Hope Ministries, Inc. We reserve the right to deny access to any of these services to anyone we choose.


		Frequently Asked Questions & Policies and Conditions of Use