One Best High Interest Sav example of a common use of these concepts is a Mail Best High Interest Sav User Agent that can be instructed to be in either "on-line" or "off-line" states. Best High Interest Sav One such Best High Interest Sav MUA is Microsoft Outlook. When it is "on-line" it will attempt to connect to mail servers (to check for new Best High Interest Sav mail at regular intervals, for example), and when it is "off-line" it will not attempt to make any such connections. The "on-line" or "off-line" state of the MUA does not Best High Interest Sav necessarily reflect the Best High Interest Sav connection status between the computer on which it is running and Internet. The user Best High Interest Sav may have the computer itself on-line, connected to Internet via a Best High Interest Sav cable Best High Interest Sav modem or an ADSL connection, but may wish for Outlook to be off-line, so that it Best High Interest Sav makes no attempt to send or to receive messages. Or the computer may be configured to employ a dial-up connection on demand (whenever an application such as Outlook attempts Best High Interest Sav to make connection to a server), but the connection may be an expensive telephone call from the particular location in which the computer currently Best High Interest Sav happens to be (such as a hotel room) and the user may not wish Best High Interest Sav Outlook to trigger making that Best High Interest Sav call every 5 or Best High Interest Sav 10 minutes Best High Interest Sav to check for mail.
Another example of the use of these concepts is in Best High Interest Sav the world of digital audio technology. A tape recorder, digital editor, Best High Interest Sav or other device that is "on-line" is one whose clock is under the control of the clock of a "synchronization master" device. When the sync master commences playback, the Best High Interest Sav "on-line" device automatically synchronizes itself to the Best High Interest Sav master and commences playing from the same point in the recording. Whereas a device that is "off-line" Best High Interest Sav uses no external clock reference and relies upon its own internal clock. When a large number Best High Interest Sav of devices are connected to a sync master, Best High Interest Sav it is often convenient, Best High Interest Sav if one wants Best High Interest Sav to hear just the output of one single device, to take it off-line, because if the device is played back on-line all synchronized devices have to locate the playback point and wait for each other to be in synchronization.[2] (For further related discussion, see MIDI timecode, word sync, and recording system synchronization.)
A third example of a common use of these concepts is a web browser that can be instructed to be in either "on-line" or "off-line" states. The Best High Interest Sav browser only attempts to fetch Absolute Best Ever Beer Songs pages from servers whilst in the "on-line" state. In the "off-line" state, users Best High Interest Sav can perform offline browsing, where pages can be browsed using local copies of those pages that Best High Interest Sav have previously been downloaded whilst in the "on-line" state. This can be useful Best High Interest Sav when the computer itself is also off-line, with connection to Internet expensive or impossible. The pages are either downloaded implicitly into the web browser's own cache, Best High Interest Sav as a result of prior on-line browsing by the user, or explicitly by the browser being configured to keep local copies Best High Interest Sav of certain web pages, which it keeps updated when the browser Best High Interest Sav is Best High Interest Sav in the on-line state, either Best High Interest Sav by checking that the local copies are up-to-date at regular Best High Interest Sav intervals or by checking that Best High Interest Sav the local copies are up-to-date whenever the browser is switched to the on-line state. One such web browser capable of being explicitly configured to download pages for offline browsing is Internet Explorer. When pages are added Best High Interest Sav to Best High Interest Sav the "Favourites" list, they can be marked for being made "available for offline browsing". Internet Explorer will download to local copies both the marked page and, optionally, all of the pages that it links to. In Internet Explorer version Best High Interest Sav 6, the level Best High Interest Sav of direct and indirect links, the maximum amount Best High Interest Sav of local Best High Interest Sav disc space allowed to be consumed, and the schedule on which local copies are checked to see whether they are up-to-date, are configurable for each
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The ideas of "on-line" and "off-line" have been generalized from Best High Interest Sav computing and telecommunication into the field of human Best High Interest Sav interpersonal relationships. The distinction between what is considered "on-line" and what is considered "off-line" has become a subject of study in the field of sociology.[7]
The distinction between "on-line" and "off-line" is conventionally seen as the distinction between computer-mediated communication and face-to-face communication (e.g. face time), respectively. "On-line" is virtuality, and "off-line" Best High Interest Sav is reality (e.g. real Best High Interest Sav life or meatspace). Slater states that this distinction is Best High Interest Sav "obviously far too simple". To support his argument that Best High Interest Sav the distinctions in relationships are more Best High Interest Sav complex than a Best High Interest Sav simple Best High Interest Sav "on-line"/"off-line" Best High Interest Sav dichotomy, Best High Interest Sav he observes that some people draw no distinction Best High Interest Sav between an "on-line" relationship, such as indulging in cybersex, Best High Interest Sav and an "off-line" relationship, such as being pen-pals. He also argues that even the telephone can be Best High Interest Sav regarded as an "on-line" experience in some circumstances, and that the blurring of the distinctions between the uses Best High Interest Sav of various technologies (such Best High Interest Sav as PDA and mobile telephone, television and Internet, and telephone Best High Interest Sav and voice-over-IP) has made it "impossible to use the term 'on-line' meaningfully in the sense that was employed by the first generation of Internet research".[7]
Slater asserts that there are legal and regulatory pressures to reduce the Best High Interest Sav distinction between "on-line" and Best High Interest Sav "off-line", with a "general tendency to assimilate online to offline and erase the distinction", stressing, however, Best High Interest Sav that this does not mean that on-line relationships are being reduced to pre-existing off-line relationships. Best High Interest Sav He conjectures that greater legal status Best High Interest Sav may be assigned to on-line relationships (pointing out that contractual relationships, such as business transactions, on-line Best High Interest Sav are already seen as just as "real" as their off-line counterparts), although he states it to be hard to imagine courts awarding palimony to people who have had a purely on-line sexual relationship. He also conjectures that an Best High Interest Sav "on-line"/"off-line" Best High Interest Sav distinction may be seen by people as "rather quaint and not quite comprehensible" within 10 years
The distinction where "on-line" is seen as virtuality Best High Interest Sav and "off-line" as reality Best High Interest Sav is sometimes inverted, with "on-line" concepts being Best High Interest Sav used to define Best High Interest Sav and to explain "off-line" activities, rather than (as per the conventions of Best High Interest Sav the desktop metaphor with its desktops, trash cans, folders, and Best High Interest Sav so forth) the other Best High Interest Sav way around. Several cartoons by The New Yorker have satirized this. One includes Saint Peter asking for a user name and a password before admitting a man into Heaven. Another illustrates "the off-line store" Best High Interest Sav where "All Best High Interest Sav items are Best High Interest Sav actual size!", where shoppers may "Take it home Best High Interest Sav as soon Best High Interest Sav as you pay for Best High Interest Sav it!", and where "Merchandise Best High Interest Sav may Best High Interest Sav be handled prior to Best High Interest Sav purchase!". Best High Interest Sav |
