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