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