Internet connection at home a must?

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konovsi

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Is having internet connection at home necessary, or using computers at school for internet is enough to supplement studying?
 
Probably depends on the school, but for me, internet is a must. Lots of study material comes in the e-mail. Lectures and quizzes are online. Patient scheduling is done online. I would imagine its pretty similar at many other schools
 


It may sound silly, but I couldn't fathom not having internet access at home, and my connection must be fast and dependable. Not only for networking but as a means of gathering information and paying bills, I don't know how I would do it without the internet. When school starts, there isn't going to be any time to limit your internet access to the campus. Given that I used the internet religiously during undergrad for many things, I see know reason why that won't continue in dental school.

If you're spending thousands of dollars on a dental education, about $30 a month on a DSL connection is nothing especially when most dental schools make you purchase a computer anyway. Just my humble opinion. Take care and GOD bless.
 
konovsi said:
Is having internet connection at home necessary, or using computers at school for internet is enough to supplement studying?

Naw, internet at home is not necessary...

Electricity is not necessary either. Let's compare utilities... water, sewer, garbage. Water? You need to drink. Sewer? You need to flush the crap. Garbage? You need to throw away those biochem notes after your boards. But electricity???... suuuure, you could take cold showers, eat cold canned foods, study by candlelight, and hell, who needs a luxury like AC.

Think about it like this. Not having internet at home is like taking a cold shower everyday. Sure it can be done, but man oh man, think about your boys.

-Mike

p.s. "worst episode ever"
 
mike3kgt said:
Naw, internet at home is not necessary...

Electricity is not necessary either. Let's compare utilities... water, sewer, garbage. Water? You need to drink. Sewer? You need to flush the crap. Garbage? You need to throw away those biochem notes after your boards. But electricity???... suuuure, you could take cold showers, eat cold canned foods, study by candlelight, and hell, who needs a luxury like AC.

Think about it like this. Not having internet at home is like taking a cold shower everyday. Sure it can be done, but man oh man, think about your boys.

-Mike

p.s. "worst episode ever"
🙂
 
Nah, its not neccessary. I think its a waste of money. It cost about 50 something dollars for DSL. 24 dollars for service plus 25 dollars for a phone line. Plus, i am hardly ever home to use the thing anyways. But eh, i like to play around online and download music and stuff. So i will probably get it. As for notes, you can easily download everything onto a laptop before you head home.
grant555 said:
 
Too bad my neighbors don't have it =(.

DrTacoElf said:
I'm planning on using access from unsuspecting neighbors 😀.
 
DrTacoElf said:
I'm planning on using access from unsuspecting neighbors 😀.
Doing that as "we speak." 😛
 
unlvdmd said:
Doing that as "we speak." 😛
I've wondered about my wireless connection, but the house on one side is vacant and the other is a 78-year-old man who has probably never heard of this "internet" thing.
 
toofache32 said:
I've wondered about my wireless connection, but the house on one side is vacant and the other is a 78-year-old man who has probably never heard of this "internet" thing.
Yeah right. You are funding his old lady porn habit.
 
toofache32 said:
I've wondered about my wireless connection, but the house on one side is vacant and the other is a 78-year-old man who has probably never heard of this "internet" thing.

You can set a password and encrypt your network so no one else can use it. If you use XP, its pretty simple. PM me if you want to know how.
 
DrTacoElf said:
I'm planning on using access from unsuspecting neighbors 😀.

Sure, we've all done this at one time. Just this month, however, I read an article about a man in St. Pete (in Florida for those Yankees out there) who was arrested for stealing a neighbor's wi-fi.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/07/07/wi.fi.theft.ap/

Interesting huh? I'm sure some hot-shot attorney will shift the burden on the person who HAS the wi-fi for accountability. Kinda like the, "My employee is surfing on porno sites at the office" where the IT dept is accountable because they do not filter.

Who knows, until then, it's kinda like downloading mp3s. They say it's illegal, people are getting caught, but it is not stopping people!

-Mike
 
I made it through my 4 years of dental school and 1 year of residency with a dial-up connection. A dial-up number was provided free from my dental school and my hospital. If there was anything substantial to download, I took the laptop to school and did it there. Otherwise, for my purposes of online-quizzes, patient scheduling, checking e-mail, instant message and occasional web surfing, dial-up was plenty.

I don't think I could have made it with out ANY access to internet though.

Now I'm going to splurge and try DSL. It is nice to have a fast internet connection, but like someone was saying in an earilier post, it isn't a necessity for me. I do like this on-line banking and on-line bill paying thing these days, so now I have another use for the internet.
 
Interesting article mike. Like the article mentions, people should be using an encrypted network. It sounds pretty complex, but is actually very simple. I never though we would see the day that peole started getting arrested for this type of thing. And its a felony? Now thats just harsh.

mike3kgt said:
Sure, we've all done this at one time. Just this month, however, I read an article about a man in St. Pete (in Florida for those Yankees out there) who was arrested for stealing a neighbor's wi-fi.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/07/07/wi.fi.theft.ap/

Interesting huh? I'm sure some hot-shot attorney will shift the burden on the person who HAS the wi-fi for accountability. Kinda like the, "My employee is surfing on porno sites at the office" where the IT dept is accountable because they do not filter.

Who knows, until then, it's kinda like downloading mp3s. They say it's illegal, people are getting caught, but it is not stopping people!

-Mike
 
griffin04 said:
A dial-up number was provided free from my dental school and my hospital. If there was anything substantial to download, I took the laptop to school and did it there.
ummhhh, I wouldn't recommend downloading porn at the school! 😀

once you have dsl/cable modem, you can't go back to dial up. I get really aggravated if my dsl connection is interrupted. I'm addicted.

Internet at home is not a must for dental school but there're just so many uses for internet these days. It's endless to list. You're missing out a lot if you don't have dsl/cable modem.

Funny story, 2 of my friends hooked up into the dsl wireless from their neighbor (a female law student). One day she turned off or used password for the connection. So my friends left a note by the elevator: "user id:xxxx, please turn your connection on, we'll pay you for it" The girl was nice enough to turn her connection on. They had been using her connection ever since untill she moved.
 
your "need" of internet access highly depends on the hours you spend at the school. I know of a grad student (not dental) who, by choice, does not even own a computer. he stays at the school till very late and is back on campus in the morning before everyone else. very geeky situation.
 
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