Newbie's Guide to FirstClass : : : All About First Class : : : Software and Sites : : : Picture Gallery : : : Study Tips : : : Dirty Fighting on FirstClass : : : <snip>

Everything you always wanted to know about firstclass but were too afraid to ask

The Newbie bits have been taken out of this page now and moved somewhere else. This is now dedicated to information about security, rules, non-windows information and other arcana.

I Don't Use Windows. Can I Still Use FirstClass?
Are There Any Security Problems with FirstClass?
But I've Found a Security Flaw....
I Keep Getting Timed Out. Why?
First Class Time Limit Hack
I Can't Access FC. Why?
Why Can't I send MP3 Files on Firstclass?
What Is Softarc Online?
How Can I Stop People Sending Me Unwanted E-Mails?
FirstClass Personal is Eating up all my Resources!
Any Other Cunning Tips?

I Don't Use Windows. Can I Still Use FirstClass?

Yep! There is a version for Mac OS, OSX and Linux (**NB - Beta Release!*** alternative locations here and here in case that link times out - they're older versions though!). By the time you read this there may be a full release version for Linux, Unix and Palm OS available from the main firstclass web site. If you're running BeOS, you're basically screwed.
Heehee. Well, if all else fails you can still access the system via your student homepage, or, for a real visceral command-line approach, why not try getting in through telnet? Open a command prompt (start>run>cmd or start>run>command) and type "telnet oufcnt2.open.ac.uk 510" (without the quotes! oh, and obviously, this refers to server2, so change the number if you don't have an account there!) then enter...then wait for a bit and press enter twice. Give it your details and you're into a stripped-down, text-only version of first class...ooh! If you want to see what I mean, have a look at these screen shots (which open in a new window:
Starting telnet
Welcome screen
Desktop
Conference (This is my M206 Tutor group!)
Port number 3002 also works in place of 510
One last word of warning about this though: The telnet interface sends everything in plain text instead of encrypting the password etc, as the fc client does, so don't make a habit of using this!
Props to Ben Donnachie for helping me sort this out. I was using the wrong port. Duh! He is also working on an IMAP interface for FirstClass, known as FirstBounce, which may interest you if you like doing things the hard way.
Incidentally, it should be possible to connect to FirstClass via IMAP using a standard email client like Outlook Express but LTS tell me this is not possible. I suspect that it is really and they just don't want to answer my annoying questions about the name of the server... Anyway, if you want to fiddle around and guess a few names try this IMAP/Firstclass instruction page set up by a different educational institution. If you forward some mail to yourself you should be able to check the headers to find out where it's coming from. I did this but it didn't help but maybe you're cleverer than me. Not that that's saying much! If you figure it out, though, please let me know!

Are There Any Security Problems with FirstClass?

As with any other software, there are always some security issues you should be aware of but they aren't serious. Bugtraq lists 5 known vulnerabilities of the usual sort, mainly affecting the server software rather than the client (i.e., it's not really something you have to worry about. Let the OU server admins lose sleep over it!) and there are rumours of others floating around the net, mainly affecting older versions. For example, there was a lot of outrage at one point that FC version 5 stored user-name and login information in unencrypted form. Then there's a huge, awful problem relating to a default setting of Firstclass Sever described here (scroll down to point 18!) but not affecting the OU system, you'll be glad to know!
I did quite a bit of research into FirstClass 'exploits' (security holes) a while back when a little ripple of paranoia was going around that certain people were able to pull strings in the OU's system by granting unauthorised accounts, breaking into others' mailboxes, etc etc. I'm pretty satisfied, in myself, that this was all nonsense, based on two fairly trivial points:

Firstly, the existence of test accounts which could be used by people who - for example - have been banned from the system. Anyone could/can access these accounts by simply setting up a new connection and giving it the relevant attributes, although they will have to right-click on the messages and mark them as read before opening them, otherwise they'll show up on the message history.
Most of these were deleted in March 2004 as a result of some paranoia on the part of some mods, but it was done in a bit of a haphazard way and I think there may still be some left (check the "Who's online" dialogue box!). If you're really determined you might be able to find one that works. They tended to be in the form:
username: test1 (or test + any other number) password: test.
Each would only work for one server so there's a fair amount of editing of the settings file in between each logon attempt. Anyway, if you're dead keen to see one in action, give it a go, but I must warn you it isn't exactly a life-changing experience!

Secondly - people compromise their own security by daft mistakes. One of the most common ones is to pick a weak password, such as the name of a pet, a favourite author, or just the word 'password' itself. Click here to see the OU's guidelines for choosing passwords. It is easy enough to find someone's username (e.g., from the url of their T171 web space or by forwarding one of their emails to your non-fc email address) and with both the username and the password anyone can read all your private emails or even use your ID to post messages as you. Unbelievably, some people actually give away their account details to people they think they can trust (e.g., because they're having an online relationship). Unsurprisingly, they usually regret it later. Even more regrettably, people you should be able to trust (e.g., husbands!) often turn out to be tossers, so don't ever assume your weak security is good enough. Go to your student homepage and change your password to something stronger! Personally, I have a special method for choosing a random password, which uses an interlinear bible, a 20-sided die from a Dungeons and Dragons game and a slide rule. Occasionally it throws out an anomalous result such as the position of the holy grail or dan brown's bank account details... Come to think of it, I wish I'd written that one down...

Well, I don't want to worry you with any of the above. Basically, FC itself is a pretty safe system if it's carefully set up. So long as you keep your password safe, use a firewall and antivirus program and exercise normal precautions, you'll be fine. Oh, and one more thing: As I said, all software has bugs which occasionally come to light and cause problems. It's a good idea to keep FirstClass up to date, say by installing a new version (if one is available) at the start of each academic year (at least!). That way, you'll have all the latest security patches installed.

The above refers to the FirstClass client itself (version 7.1, specifically) If you log in via the student homepage you have a slight problem in that, although the homepage itself uses secure socket layers, once you switch to the web interface for the FirstClass desktop, the url is sent in plain text. Admittedly, the password is encrypted but you can still copy the url and use it - with almost no effort - to access someone' s account. This isn't a huge worry for the average punter, tbh, but it could be a problem if someone was determined enough and bonkers enough!

But I've Found a Security Flaw....

Are you sure? There are a couple of bugs I know about that look like security flaws but aren't. For example, I've had messages from people saying that they've opened the 'Who's online' dialogue box and found themselves listed twice, indicating that someone else was logged in to the same account at the same time. There are two explanations for this one. Firstly, you have your student homepage or some other private information open in the browser while you run fc. Secondly, you didn't log out properly last time. FC only logs you out if you exit properly. If your computer crashes or you x out of it and shut everything down you may still be listed as logged in by the server so when you restart the program you're there twice. The other one I've come across is a message saying something like 'Another User Has Exclusive Access to this Object' (or e-mail or whatever). This one I'm not so sure about but it seems to be another weird bug. I had it once when I tried to preview an attachment which I'd uploaded before it had finished uploading. It just meant that I should wait and let it finish what it was doing and stop pestering it. Well, fair enough!
If you've read all this and still think you've found a bug, why not contact SoftArc and tell them about it.

I Keep Getting Timed Out. Why?

The server is busy most of the time. As a result it can't support a load of loafers and time wasters and people who have gone to the toilet and left their connection open. So it kicks you off after a bit. The time limit has shrunk drastically lately. However, if you have some reason for wanting to stay online (e.g., you have no life) there are two ways of circumventing the time limit. The hard way is to do it manually. This is what Freak's Macintosh Archive has to say on the subject (and as far as I can see it doesn't work on many setups).
FC Time Limit Hack--Next time you're logged into a FirstClass system be sure to go up to view and select Session Status. Keep track of your time. When you're time is almost up, go up to the menu bar and hold a menu open. The System won't log you off under these this condition. Wait for about 30 seconds past the time you're supposed to be logged off. Let go of the menu and you'll still be logged on and can stay logged on indefinitely.
...but if you want something that really brings home the bacon, try FC KeepAlive sent in by an anonymous OUWho reader which neatly accomplishes the workaround by dinging the "Who's Online" feature and then undinging it at 4-minute intervals. Pretty darned clever and I wish I could tell you the fella's name but he is very shy of publicity so I'll keep my lips sealed.
One last thing: A lot of people get their knickers in a twist when they log off FC and a box pops up saying 'time remaining 23 hours 4 minutes' or something like that. Don't panic folks. This isn't your total time remaining. It just won't let you log in for more than 24 hours in a single day! So long as you don't try and do that you should be OK!

FirstClass Time Limit Hack

A student who wishes to remain anonymous - let's call him Mr X - sent me a copy of a visual C++ program he'd written which dings the FC "Who's Online" box every 4 minutes and then closes the box straight away.
" So bleedin' what?" I hear you ask.
Ah, but you see, the cool thing is that this effectively overrides the timeout for firstclass. I don't know about you, but if I'm reading a long, convoluted email explaining the ins and outs of some juicy bit of gossip... um, I mean... if I'm reading a long, insightful email from my tutor explaining the finer points of object-oriented programming... I don't want to have to keep opening new windows every 5 minutes to stop my connection dying, so this is the perfect solution. The prog, together with its source code is here, but make sure you read the 'readme' file I've included before you run it. It's called FirstClass Keep Alive. The picture next to this para is a screenshot of it running on my XP desktop.
FC Keep Alive is now in version 2.1, which has the added benefit of keeping a low profile while you have an active chat window. So, no more dropped-character misery then, for the millions of users worldwide!
BTW, If you like this you might also enjoy copypath which is another little gizmo written by the same chap which allows you to send things to a specified directory using the right-click "send-to" option of your mouse. What you do is save the file to the target directory and then make a shortcut to it which you put into you documents and settings/yourname/sendto directory.

I Can't Access FC. Why?

It could be a number of things. If you've just installed FC you may have misconfigured it. Have another look at the instructions or try this page and make sure you've done everything right. Sorry, this isn't very helpful is it. It's what's known as a RTFM problem. Sometimes you just need to read the, err... flipping manual.
If you've been able to access it before, my two prime suspects would be:
1- Your firewall. Check your firewall settings and make sure you have given FC permission to bypass it.
2- There is a problem with either JANET (the Joint Academic Network) or the OU servers themselves. It may affect just your server or the whole network. Unfortunately, only time will solve this one and it can take a few days in extreme circumstances. I've noticed this seems to happen a lot around T171 deadlines. Co-incidence? Maybe, but I suspect it's the pressure of all those T171-ers trying to get their TMAs or ECAs done at the last minute and making the server collapse!!!
JANET is actually pretty fragile and when it goes down dozens of academic institutions up and down the country are affected. Earlier this year it looked as though the whole network might be shut down after its 'backbone carrier', KPNQWest went bankrupt and it couldn't find a replacement. So you never know. We might be back to mailing in our assignments before long.

Why Can't I Post MP3s on Firstclass?

Certain file types are banned on the system, including MP3 files. If you want to send sound files to someone then either convert them to WMA, OGG or WAV files or else (more simply) put them inside a zip file. (in Windows XP, just right click on the file and choose "send to> compressed folder")

What Is Softarc Online?

Old versions of Firstclass used to have a settings file for Softarc's own FC server but the latest one doesn't. If you'd like to connect to it and get to the goodness within, click this link. It will then ask you to register and provide it with a username and password (make something up). When you've done this you'll be in. Not all the conferences are publicly accessible but you'll find customer support advice, beta software, add-ins and other such nuggets. If that sort of thing bangs your gong then go for it!

How Can I Stop People Sending Me Unwanted E-Mails?

Kill them.

Not a practical solution you say? Very well, Mr Fussypants. If you must pick holes in everything, try this:
You can go to Collaborate>Permissions (See this page for full details with pictures!) and set up rules for disallowing certain people from sending you stuff. If they are on the same server as you it's pretty straightforward. If they are on multiple servers it's a bit more complicated but you can find all sorts of wonderful rules and filters if you click on the 'rules' button and 'new advanced rule', which will cover every possible contingency. You can opt to return it unread, forward it to someone else, delete it... whatever you like! You might also consider reporting them to LTS if they are really giving you a hard time.

You can also (Hey hey! I've just found this out!) stop time-wasting freaks and perverts from dinging you to ask you for chat where they will bore you, mis-spell everything and send you pictures of their willies. Apparently, what you do is click on edit>preferences, then select the "messaging" tab and then the "chat" tab. tick the box marked "refuse invitations". Your name will show up italicised in the "who's online" box and nobody will be able to bother you.

FirstClass Personal is Eating up all my Resources!

Apparently, people who use firstclass personal find that it can slow their computer down. When they look at the Windows task manager it shows the thing is running close to 100% of the CPU time and memory. The way to stop this is to right-click the briefcase icon in teh taskbar and restore the program, then click "Personal" and set the priority to 'Low' as opposed to 'dedicated'. Sorted.

Any Other Cunning Tips?

Well now, it depends what you're interested in. As you may know, people are occasionally banned (or made 'read only' - i.e., prevented from posting) from the system, temporarily or permanently for one form of evildoing or another, most commonly for flaming (which, for those who don't know is a sort of electronic form of a poison pen letter).
Anyway, if you are ever in this position, you might be interested to know that there is apparently a way of circumventing it to post to fc conferences. I say apparently because I've never tried it myself and, frankly, it sounds a bit hokey to me! What you have to do is log in via the student homepage on the OU web site instead of using firstclass itself. Once you're there, you'll be denied at first but it does this by blocking your IP address, so after the first failure, reset your IP and try again. Keep doing this until it lets you in.

So how do you reset your IP? Well, if you use a modem, you'll need to disconnect from the internet and connect again (your ISP will assign you a new IP address). If you use a cable modem there are a few ways, depending on your windows version so you'll just have to look it up. Try this for example, or do a search on Google with 'ip address reset (your operating system)'. If you have a static IP address (which you get with some broadband connections) you'll have a bit more work because you'll have to get in via a redirection service like... oh, i dunno... anonymizer or something... whatever...

Before doing any of the above, ask yourself 'how sick and obsessed am I? If you are truly crazed, you'll want to get back into the system to keep on posting and get lots of attention for your plight. However, if you still retain some sanity and/or self respect, take my advice: Look on your ban as a valuable time to get a life and stop posting stupid offencive bollocks to anyone who is daft enough to read it.

'But I was banned for my political views' you will say. 'I am being persecuted' you will say. 'The mods hate me'. No, you're not that important. You're just very annoying, so get over yourself. Go and watch TV like anyone else and stop bugging your fellow students.