Web Wise

The Internet

Whether it is referred to as "the Internet," "the Net," "Cyberspace" or by some other annoying (and usually overused) concoction of terms, it is quite simply a giant computer network that everyone seems to be talking about, and which few completely understand.

The Internet is a computer network of networks. Computer networks at businesses, universities, government agencies and libraries from across the world are connected via phone, fiber-optic and other high-capacity telecommunication lines. Internet users can interact with any entity on this network and with each other.

The Internet is not managed by a single corporation, government agency or other entity. It is a cooperative interconnection of many single-entity networks.

Individuals access the Internet by making a connection with a computer system that is on the Internet, usually through an Internet service provider. If you have a computer, a modem and a phone line, you have all the hardware you need to access the Internet.

The Internet is constructed so that you can access computer systems from anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds, and usually without incurring long-distance phone charges. Information is easy to access and is available on virtually any subject imaginable, and most of the information is free. And the Internet is interactive -- users can submit information and interact with other Internet users.

Initially a government-funded network with restricted access and used solely for scientific and academic research, the Internet began its evolution to commercial status in 1987. In the early 1990s, use of the Internet still required a high level of technical expertise. Recent innovations in the past couple of years have made the Internet fully accessible to non-technical individuals, making it a viable option for main-line business activities.

E-Mail
E-mail allows computer users to send messages back and forth electronically via phone lines. These messages are usually in the form of simple text-based letters, but any computer program or file can be sent via e-mail. Once you obtain an e-mail address, you can communicate with almost anyone in the world who also has an e-mail address, and without incurring any long-distance charges!

The World Wide Web
Commonly referred to as the "Web," the World Wide Web uses a distinct programming language and is the portion of the Internet that receives the most traffic. Most of the Internet is text-based, black-and-white, and dull. But the Web brings together color; illustrations; headlines and text; and maps and graphics, combining them into a magazine-like format of separate and distinct "pages."

One of the main strengths of the Web is its easy interactivity. Users can use their computer mouse to click on highlighted or underlined text, which will transfer that user to a new Web page. The Web also supports sound, video and virtual reality, and is undisputedly growing at an extremely rapid rate.

For many casual users of the Internet, the terms "Web" and "Internet" are often confused and incorrectly used.

Geek Speak
URL: stands for "uniform resource locator," the address of a site on the World Wide Web. An example is: http://www.netscape.com. All URLs begin with "http://," which stands for "hypertext transfer protocol."

HTML: stands for "hypertext markup language," the programming language used to write documents for the World Wide Web.

On-line (or Online): pertaining to the Internet. Some examples are, "You can access that information on-line" or "Fill out the on-line form to receive more information."

Hot Sites

http://www.yahoo.com -- Yahoo, a good Web starting point, is one of the best Internet searching tools.

http://www.pbs.org/internet/history -- This on-line edition of a PBS series on the evolution of the Internet is a good site to visit to learn more about Internet history.

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