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The Standard Deviants present the interconnected world of Internet Basics starring...
So, the Internet connects computers and homes.
Now it's time for some serious searching.
The most popular computers that people are using.
But why do I already know the name of a said website?
Why do we call it the home page? Because that's where we begin.
Again, each search engine has its own system.
Service providers.
We've mentioned them, but we haven't really...
One thing to keep in mind when choosing a local or a national provider...
Internet Charlie has been on the Internet non-stop.
Hi, I'm Lara Hopewell and welcome to the interconnected world of Internet Basics.
Over the next hour, we'll teach you everything you need to know to start surfing the net
like a pro.
We'll start with the history of the Internet and cruise through equipment, email, electronic
discussion groups, online security, the World Wide Web, search engines, and much, much more.
To help us on our journey through cyberspace, we've also enlisted the help of Internet Charlie.
Internet Charlie has been on the Internet non-stop since December of 1992.
He knows more about the Internet than just about anyone.
Isn't that right, Charlie?
Now we know the Internet can get pretty confusing at times, so we've hired some top-notch experts
to make sure we're right on target.
You can count on us to demystify this web stuff and make it easy to learn, easy to remember,
and just a little bit enjoyable.
Believe it, it's our job.
One last disclaimer.
As we teach you about the Internet, we'll be demonstrating its use on a popular Internet
service provider and Internet browser.
Don't worry if you're using different packages than we are because they all work in basically
the same way.
Just learn the basic concepts and then you'll be better able to learn the ins and outs of
whatever packages you choose.
Alright so fasten your seatbelts.
The first thing we need to talk about is the history of the Internet.
Understanding how the Internet came about is a big part of understanding how this thing
works.
Part 1.
Where the Internet Came From.
A Brief History.
Section A. What is the Internet?
Get with it.
The Internet is the fastest growing medium in history.
Radio took about 40 years to reach 50 million users.
TV took 13 years.
The Internet took only 5 years.
Let's start with a definition.
The Internet is a system of networks that are all connected to one another.
Each one of these networks is made up of computers from all around the world that communicate
with each other using the same language.
The best way to visualize this network is to think about the Interstate Highway System
in the United States.
All the major cities across the country are connected by Interstate Highways, allowing
someone from Billings, Montana to travel down Interstate 25 through Casper to Cheyenne and
then pick up Interstate 80 clear across to Lincoln, Nebraska.
In fact, this person could keep traveling all over the United States, hopping out wherever
there was something of interest to see, like the largest ball of string in Valley View,
Texas, or Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.
Now if those Interstates were taken away, then our friend in Billings, Montana would
be stuck in Billings, Montana.
Or at least would have a much more difficult time getting from place to place.
So these roads form a network that help us get around.
This is a lot like how the Internet works, except on a much larger scale, and it's information
moving down these electronic roadways, not people and vehicles.
One major difference between the Internet and the Interstate Highway System is that
geographical distances don't mean that it takes longer to get to New York from San Francisco
than it does from Boston.
You see, information travels very fast over the Internet, the same way that your voice
travels over a phone line.
Another thing to remember about the Internet is that information doesn't usually travel
the shortest distance between two points.
So if you're in Billings, Montana and you want to see a piece of information in Denver,
Colorado, your request may actually go to Washington, D.C. first and then back to Denver.
This makes the Internet a redundant network.
Redundant?
Pshaw!
The Internet enhances my knowledge of the world and helps me maintain my status as a
trendy jet setter.
Pshaw!
Pshaw!
Hold on.
Redundant in this case is a good thing.
It means that instead of only one or two ways of getting from point A to point B, there
are more likely hundreds of ways, each about as fast as the other.
Remember, geography doesn't matter.
That's why some people are saying that the Internet is making the world into a global
village.
Let's go back to Internet Charlie.
How is it possible that he's been on the Internet for so many years?
He's just one person in one little room, right?
Well, he is and he isn't.
You see, when you plug into the Internet, you bring the world to you.
Through the Internet, Charlie is connected to computers and information resources the
world over.
Much like the interstate highways we looked at before, Charlie can stop off wherever he
likes.
He can get reviews of the latest movies, check stock quotes, read breaking news stories,
look at art that hangs on the walls of the Louvre, and even send messages to his friends,
Internet Bill and Internet Jane, through electronic mail or email.
The Internet can also deliver audio and video.
And the best part, as we will describe in detail later, is that once you have the basic
hardware, you can get all these features for about 20 bucks a month.
So the Internet connects computers in homes, businesses, and academic and government institutions
through a crisscrossing system of computer paths.
These computer paths make up a network and consequently networks within networks that
link up all over the world.
That's the Internet.
Section B, the Brief History.
Thanks Pentagon.
The Internet's daddy was DARPANET, the secure private network that linked the defense establishment
with academic researchers working on military projects.
Thanks Pentagon.
So as our brain wave just said, this system of networks was all started in 1969 by the
U.S. government.
It was started to help government employees working on military projects share computer
files so they didn't have to drag their paperwork all over the country to work together.
Now, despite the rumors, researching nuclear survival wasn't one of the reasons the Internet
was started.
Once this network began to take shape, everyone wanted a piece of the Internet, especially
people working in academia.
The Internet became the linking pen, connecting hundreds of government and academic institutions.
At this point, around 1993 to 95, the Internet was big news.
It started getting increased coverage by the press and consumers' interests were piqued.
They wanted in.
And now everybody wants access to the Internet.
Folks are running out in droves to get hooked up.
So you may be asking yourself, why is all this history important?
Well, let's find out.
Section C. Why the Brief History is Important.
It's important to know the history of the Internet to understand how fast this thing
is growing.
And with its rapid growth, there is a sense of structural chaos that is also growing with
its increased accessibility.
The Internet is still kind of sorting itself out as people keep discovering more ways to
use it.
And one reason for this broad accessibility is the World Wide Web.
The World Wide Web is a system of interconnected information that can be accessed through the
Internet.
It was started around 1989, the same year the Berlin Wall came down and family ties
went off the air, but roughly 20 years after the Internet was up and running.
Since then, the Web has mushroomed to one of the world's largest information repositories.
Many people confuse the net with the Web.
The Internet is the computer network used to access the information that is stored on
the World Wide Web.
And knowing that the Internet came before the Web may help you remember how they're
different.
So, the World Wide Web is the information.
Text, images, pictures, even sound.
And the Internet is the means for accessing that information.
Got it?
Good.
Let's move on.
Part 2.
So what do I need to get started?
Okay, so now that you know all about the history of the Internet, let's talk about what you
need to get hooked up.
We'll talk about Internet service providers a little later.
For now, let's talk about the equipment you'll need to get started.
Part 1A, computers, modems, and software.
The most popular computers that people are using to access the Internet are IBM compatible
PCs running Windows software.
Macintoshes are also a good option for Internet use.
That's one of the big things about the Internet.
It's cross-platform.
If you are using a PC and your mom is using a Mac, you can look at the same home page
and see the same thing.
The problem is that some Internet service providers don't offer Mac software.
But except for that little glitch, Macs are just as good net cruisers as PCs.
Whatever you choose, PC or Mac, as a general rule, it's a good idea to buy the newest
model possible.
But you don't have to spend a fortune on a brand new computer with all the bells and
whistles.
Shop around.
Computers are getting less and less expensive.
You can get a pretty good one for a thousand bucks or less.
Now for the modem.
A modem is the doohickey that hooks your computer to the phone line.
The word modem is actually a contraction of modulate and demodulate, which are the terms
for converting digital computer signals to and from analog phone signals.
But this is a bit of a misnomer because there's no modulating and demodulating going on anymore.
The signals are now completely digital.
Alright, that's way more than you need to know about modems.
Just remember that the usual way of hooking up the Internet is over the phone.
So you need a modem to connect it to your computer.
Modems come in three different forms.
An internal or built-in modem, an external modem, and a PC modem card, which is usually
used with laptop computers.
Now many of the newer computers come with a built-in modem or what's called an internal
modem.
Take a look at the back of your computer and see if there's a little hole that looks like
a phone jack.
If you have one, you have an internal modem.
Just plug your phone line into it.
If your computer doesn't have a built-in modem, you'll need to get an external modem
that will connect to the computer on one end and a phone line on the other.
These modems usually look like a little box, like this one.
As you can see, the modem itself is not a big piece of equipment.
For you jet-setters who travel with laptops, you'll probably need a PC card modem, or a
modem card, as some retailers call them.
These are about the size of a credit card.
They plug into the computer and any available phone line.
You do have an option to buy a PC card modem that fits into a slot in your laptop, but
these cost a bit more than the others.
You'll have to weigh the option and see if it's worth it to you to have it in the laptop
as opposed to carrying it around.
Most computers today come standard with internal modems, and there are few laptops that don't
come with an internal modem.
If you can get an internal modem, do it.
Trying to configure an external modem is not that fun.
Speed is the major concern when shopping around for a modem.
When we talk about modem speed, we're referring to the speed at which it can fit computer
data into a phone line.
Teeny tiny little units of computer data are called bits.
Modem speeds are measured in terms of how many bits they can move in one second.
This speed can range from 2400 bits per second to 56,000 bits per second.
If you don't want people to look at you funny, you should say 56kbps or 56k instead of bits
per second.
So, a 33k modem moves 33,000 bits per second.
Some modems have other features such as built in fax machines, and some even have built
in answering machines.
I'm waiting for one that can make my morning coffee.
The best way to think about modem speed is like a funnel.
Let's say this funnel is a 144k modem, and that this funnel is a 56k modem, and that
this bird seed represents those teeny tiny computer bits of data.
Now if we were to pour bird seed in both of these funnels at the same rate, we'd get a
lot more bird seed a lot faster out of the 56k funnel than the 144k funnel.
Having a slow modem can really make surfing the net a frustrating experience.
Each time you hop to a different web page or site, you have to wait for the information
to download.
The bigger your funnel, the shorter the wait.
So, the best advice is to get the fastest modem you can afford.
Right now the slowest you'd probably want is 28.8k or 28.8.
But 56k modems are available.
Since the cost of your modem is minimal compared to the cost of the entire computer, you're
better off spending a few extra dollars on a faster modem.
It can make a big difference when you're on the net.
One last thing about modems.
Your modem is only as good as the network it's on.
For example, if you have a 56k modem and the internet service provider you're using can
only transmit at 28.8k, then your souped up faster than lightning 56k modem can only receive
at 28.8k.
So your modem can't speed up the process, but it can slow it down if you have a slow
modem.
In other words, the capacity of your service provider will set the pace for your modem
speed.
Once you've decided on a computer and a modem, the next thing you need to get is the proper
software.
When you choose an internet provider, usually they'll give you the software you need to
access their service on a personal computer with Windows or a Mac.
You'll need to install this software on your computer before you can officially sign up
with the service provider of your choice.
So most of the time, getting the right software depends on which service provider you choose.
Service providers.
We've mentioned them, but we haven't really told you what they are.
A service provider is simply a company that provides internet access to people that are
willing to pay for it.
The service provider is not the internet.
It's just a link to allow users to access the internet.
Going back to our interstate highway analogy, the service provider is like an on-ramp with
a toll booth that allows you access to the highway.
You must pay them for access, and that price usually varies by how long you are on the
road.
The main thing to remember when choosing an internet service provider is that there's
a lot of choices out there.
You mainly need to choose between two categories.
National providers, which are sometimes referred to as online services, and local providers,
which are sometimes referred to as internet service providers, or ISPs.
The big commercial online services like America Online, Prodigy, CompuServe, or Microsoft
Network have their own software packages that connect you to the service.
These providers offer several benefits.
National providers are relatively easy to connect to and operate.
National providers usually have 800 numbers and large help staffs available to lend support
when subscribers are stuck.
National providers have user-friendly screens with services such as chat rooms, news updates,
and other point of interest options.
National providers have a national system of local access phone numbers available if
you travel and don't want to call long distance to surf the net.
Many national providers offer a way to block adult material that you don't want your kids
to have access to.
Sounds good, doesn't it?
Well, there are some drawbacks to using the large national providers.
With the large number of subscribers the online services have, sometimes you might have trouble
getting an open line during certain hours of the day.
Also, if you just want the basic services the internet has to offer, like email and
web access, then you don't need all the extras that the national providers offer.
These extras may end up costing you more, so compare prices before you sign on with
anyone.
As for the local providers, they have advantages of their own.
They provide inexpensive service to people in a local calling area.
Their primary purpose is hooking people up to the internet.
Local providers vary slightly in price, service, and reliability.
So like we said with national providers, shop around.
One thing to keep in mind when choosing a local or a national provider, always make
sure their number is a free or untimed local call for you.
If you choose a local provider, their list of numbers may be shorter than a national
provider's.
For all else, make sure you have access to the net through a local phone call.
There are people who found out the hard way.
Another thing to remember is that when you're online, your phone line is being used by your
computer.
There is some technology in the works that may change this, but for now you can't receive
phone calls while you're surfing the net.
Most modems come with software that allow you to have messages sent to your answering
machine or voicemail.
Make sure when purchasing a computer or modem that this feature is included.
If you find you're online all the time, like Internet Charlie, then a second phone line
might be a good option for you.
Check with your phone company.
Some good places to look for local providers are the business section of your newspaper,
the yellow pages under internet services, the local library, and advice from computer
savvy friends.
Often when you buy a new computer, you'll get a number of different online services
that offer you a free one month trial period.
You can also look for these offers in the mail or in computer magazines.
Try one out.
See if you like the big guy approach.
If not, you'll have a better idea of what you want in a smaller local provider.
Okay, so let's say we've got our equipment, picked out our service provider, and installed
our software.
What's next?
Well, it's time to get down to dollars and cents.
You need to pick a payment plan.
Most service providers give you a few different options of how you want to pay based on your
monthly usage.
Before committing to a plan, you should think about how much access you really need each
month.
Many plans will have a set monthly fee that gives you a certain number of free hours with
an additional charge for each additional hour.
For example, you could have a monthly fee of $9.95 for five hours of access with $2.95
for each additional hour.
This would be a good option if you didn't plan to use the internet that much.
Now, if you were Internet Charlie, this would be a terrible option.
For him, this plan would cost a whopping $1,977.60, and that's just for a short month like February.
Whoa!
Well, it's a good thing that many service providers now offer a plan for unlimited access,
which costs around $20 a month for as many hours as you want.
So if you plan to use the internet a lot, then you're better off with an unlimited plan.
One last thing before we move on.
When you sign up with a service provider, you create two things that you must remember.
A password that allows you to access your account and an account name that allows you
to identify your account and forms the basis for your email address.
Depending on which service provider you use, your account name may be called your screen
name, user ID, member name, or whatever.
We'll talk more about this later, but for now, listen to this.
Be careful out there.
Your password is the ticket to your internet account and personal email.
Think of it just like the PIN number for your bank card.
Never share your password with anyone, and never respond to email asking for your password,
no matter how legal it sounds.
So be careful out there.
Part 3.
Now what?
So we're in.
We're officially ready to hop on the information superhighway, surf the net, all that other
good stuff.
As we start looking at some basics of navigating around on the net, it's important to realize
that all service providers work in basically the same way, and the internet is the same
no matter what provider you use to access it.
Remember, the provider is your gateway to the net, not the net itself.
Okay, here we go.
When accessing your internet account, your modem will dial your service provider and
you'll hear that friendly little modem noise which sounds like this.
Now don't worry, it doesn't mean that your computer is about to explode, that's just
the normal sound of your modem talking to your service provider.
After this initial connection, your modem will be silent for the rest of your connection.
Then type in your password, and you're in.
When you first access your service provider, you will come up to some type of welcome screen
that serves as your home base for your online experience.
Your welcome screen will look different and have different options based on what service
provider you choose.
If you are using one of the large online services, like AOL, then you will have an elaborate
welcome screen that offers many links and services provided by AOL.
If you are using a local ISP, then your welcome screen will look very basic and not have many
bells and whistles.
Either way, you will still have access to the internet and email.
Neither option is inherently better than the other, it just depends on what you prefer.
Now one of the main reasons people get online is to use email.
So you were probably wondering when we were going to get around to it, huh?
Well, here we go.
Section A, email.
Email or electronic mail to be official is the most popular service on the internet.
Tens of millions of messages are exchanged across the internet daily.
Messages like, hey Charlie, your yard needs mowing.
Or, dear Charlie, your electricity bill is five months overdue.
For many, email is the most productive, cost efficient and useful tool there is on the
net.
19th century, you've got mail.
People thought it quite a wonder when the Pony Express delivered the news of Lincoln's
inauguration in March of 1861.
It took brave riders only seven days and 17 hours to race from St. Joseph, Missouri to
Sacramento, California.
And today, sending email anywhere on earth takes just minutes.
The short definition of email is a system that lets folks send and receive messages
with their computers instead of running up an expensive phone bill.
It's especially helpful if you have a long distance romance.
Email systems might be on a large network like the internet, on a bulletin board that's
an electronic bulletin board, not one of those flat cork things, or an online service like
America Online or something, or it could just be an interoffice email.
Before we go any further with this email stuff, we need to tell you how to read an email address.
Your email address consists of three parts.
First, is your account or member name.
Next is that groovy little at symbol.
You get it by typing shift two.
Next is your domain name.
Your domain name is part of the address that identifies the service provider.
This might be aol.com or prodigy.com.
So, if your account name was Jughead and you were on AOL, your email address would be jughead
at aol.com.
So, where do you get email?
Well, usually you'll have some form of email system that is provided through your service
provider.
You also have the option of buying an email program such as Eudora, Pegasus, or AK Mail
that will do the trick for you.
These programs do not replace the need for a service provider.
They just give you more sophisticated options when it comes to email than you probably have
otherwise.
Whichever email system you're using, they all work basically the same way.
The most common tasks you'll need to perform on email are sending and receiving messages.
First, let's look into sending a message.
Sending a message.
The best way to learn how to send a message is to just send one.
For this demonstration, we'll use the email system that comes with AOL.
If you aren't using AOL, don't worry.
These basic procedures are very similar to most email programs out there.
From your main screen, you should have some type of easy point and click access to email.
Here, we can just click Mail Center on our toolbar.
Now we're in our main mail program.
Notice that we have the option to compose mail or read mail, among other things.
Since we want to send email, we need to click on Compose Mail.
This is our screen for composing email.
Just think of this as a blank piece of stationery.
Before we type in a message, the first thing we should do is address it.
We enter the recipient's email address in the Send To box.
Most email programs also have an address book where you can store addresses of those whom
you email frequently.
This saves you the need to type in the address each time.
Let's send a message to Internet Charlie.
So, let's click into the To box and type in Charlie's address.
Now, Charlie has his Internet account with America Online, and his account name is INTCharlie.
So his email address is intcharlie at aol.com.
Now, since we're sending from an AOL account as well, we can leave off the at aol.com part
because we're already there.
So, we just type intcharlie into the To box.
You usually can use this abbreviated address form if you're sending to someone that has
the same service provider as you.
Check with your provider to see if it's available to you.
If we were sending to someone on another service, we would need to use the full address.
We can send a copy of our email to another person by entering their address in the CC
box, which stands for Carbon Copy.
Next, we need to enter a brief subject line in the Subject box, so let's click in there.
The subject is important because it's the first thing the recipient sees before opening
your email.
The subject will also help the recipient keep track of the email if they decide to save
it.
Let's tell Charlie that he needs a vacation.
So, for the subject here, we'll just type in vacation.
Now it's message time.
In the big empty box that's not labeled, type your message.
Let's tell Charlie that he needs a vacation.
When you're done writing your message, click the send icon and our message is now broken
down into tiny little packets of data, zooming through the internet at light speed, searching
out its destination, and finally reaching Internet Charlie, who just so happens to be
checking his email right now.
This brings us up to our next lesson.
Receiving a message.
So let's say somebody actually sends you mail.
Then what?
Well, step one, click on any mailbox you can find.
If you've clicked the right place, then you should get a new mail window or inbox.
Your inbox will list each incoming mail message on a separate line with the date it was sent,
the sender's email address, and the subject.
Some email programs even allow the messages to receive a status or priority.
This allows the sender to let you know whether or not they are sending something you should
look at right away.
To read the message, double-click it or highlight it on the list and then either click read
or press enter depending on what program you have.
Let's open up this message from Internet Charlie.
Let's click on it and the text of the message will show up in another window.
Apparently, Internet Charlie doesn't think he needs a vacation.
To reply to the message, just click the reply button.
Let's go ahead and reply to Internet Charlie's reply by typing a message in the new window
that appears.
Then click the send button.
Here's Charlie's original message before we replied to it.
If we wanted to forward this message to someone else, we would click the forward button.
Now, a new window opens up and we can fill in the email address for where we want to
forward the message.
We can also add a message to go along with the original message if we want.
Type the new message in the box here, then click send.
Now back to our inbox.
To see another message, just click on it in the inbox list and the contents of the message
will appear on the screen.
When you're done looking at your mail, you can choose to compose a new message or just
close out of your email program altogether.
Hang on a second.
Well, what if you're really trendy and popular and you need to send a message to a number
of important people?
Do I have to retype the message every time?
No, you don't.
Just list more than one address in the send to box.
Place a comma and a space between each one.
This message here would be going to Internet Charlie, Internet Jane and Internet Bill all
at the same time.
This mailing list intrigues me.
What is it and how can I benefit?
Good question.
A mailing list is a list of email addresses to which a single message can be sent by entering
just one address as the two address.
It's kind of like an electronic bulk mailing.
Now, as far as how it works.
Your email program should have an option for you to create a single address that contains
all the addresses of the members of some group.
You only need to click one address and the message will go out to everyone.
Now if you receive a message from a mailing list, then you need to be careful when you
reply.
Some mailing lists display the person who sent the message to the group as opposed to
the list address of the group.
If this is the case, you may be able to use a reply to all command if your service offers
this or you'll have to type the list address into the two box in your mail composition
window.
So that's a quick overview of how email works.
Now for those of you who like to get real chatty, it's time for section B, electronic
discussion groups.
Some similar email based applications that many people find useful are electronic discussion
groups.
These are groups of people that have decided to get together online and discuss specific
topics.
There are lots of different names used for these online discussion groups, chat rooms,
news group, use net, and list serves.
There are slight differences among these online forums but basically they all serve the same
purpose to give and receive information over the internet electronically on specific topics.
Chat rooms are usually real time online discussions.
This means that when you enter a chat room, you see different people's email addresses
or online handles writing to each other on the screen.
The conversations in these chat rooms can become fast and furious.
Chat rooms aren't technically email but it feels the same.
Generally, chat rooms are provided by large national providers as an added service or
by some websites that want to allow people to discuss things in real time online.
Don't be a jerk.
The net might be a young medium but it does have some rules.
When sending email or communicating in a chat room, don't use all caps like this.
On the internet, this is called shouting.
Another kind of chat room is use net or news group discussion groups.
These are open to the public and, like chat rooms, provide a forum for real time online
discussion.
Usually, when you get your internet browser, there's a part of the email application called
a news reader.
The news reader allows you to subscribe and unsubscribe to the news groups in which you
want to participate.
To find out which groups your internet service provider carries, open your news reader and
click subscribe.
A list of all the news groups carried by your internet service provider will appear.
To subscribe, highlight the group you want and a new window will appear with the most
recent messages sent to that group.
Sending and replying to messages in news groups works the same as email, the difference being
that with use net or news groups, you aren't sending a message to a person, but rather
to the entire discussion group so that everyone subscribed can see your message.
For this reason, use net or news groups are often called electronic bulletin boards.
Another kind of electronic discussion group are list serves.
List serves do use email and the messages you receive from them are sent to your email
box.
There are literally tens of thousands of different list serves available on any topic you can
imagine, from Italian cooking to car repair to the music of Oingo Boingo to Mozart.
Here's how they work.
There are two kinds of list serves, one way and two way.
One way list serves are like electronic newsletters.
The email or electronic newsletter is sent to everyone who subscribes to the list.
You can't reply to the newsletter and there is no discussion, it's just one way communication.
Two way list serves are free for all.
Every message sent to the list serve goes to every person who has subscribed to the
list.
If you reply to a message sent to you from a list serve, it goes to everyone else on
the list.
In a sense, it's like a chat room, but you get to decide when you want to read the messages
in your email inbox and when you want to reply.
If you aren't interested in what someone is saying, just hit the delete button.
To subscribe to list serves, you need to send a message to the group moderator requesting
that you be added.
Generally, these subscriptions are automatic, but some groups do require certain credentials
in order for you to subscribe.
To find out more about list serves, there are some good websites out there such as http
colon forward slash forward slash www dot l-i-s-z-t dot com.
This website will give you information on more mailing lists than you would ever know
what to do with.
Okay, that's enough about that.
Now let's talk turkey.
Is it really safe to be sending all this personal email over the internet?
Section C, Privacy and Security Online.
So how secure is your privacy online?
Well, I think it's up to me.
Don't say anything in email that you'd be embarrassed by later.
Email can get folks into a lot of trouble if you're not careful with what you put in
writing.
Remember, this is in writing.
People make the mistake of thinking they're talking online as if it were a telephone.
Whatever you put in an email is a written document.
The person on the other side can print it out.
There are a lot of things that could happen to your email once you send it.
For example, the person you send your email to might pass it on to some bad guys.
Or maybe some bad guys will break into your system looking for incriminating stuff on
your email.
Or maybe the email you sent will be backed up by a larger system and will get read by
some bad guys long after the recipient has deleted it.
And listen to this.
Read everyone and see the boss dance at the Christmas party.
Be careful what you say in email at work.
Yes, your coworkers are just a click away.
But, the courts say that the man, your boss, has every right to read your email if it exists
on the company's computers.
In short, millions of Americans have their email read every day without even knowing
it.
Think about it this way.
When you send a message, it starts at your computer, then goes through your service provider
to the recipient's service provider, and finally to the recipient's computer.
All different places where bad guys could possibly copy your message.
With all these bad guys around copying email messages, you may be feeling pretty leery
about sending even the most mundane of messages.
Well, there is a solution.
It's called encryption.
Encryption is the modification of data so other people can't understand it.
Basically, what happens is that your message gets scrambled into a mess of unintelligible
hieroglyphics.
This way, bad guys who intercept your email will just think you're a fool who can't
spell.
How do you do this, you ask?
Well, the best way is to use an email program that has an encryption feature.
Then it's simply the click of a button and a complex mathematical algorithm will encrypt
your message.
There is then a keyword the recipient must have to decrypt or decode the message.
In general, you shouldn't worry too much that bad guys are out there intercepting and
reading your email.
It's like you don't worry all the time that bad guys are tapping your phone line, but
it is something to consider.
If you really don't want a piece of information to be discovered, you might not want to send
it by email.
That's it for encryption.
If privacy or security is crucial for you, make sure that you purchase an email program
that includes this feature.
Although using email can be a lot of fun, there are some other security issues that
you'll run into while online, like using the old credit cards to buy things online.
Some people believe using their credit card on the internet is safer than using it in
a restaurant, but there are a few reasons why you should be cautious of internet purchases
using your credit card.
First, currently there's no real policing agency patrolling online theft.
Second, there are just too many ways to recover transmitted messages, even those which pass
through minimum level encryption and account authorization procedures.
And third, even just one online purchase opens the door to endless online solicitations.
It makes you trackable.
On the other hand, lots of people do use their credit cards to buy things online, and many
other people are working to try to make this safer all the time.
So make up your own mind, but be sure to be careful.
That said, let's look at where we find all the neat stuff to buy online, the World Wide
Web.
Section D, The World Wide Web.
Well, here we are.
The big time, the World Wide Web.
Remember we said before that the World Wide Web is a bunch of linked connections containing
lots of useful and not so useful information in the form of text, graphics and sound.
Surfing the web is like a scavenger hunt, where one clue leads to the next.
You find some text that you're interested in, you click on it, and boom, you get more
information on that topic.
To surf the web, there are two things which are essential, a web server and a browser.
For now, let's talk about the web server.
We'll get into the browser in a minute when we talk about surfing the web, dude.
A web server is a special program running on a host computer, which is a computer connected
directly to the Internet.
You don't need to have a web server to access the web from home, but without web servers,
there would be nothing for you to see on the Internet.
Web servers administer the places you visit on the World Wide Web.
So a web server could have a library website, a museum website, a car rental company website
and travel agency website all in one computer.
These documents come in the form of pages, web pages that is.
Each page can be a combination of text, pictures, audio and video clips and all sorts of stuff.
To get from one set of information to another, you use hyperlinks.
Tubular, man.
Hyperlinks are connections between two web documents.
Links as they're generally called are pieces of text or pictures that, when clicked upon,
display another web document.
There are three basic types of hyperlinks, icons, color text and buttons.
We'll talk more about these in a second when we get to browsers, so hang on.
Enough of the sitting still stuff.
It's time to move around the web.
We like to call it surfing.
N-E, surfing the web.
This is where we talk about browsers, which are the other component to using the web.
Browsers are programs that let you read documents and navigate around on the web.
The two most popular browsers on the market are Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer.
When you open your browser, the first page you see is what we commonly call the home
page.
Why do we call it the home page? because that's where we begin.
Some providers even use the term start page.
This is the home page for Microsoft Internet Explorer.
The browser itself is really just the frame you see around the home page here for MSN.com.
As we surf the web, the frame will stay in place, allowing us to control our journey,
while different web pages will show up on the main window here, where the MSN.com home
page is now.
Looking around the browser's home page, notice that our mouse point changes shape as we move
over certain places on the screen.
Everywhere the point turns into a little hand is a hyperlink.
Remember when we talked about hyperlinks before?
If we click on a hyperlink, we are transported to a new web page that has more information
for us.
The three types of hyperlinks we mentioned earlier were icons, colored text, and buttons.
Looking at the screen here, we see an example of each.
Buttons are just hyperlinks that are in the form of graphics, like these here.
Colored text is just what it sounds like.
It is text that is a different color than the rest of the text, indicating that it too
is a hyperlink.
Here is some colored text here.
See how the mouse point turns into a hand when we move on top of it?
And finally, the buttons are up here on our browser's frame.
They are the hyperlinks that help us keep track of our web journey.
You'll see how they work in a minute.
Now let's move around the web for a while and see what it's like.
To begin, you should almost certainly find links on your home page regardless of what
browser you are using.
So we can click on any of the colored or underlined words, or perhaps an icon or a button.
Depending on your browser, you may have any one or all of these options.
Notice that our mouse point is in the shape of a hand, so we know we are on a hyperlink.
Let's go ahead and click on this hyperlink here.
Notice how the window is changing, but our browser's frame stays in place.
When we click on a hyperlink, the browser sends a message to the web server somewhere,
asking for a specific page.
Then the server transmits the document back to your browser, and your browser displays
it on your screen, like we just saw here.
Congratulations!
You've just learned the primary form of web surfing.
When you see a link on which you want more information, you click on it, and up it comes.
It's as simple as that.
Do I really surf?
When you go from website to website by clicking on a hyperlink, you're surfing from one host
computer to another.
Each host computer is what a website calls home.
That's why it's called surfing.
Excellent.
But what if I already know the name of a said website?
A mover and a shaker such as myself should be able to go to a site immediately.
Nespa?
Well, if you know the name of the website you're looking for, then you can type it into the
address box in the browser.
It's the white box at the top that has the HTTP colon slash slash www dot blah blah blah.
This address is called a URL, or Universal Resource Locator.
Right now the address box is displaying the URL of the website we're currently visiting.
To type the address into the browser, click your cursor on the location box, and you will
be able to write the web address you want into the box.
Let's type in the address, www dot sarabellum dot com, and then hit enter on our keyboard.
You'll notice some stuff flashing at the bottom of your screen.
This stuff is actually telling you how fast your request for information is being sent
to and received by your computer.
When the page is completely loaded, the word done will appear.
Generally, at 288K and 333K, it takes 4 to 10 seconds for a page to load into your browser.
If something seems like it's not working or the page seems screwed up, just hit stop and
access the page again by hitting enter again.
You can also hit the reload button on Netscape or the refresh button on Internet Explorer
or your browser's toolbar.
It does the same thing.
The Internet is still a work in progress, and like any technical device, it doesn't
always start right up on the first try.
Okay, so we made it to Sarabellum.
Pretty cool, huh?
Before we start looking at other features on our browser, let's take a second to look
at the web address we just typed into the location bar of the browser.
The http colon slash slash part of the address isn't really necessary these days.
Most new browsers, 3.0 and higher for both Netscape and Internet Explorer, will accept
just the address www.sarabellum.com without the http colon slash slash stuff.
Each website has a web name.
Let's take a quick look at the different parts of an Internet website address.
The www, as you probably guessed, stands for World Wide Web.
The part in the middle is the site name, in this case, Sarabellum.
The last part tells us what kind of site this website is.
.com means it's a commercial website, but there are other kinds of websites too.
.gov means that it's a government website.
.edu means that it's an educational institution.
.mil means that it's a military organization that runs the website.
.org means it's an organization, association, nonprofit, or an institution.
There is also.net.
.net used to mean that the website was an Internet service provider site, but that could
be a business or an organization nowadays.
There are also unique website addresses outside of the U.S.
For example, a website with the address www.websitename.uk would be in the United Kingdom.
Why can't I find that website I heard about?
When typing in a web address, spelling counts big time.
Make sure you put in every letter and use all those funky little symbols at the top
of the keys.
You might never have used them up until now, but a forward slash is a lot different from
a backward slash.
I see your point, but what if I want more information and the names of any helpful websites
elude me?
What if I don't see the link to the topic that suits my wants and needs?
One good way to find information is to use search engines.
Search engines are like the directory toolbars on your browser.
The difference is that they are typically larger and more comprehensive.
There is no all-comprehensive search engine that catalogs everything, so you may have
to visit and use more than one search engine to find the exact piece of information you're
looking for.
The reason for this is simple.
The Internet is an open platform to anyone who has Internet access.
That means anyone with Internet access can add a webpage or take down their own webpage
whenever they feel like it.
There's really almost no control over what goes up and what comes down on the Internet,
so it's impossible for any one organization to monitor everything that's happening on
the Internet.
So how do search engines work?
Well, first you need to go to a search engine on the Internet.
Some well-known search engines are Yahoo, Lycos, Excite, AltaVista, HotBot, Infoseek,
Northern Lights, and WebCrawler.
National providers like AOL usually have their own proprietary search engines.
Let's go to Yahoo, one of the Internet's oldest and perhaps best-known search engines.
Yahoo, unlike most of the other search engines, does a lot of the searching for you before
you even start.
But the basic system and function of Yahoo is the same as the others.
Here's how it works.
You arrive at the search engine either by typing in the address in your location bar
or by following a link or by using your toolbar button marked Search.
Once you get to the search engine, there's always a place to type in some words for a
search.
It's very similar to the location bar in your browser, except instead of searching for a
website address, you type in the keywords for what you're looking for.
Now it's time for some serious searching.
Let's say you wanted to find out what kind of battle helmets the ancient Greeks wore
in 600 B.C. Where would you turn?
To the library?
To the museum?
To an expensive and time-consuming trip to an archaeological dig in Greece?
Well, you don't have to go any farther than the computer tucked away in your corner because
right in your own home you have access to one of the largest repositories of information
known to humankind, the World Wide Web.
And you also have one of the greatest information gathering devices around, a search engine.
So let's see what we can find.
So here we are in Yahoo land.
Our first step is to type what we're looking for into the search box here and then hit
enter or click search.
Let's start by typing in ancient Greece and see what we find.
Look, Yahoo found 63 sites that matched our query.
Let's scroll down the page and see what we've got.
Notice that all of these listings are hyperlinks that will take us to the webpage described
there.
Hmm.
Let's try this listing that is titled Ancient Greek World.
That sounds promising.
It says that it allows us to view artifacts that tell a vivid story of life in ancient
Greece.
Clicking on the colored text here, we are taken to a different webpage.
Wow, look at that guy.
Pretty impressive, huh?
But no helmets yet.
Let's scroll down and see what links this page has.
Here we go.
Let's try this button labeled Daily Life.
Maybe that will lead us somewhere.
Well, there's that guy again, but still no helmets.
Let's look at the index here and see what options we have.
Wait a minute.
Here we go.
Weapons and armor.
Let's try this one.
Jackpot.
That's a funky looking Greek battle helmet if ever I saw one.
And scrolling down further, there's even more.
And look here, this one is from 600 BC, which is exactly what we're looking for.
And notice that the picture itself is a hyperlink.
Clicking on it, we can pull up an enlarged picture of the helmet.
Let's do that and print out a hard copy to show our friends.
Gee, that was easy.
You said it.
Once you get the hang of the search engines, they can become very powerful tools to allow
you to find the information you're looking for.
Who'd have thought we'd ever be able to find this?
One of the things you will quickly realize is that more often than not, you get more
information than you want back from the search engine.
One way to get more specific information is to use the advanced search features offered
by most search engines.
Each search engine has its own special way of allowing for advanced searches, but generally,
they follow simple Boolean logic.
Boolean logic is a way of using words like and, or, not near, etc. to help limit your
search.
For example, if you searched for Washington, you would probably get back information on
the city, the state, and the person, George Grover and Freddie Boom Boom.
Well, let's say you were really only interested in George Washington and wanted a biography.
You might type in George and Washington and biography.
This would bring back only web pages that had George and Washington and the word biography
all on the same page.
Another commonly used syntax for searching on the World Wide Web is to use quotes.
So, we would type in, quote, George Washington, unquote, biography.
This would return pages with the words George Washington together and with the word biography
on the same page.
Again, each search engine has its own system, and you should remember to take a quick look
at the search engine's help file or advanced search descriptions before doing advanced
searches.
As neat as hypertext is, you can get lost using this stuff.
For instance, once you get out on a page and you decide you want to go back, how do you
do it?
Well, there are a few navigation tools available to help you move around.
These tools will probably appear in the form of buttons.
One button may be the back button.
You can click on the back button or choose back from a menu to return to a previous web
page.
Forward is another button you'll probably encounter.
Click the forward button or choose the forward menu option to return to a page you've just
come back from.
So, from the back button and the forward button, you can toggle back and forth between pages,
like this.
So, now that we know where reverse and drive are, let's check out some other gears, or
buttons in this case.
Click on the home button or start button, depending on what your browser calls its beginning
page.
This will take you all the way back to the home page without rifling through all the
pages you've already viewed.
Sometimes when you click on a link and view a page, when you return to the previous page,
you'll notice that the colored text link has changed colors.
Many browsers do this to let you know that this is a link that has been recently viewed.
Here's another neat option, favorites.
Some browsers call these bookmarks.
You can set a favorite for pages you think you may want to come back to later.
To see a list of pages you've seen previously, click on the history or go button.
Although the back and forward commands take you back and forward through this list, you
can also go directly to a page in the history list by selecting it from the go menu.
Now that you know how to get around on the web, we're just about finished.
But before we wrap up, there are a few more things we need to touch on.
Part 4, Other Useful Stuff.
Section A, Setting Boundaries in Cyberspace.
Many people with children are concerned about having internet access in their homes.
There's been a lot of talk about pornography and how easy it is to stumble across it on
the net.
Well, it's not quite as easy as some folks may lead you to believe, but it is out there.
There are quite a few programs available nowadays to help you restrict unwanted or inappropriate
sites.
These can be used to restrict any site, not just pornography.
Some of you may not want to have access to some site for other various reasons, so these
programs allow for this option.
One site used to restrict children, specifically from unwanted sites, is Netnanny.
It's got a catchy name, and it gets the job done.
To find it, use its URL, www.netnanny.com.
Because the internet gives you access to so much information and so many people, it can
be used for socializing or for networking in business.
The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
With this much access available, it's understandable that some folks need to set boundaries.
In B, cyberspace shorthand.
Like any social environment, cyberspace interaction has developed a culture and a language.
If you look into a chat room, you'll notice people using strange punctuation and acronyms
from time to time.
One example of this is emoticons.
Emoticons are commonly called smileys, because one of the first emoticons you'll use will
probably be the smiley face, which looks like this.
You get a smiley face by typing a colon followed by a closed parenthesis.
You see, the trick to reading emoticons is turning your head to the side so you can make
them out.
Other emoticons are, a sad face is a colon followed by an open parenthesis.
A number 8 with a dash and a begin bracket makes a goofy face.
A semicolon followed by a dash and an end bracket makes for a wink.
In addition to the symbols, there are other acronyms that are actually called shorthand.
These are not only time saving, but they liven up a message by speeding up the exchange.
Some of these, however, can be a little obscure.
Here are a few shorthand acronyms to get you started.
BTW stands for By the Way.
FWIW is For What It's Worth.
IMO stands for In My Opinion.
IMHO is In My Humble Opinion.
LOL stands for Laughing Out Loud to Show Disbelief.
PMFBI stands for Pardon Me for Budding In.
TIA stands for Thanks in Advance.
Section C, SPAM.
All these things are really cool for communicating socially in cyberspace, but there are some
things that get in the way of communication.
One of the biggest complaints people online share is spam mail.
I think we need to explain.
Spam mail is the equivalent to junk mail.
Sometimes it's actually called junk email.
This unsolicited commercial email, or UCE, as spam mail is often called in technical
circles, usually consists of get-rich-quick scams and pornography.
Spam mail is usually something you don't want access to and stuff you definitely want to
keep away from your kids.
It does you no good to send nasty emails back to the spammer.
If you need help ridding yourself of spam mail, check out these websites.
www.cost.org, spam.abuse.net, and www.abuse.net, which can act as a consumer advocate or reporting
agency to follow up a complaint and create a record of the problem.
Well that brings us to the end of the Interconnected World of Internet Basics.
If you have any questions or comments about this program, give us a call toll free at
1-800-238-9669.
We'd love to hear from you.
And now that you've learned everything you need to know about the Internet, check out
our website at http://www.standarddeviance.com or just send an email to us via internetcharlie
at intcharlie at aol.com.
To further increase your technology IQ, check out the other titles in the Standard Deviance
computer series, including Learning HTML and Windows 98.
They're like jumper cables for your brain.
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