Welcome to my Domain

It seems like everyone’s talking about the Internet these days. But what is it really? How does it work? How do you access it? And most important, what can it do for you at work or at home?

Fortunately, accessing and using the Internet is fairly simple. Let this tutorial be your guide to the Internet as you connect for the first time and explore the network’s vast and useful resources.

How does the Internet Work?

The Internet is a worldwide collection of computer networks, cooperating with each other to exchange data using a common software standard. Through telephone wires and satellite links, Internet users can share information in a variety of forms. The size, scope and design of the Internet allows users to:

Connect easily through ordinary personal computers and local phone numbers;

Exchange electronic mail (E-mail) with friends and colleagues with accounts on the Internet;

Post information for others to access, and update it frequently;

Access multimedia information that includes sound, photographic images and even video; and a

An additional attribute of the Internet is that it lacks a central authority—in other words, there is no “Internet, Inc.” that controls the Internet. Beyond the various governing boards that work to establish policies and standards, the Internet is bound by few rules and answers to no single organization.

History of the Internet

The first rumblings toward this concept began immediately after World War II, when scientists were desperately seeking ways to organize and share their accumulated wartime research. In 1945, noted scientist Vannevar Bush published an essay in Atlantic Monthly titled “As We May Think,” which proposed a massive information index that people from all over the world could access and search. Although Bush’s system was mechanical (and was never developed), his essay had a profound impact on many who would one day help design the Internet and the World Wide Web. For this reason, Vannevar Bush is often hailed as the theoretical father of the Web.

Given this background, the actual Web was originally conceived as a way for physicists to share their research data. In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee led a team at Switzerland’s European Particle Physics Laboratory (CERN) in developing the initial World Wide Web standards. Key among these was the use of hypertext, or “hot” portions of an online document that, when selected, take the user to a related, or “linked,” document. For instance, if a user was reading a Web document about dinosaurs and selected the hypertext word “Tyrannosaurus,” he or she would go directly to a document dealing specifically with that species of dinosaur.

Computerized hypertext was pioneered by researcher Ted Nelson in a system called Xanadu, which he created in the early 1960s. Although Xanadu was never fully realized, many of the Web’s developers—including Berners-Lee—have cited it as an influence on their work.

The next great innovation for the Web came in 1992, when programmers from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois developed the Mosaic browser, a software application that displayed not only the text of a Web document (or page), but embedded graphic elements as well. By bringing multimedia to the Web, Mosaic vested it with enormous potential.

Today, several Web browsers are available for IBM, Macintosh and UNIX-based computers, and most of the major online services include Web browsers in their standard software packages. And the Web is growing at a phenomenal rate. According to Interactive Week magazine, the number of Web servers (computers that store Web pages) surged from fewer than 3,500 in April 1994 to more than 40,000 in July 1995.

Many people think that the Internet is a recent innovation, when in fact the essence of it has been around for over a quarter century. The Internet began as ARPAnet, a U.S. Department of Defense project to create a nationwide computer network that would continue to function even if a large portion of it were destroyed in a nuclear war or natural disaster.

During the next two decades, the network that evolved was used primarily by academic institutions, scientists and the government for research and communications. The appeal of the Internet to these bodies was obvious, as it allowed disparate institutions to connect to each others’ computing systems and databases, as well as share data via E-mail.

The nature of the Internet changed abruptly in 1992, when the U.S. government began pulling out of network management, and commercial entities offered Internet access to the general public for the first time. This change in focus marked the beginning of the Internet’s astonishing expansion.

What kinds of information are available?

In addition to text documents, the Internet makes available graphics files (digitized photographs and artwork), and even files that contain digitized sound and video. Through the Internet, you can download software, participate in interactive forums where users post and respond to public messages, and even join “chats,” in which you and other users type (and, in some cases, speak) messages that are received by the chat participants instantly.

How do people use the Internet?

Obviously, the Internet can bring you a whole host of capabilities. But how can they be put to practical use? Among the ways that users like yourself are taking advantage of the Internet are:

Sharing research and business data among colleagues and like-minded individuals.

Communicating with others and transmitting files via E-mail.

Requesting and providing assistance with problems and questions.

Marketing and publicizing products and services.

Entertainment

Self- guided education from wikipedia to open courseware and on to online courses of all kinds of how-to sites.

Gathering valuable feedback and suggestions from customers and business partners.

The Internet’s potential is limited only by users’ vision and creativity. And as the Internet grows, new and innovative uses will surely follow.

The Internet is a Homogeneous Network

Unlike many computer networks, the Internet consists of not one but multiple data systems that were developed independently. The most popular and important systems are:

E-mail, for exchange of electronic mail messages.

Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices. The user’s text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet. More advanced instant messaging software clients also allow enhanced modes of communication, such as live voice or video calling and inclusion of links to media.

Skype this service allows users to communicate with peers by voice, video, and instant messaging over the Internet. Phone calls may be placed to recipients on the traditional telephone networks. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free of charge, while calls to landline telephones and mobile phones are charged via a debit-based user account system. Skype has also become popular for its additional features, including file transfer, and videoconferencing

Google Talk is a freeware voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) client application offered by Google Inc

Empathy is an instant messaging client which supports text, voice, video, file transfers, and inter-application communication over various IM protocols.

AOL Instant Messenger3 (abbreviated AIM) is an instant messaging and presence computer program which uses instant messaging protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP), a system for storing and retrieving data files on large computer systems.

The World Wide Web (WWW), is all of the stuffs put together on the Internet.

What Else Makes the Web Unique?

We have already cited hypertext and multimedia as two of the outstanding features of the World Wide Web. Among the Web’s other distinct advantages are:

Open standards- (the Internet open standard is a set of rules and specifications, which collectively describe the design or operating characteristics of the internet and all devices that make up the networks). It allows Web pages to be viewed through almost any computer with an Internet connection and a Web browser.

The ability to make software and data files available for downloading.

Ease of use; just point and click on your browser to access the information you need.

For the individual or organization wishing to distribute information, the Web makes “publishing” easy and cost-effective. Putting information on the Web is quite inexpensive compared with traditional publishing, yet puts that information before a potential audience of millions. And unlike a printed publication, a Web document can be revised and updated at any time.

What does the Web empower me to do?

The World Wide Web brings you all of the advantages of the Internet—and more! Among the things that the Web allows you to do are:

Publish and make frequent updates to on-line documents, and receive direct feedback on those documents via E-mail.

Connect with a diverse, global audience—a community defined not by geography, but by interests.

Keep abreast of the latest news and developments in your profession… often before such news appears in conventional media.

Reference other Web resources easily via hypertext.

Access otherwise obscure information not readily available in other media.

Download useful software at little or no cost.

Dangers of the internet4

The Internet is a tool that can be used for good and evil. The Internet Dangers section highlights the primary dangers found online. The Net brims with ideas, people, and experiences. Yet the technology that helps you explore and use the Web also makes it easy for you to expose your personal information to others, and some Net-goers are eager to take advantage of the situation.

Concepts that dangers the Internet5

Data theft—stolen passwords, addresses, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, and other financial information

- occurs when a fraudster steals identifying information—names, addresses, financial data—from an unsuspecting victim and sells the information or uses it for personal gain.

Malicious software (also known as malware)—adware, spyware, viruses, phishing scams

-is the umbrella term for unsolicited software intended to annoy, destroy, or exploit. The category includes malicious adware, viruses, keylogging software, and backdoor Trojan programs, which allow attackers unauthorized access to and control over a user’s computer. Malicious software often loads through infected links and downloads when users click on ads or buttons designed to launch the programs.

Inappropriate content6—pornography, content focused on violence, hate propaganda

- This could be material that is sexually explicit or offensive, violent or encourages activities that are dangerous or illegal. Some websites promote extreme political, violent, racist or sexist views. This material can be accessed through website browsing, through newsgroups, shared in peer-to-peer networks or sent by email or instant messaging services. Inappropriate content may be potentially harmful or disturbing for children and young people.

Cyberbullying—bullying peers via instant messages, social networking sites, online games

- includes threats, gossip, and insults that are spread via e-mail and IM, broadcast on social networking sites, planted in forums, and distributed through community-oriented online games.

Predators7—social networking sites, chat rooms - is an adult Internet user who exploits vulnerable children or teens, usually for sexual or other abusive purposes.

Computer Virus8 - A computer virus is a program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. Viruses can also replicate themselves. All computer viruses are man-made. A simple virus that can make a copy of itself over and over again is relatively easy to produce.

Computer Worm9 -In a computer, a worm is a self-replicating virus that does not alter files but resides in active memory and duplicates itself. Worms use parts of an operating system that are automatic and usually invisible to the user. It is common for worms to be noticed only when their uncontrolled replication consumes system resources, slowing or halting other tasks.

Computer hacker10 - Hacker is a term used by some to mean “a clever computer programmer” and by others, especially those in popular media, to mean “someone who tries to break into computer systems.

Phishing11 is a fraudulent attempt, usually made through email, to steal your personal information. The best way to protect yourself from phishing is to learn how to recognize a phish.

Phishing emails usually appear to come from a well-known organization and ask for your personal information — such as credit card number, social security number, account number or password. Often times phishing attempts appear to come from sites, services and companies with which you do not even have an account.

In order for Internet criminals to successfully “phish” your personal information, they must get you to go from an email to a website. Phishing emails will almost always tell you to click a link that takes you to a site where your personal information is requested. Legitimate organizations would never request this information of you via email.

Tour of a typical Web site12

A Web site may consist of a single Web page, or may comprise multiple, interconnected pages.

Browser tools help you navigate around the Web. These vary among browsers, but most include tools for moving back and forth between pages, saving data to your hard disk, and controlling how Web pages will appear on your screen.

A “Bookmark” list, “favorites” list or “hotlist” lets you save the names and locations of favorite sites for easy reference (usually accessible through pull-down menus).

The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is the address of a Web site. URLs for Web pages begin with the code http:// (“http” stands for hypertext transfer protocol). Some Web pages contain special graphic buttons that, when clicked, take you to another resource as would a regular hotlink.

Hypertext hotlinks are connections to other pages and resources. To access, just click on them with your mouse or trackball. Most pages contain hotlinks throughout the text, as well as lists of links to other sites judged by the author/sponsor to be of particular interest. Some sites contain hotlinks to places where you can download software, listen to a sound file, or view a video clip.

Getting Online

You can get online through two ways, either by a wired connection or Wireless connection. When either of these connections are established, you can now perform the following tasks:

Start up your computer, and double-click on a web browser

After few seconds a web page will be display in the web browser.

The page you will see in your browser window is called the home page, or the first page that your browser is set to access. Often the home page is a site belonging to the manufacturer of the Web browser you’re using. On most browsers, you can change the home page to a site that you’d like to access each time you begin a Web session.

From here, you can type in your web site address (website name, url) and press enter , the time it takes for the site to fully display depends on the content on the site you are trying to access or your internet connection speed.

Finding your way around13

Now that you’ve gotten on the Web, you’re probably wondering how to get to all those great resources that you’ve been hearing about. Fortunately, there are several strategies for moving about the Web:

Type the URL address of a site into the entry field of your browser.

Try it! Type the complete URL for the iLab Liberia Web site (http://ilabliberia.org), then click on the “Go!” button or better still most new some web browsers do not have go button, so you can just press enter on your keyboard.

This is the most basic method of accessing a Web site. However, you have to know exactly where you want to go, and then type in the address precisely in order to get there. The newer browsers can compensate for some typing (for instance, allowing you to omit the “http://” at the beginning of a URL), but some URLs are too complicated for a browser to second-guess. If you simply want to explore and get to know the Web, any one of the following strategies are preferable:

Click on hyperlinks to move among resources; your home page probably has some links to interesting sites.

Types of Web Browsers14

A web browser is an interface that helps a computer user gain access to all the content that is on the Internet and the hard disk of the computer. It can view images, text documents, audio and video files, games, etc. More than one web browser can also be installed on a single computer. The user can navigate through files, folders and websites with the help of a browser. When the browser is used for browsing web pages, the pages may contain certain links which can be opened in a new browser. Multiple tabs and windows of the same browser can also be opened.

Internet Explorer

This is the most widely-used web browser by people around the world. It was developed by Microsoft in 1994 and released in 1995 as a supportive package to Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. It is presently known as Windows Internet Explorer, was formerly called Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE), and more is commonly known as IE.

Mozilla Firefox

It is owned by Mozilla Corporation and was the result of an experimentation. This browser has gone through many name changes due to name clashes with other products. ‘Mozilla Firefox’ was officially announced in February 2004. It was earlier named Phoenix, Firebird, and eventually Firefox. It is the second-most famous browser after Internet Explorer, as there were around 100 million downloads within a year of its release.

Safari

This is a web browser from Apple, Inc., which is compatible with Mac OS X operating system, Microsoft Windows, and the iPhone OS. Safari was released by Apple in January 2003 as a public beta.

Opera

This web browser was developed by Opera Software in 1996. It is a well-known browser that is mainly used in Internet-activated mobile phones, PDAs, and smartphones. Opera Mini and Opera Mobile are the browsers used in PDAs and smartphones. It is compatible with many operating systems such as Solaris, Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows.

Google Chrome

This web browser was developed by Google. Its beta and commercial versions were released in September 2008 for Microsoft Windows. It has soon become the fourth-most widely used web browser.

Netscape Navigator/Netscape

It was developed by Netscape Communications Corporation and was most popular in the 1990s.

Although there are many web browsers available and many more are likely to arrive in future, only those which are exciting and user-friendly will be able to survive market competition and hold on to a substantial market share.

Types of Search Engines15

Search engines are an extremely powerful way of promoting your website online. Consider them your silent Public Relations firm, quietly working in the background. Many studies have shown that between 40% and 80% of users found what they were looking for by using the search engine feature of the Internet.

The great thing about search engines is they bring targeted traffic to your website. These people are already motivated to make a purchase from you- because they searched you out. With the right website optimization, the search engines can always deliver your site to your audiences.

Crawler-Based Search Engines

Crawler-based search engines use automated software programs to survey and categorize web pages. The programs used by the search engines to access your web pages are called ‘spiders’, ‘crawlers’, ‘robots’ or ‘bots’.

A spider will find a web page, download it and analyse the information presented on the web page. This is a seamless process. The web page will then be added to the search engine’s database. Then when a user performs a search, the search engine will check its database of web pages for the key words the user searched on to present a list of link results.

The results (list of suggested links to go to), are listed on pages by order of which is ‘closest’ (as defined by the ‘bots’), to what the user wants to find online.

Crawler-based search engines are constantly searching the Internet for new web pages and updating their database of information with these new or altered pages.

Examples of crawler-based search engines are:

Google (www.google.com),

Ask Jeeves (www.ask.com)

Directories

A ‘directory’ uses human editors who decide what category the site belongs to; they place websites within specific categories in the ‘directories’ database. The human editors comprehensively check the website and rank it, based on the information they find, using a pre-defined set of rules.

There are two major directories at the time of writing:

Yahoo Directory (www.yahoo.com),

Open Directory (www.dmoz.org)

Note: Since late 2002 Yahoo has provided search results using crawler-based technology as well as its own directory.

Hybrid Search Engines

Hybrid search engines use a combination of both crawler-based results and directory results. More and more search engines these days are moving to a hybrid-based model. Examples of hybrid search engines are:

Yahoo (www.yahoo.com)

Google (www.google.com)

Bing (www.bing.com)

Meta Search Engines

Meta search engines take the results from all the other search engines results, and combine them into one large listing. Examples of Meta search engines include:

Metacrawler (www.metacrawler.com),

Dogpile (www.dogpile.com)

Specialty Search Engines

Specialty search engines have been developed to cater for the demands of niche areas. There are many specialty search engines, including:

Shopping

Froogle (www.froogle.com)

Yahoo Shopping (www.shopping.yahoo.com)

BizRate (www.bizrate.com)

PriceGrabber (www.pricegrabber.com)

PriceSpy (www.pricespy.co.nz)

Ebay (www.ebay.com)

Amazon (www. Amazon.com)

Freeware & Shareware Software Search

Tucows (www.tucows.com)

CNET Download.com (www.download.com)

What Is Social Networking?16

Social networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision, if you will. Although social networking is possible in person, especially in the workplace, universities, and high schools, it is most popular online.

What Is a Blog?17

A weblog or blog is a website that maintains frequently updated and ongoing entries or posts. Most blogs feature a community, comments and links to other sites or articles on the web

Types of blogs18

Personal: This is the broadest category and includes blogs about personal topics like politics, music, family, travel, health, you name it.

Business: Professionals ranging from realtors to lawyers and stock brokers are using WordPress to share their expertise, and companies have discovered the power of blogs to personally engage with their customers.

Schools: A great way for teachers and students to collaborate on classroom projects.

Non-profits: Foundations, charities, and human rights groups find our blogs to be great tools to raise awareness and money for their causes.

Politics: Members of parliament, political parties, government agencies, and activists using our blogs to connect with their constituencies.

Military: Members of the military blog to report what they see happening in various parts of the world and to stay in touch with their families.

Private: Some people make their blogs private to share photos and information within families, companies, or schools.

Sports: We’ve got teams, athletes, and fans using blogs to express and share their passion for various sports.

How-to, tips and reviews: There are lots of blogs that share tips and reviews about cooking, games, music, books, movies, and so on.

Blogging tools

Tumblr - is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations.

Wordpress - is a free and open source blogging tool and content management system (CMS) powered by PHP and MySQL.

Blogger - Free weblog publishing tool from Google, for sharing text, photos and video.

Most Popular Social Networking Sites19

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking website through which you can connect with the friends and relatives. It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 and originally it was called as The Facebook. It first became a big hit on the campus and then within few months, it gained popularity among other colleges too and became a big social networking website. In 2005, it was opened for high schools and the name “The Facebook” was also change to “Facebook”.

Twitter

Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 120 million members and growing rapidly. LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals.

Myspace

Myspace is a place where you can create a profile page that you can use to meet new friends. MySpace has a lot more to offer than that though. Find out what you can do with MySpace.

Google +

Google+ (pronounced and sometimes written as Google Plus, sometimes abbreviated as G+) is a social networking and identity service operated by Google Inc

LiveJournal

LiveJournal is an online community, a social network, and a place for self-expression. We strive to create an environment where you can connect with others, share your thoughts, and be yourself. Our core values guide us to protect and cultivate that community.

The others Social Media Sites are:20

DeviantArt

Tagged

Orkut

Cafemom

Ning

Meetup

MyLife

myYearbook

Badoo