Today,
the Internet is a public, cooperative, and self-sustaining facility accessible
to hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Physically, the Internet uses a
portion of the total resources of the currently existing public
telecommunication networks. Technically, what distinguishes the Internet is its
use of a set of protocols called TCP/IP (for Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol). Two recent adaptations of Internet technology,
The
Internet, sometimes called simply "the Net," is a worldwide system of
computer networks - a network of networks in which users at any one computer
can, if they have permission, get information from any other computer (and
sometimes talk directly to users at other computers). It was conceived by the
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S.
government in 1969 and was first known as the. The original aim was to create a
network that would allow users of a research computer at one university to be
able to "talk to" research computers at other universities. A side
benefit of design was that, because messages could be routed or rerouted in
more than one direction, the network could continue to function even if parts
of it were destroyed in the event of a military attack or other disaster.
The
most widely used part of the Internet is the World
Wide Web (often abbreviated
"WWW" or called "the Web"). Its outstanding feature is, a
method of instant cross-referencing. In most Web sites, certain words or
phrases appear in text of a different color than the rest; often this text is
also underlined. When you select one of these words or phrases, you will be
transferred to the site or page that is relevant to this word or phrase.
Sometimes there are buttons, images, or portions of images that are
"clickable." If you move the pointer over a spot on a Web site and
the pointer changes into a hand, this indicates that you can click and be
transferred to another site.
For
many Internet users, electronic mail has practically replaced the Postal
Service for short written transactions. Electronic mail is the most widely used
application on the Net. You can also carry on live "conversations"
with other computer users, using Internet Relay Chat. More recently, hardware and software allows real-time
voice conversations.
Using
the Web, you have access to millions of pages of information. Web browsing is
done with a Web bro, the most
popular of which are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. The
appearance of a particular Web site may vary slightly depending on the browser
you use. Also, later versions of a particular browser are able to render more
"bells and whistles" such as animation, virtual reality, sound, and
music files, than earlier versions.
Enternet mail.