Internet

The Internet or the Net is a collection of computers; all link together, to share information globally. It was first developed in the U.S. by two universities who were both working on the same contract and wanted to share their data. They were faxing information back and forth and then retyping it until they came up with a piece of software called UNIX to UNIX Copy Program or UUCP.

The Internet was born and has mushroomed outward from that point.

There are 4 things that are necessary to "get on the net" with a full graphic interface (picture, sounds, animation, etc...).
A computer - preferably with a fast processor (around 100 MHz or more) and lots of memory (16 meg or more)
A modem - preferably 56,000 baud or high speed digital
Browser Software - often installed with your operating system or can be downloaded off the Internet
An ISP - An Internet Service Provider is a service that connects your home or office computer to the Internet

Once you have purchased an account with an ISP you will be given an account name. This is often your email address as well. You will also be given a password and should also be provided with instructions on how to change the password to a unique and personalized. The generic password provided with your account should be change to one of your own. Protect your password as you would any personal identification number (PIN) number.

The ISP will also provide information on how to configure your software. This can be simple or difficult depending on your Operating System. Once configured you simply run the software to connect your computer's modem to the ISP's modem, giving you access to the Internet.

There are a number of pieces of software that work together to connect you to the Internet.

The first and most complicated is the dialer or socket software. This is the software that makes the physical connection with the ISP's computer and the internet. This needs to be configured only once but you will need instructions from your ISP on how to do this as each ISP has a different setup.


The second piece is an Internet browser. This is the program that locates websites for you and allows users to maneuver around (surf) the World Wide Web and view web pages. Some of the more popular browsers are Mozilla Firebox and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Mosaic was the first browser and most modern browsers still use the basic model that the first browser used. Some other browser is Opera, Safari, Netscape as well as dozens of others. Before graphic browsers Lynx was the most popular browser and is still available for text browsing. New browser are being developed and current browsers are constantly updating there programs. It is extremely important to update your browser every once in a while. Some ISP has a proprietary type of browser though most have given up this practice as it limits the user’s abilities to browse the Internet.

Type the url or web address of the website that you want to visit in the address bar of your browser and press Enter or click Go. Collect your favorite websites by adding them to your Favorites or Bookmarks. To go to a Favorite or Bookmark, click on the menu and click on the link.

Another piece of software is an email program . This program controls sending, composing and receiving email. Most email programs can also be used to read postings on newsgroups.

Instructions for getting this software can be obtained from your ISP though you may have to download the newest version yourself.


There are many different ISPs. If you attend a university or college or belong to a military or government organization you can most likely get Internet access through your school or work. If not you will most likely buy access from a commercial provider.

Another option, if you are in a major center, is the Freenet. Many major cities have groups devoted to making the Internet accessible to the greater majority of people and create Freenets which allowing members free access to the Internet. They run on private and public donations. It is an excellent way of learning about the Internet in a helpful environment.

Once you are connected you will have access to Email, Newsgroups, the World Wide Web (WWW), File Transfer Protocol (ftp), Internet Relay Chat (irc), Search Engines, ICQ and other Internet Services.


Internet - Email

Email is the electronic equivalent of sending a letter through the mail. There are many different mail reading programs or clients that control email but the basic functions are all the same. An email address directs a message to the recipient.



Email addresses are made up of...
the account name (often the users first initial and then the last name (sometimes only 8 characters)
then the @ symbol
then the name of the user's ISP
the last 2 or 3 characters describe the type of service called the top level domain name. For example .com stand for commercial site, .ca - noncommercial site in Canada, .mil - U.S. military, .gov - U.S. government, .au - noncommercial site in Australia, .net - network, etc... Recently 2 new TLDs were added; .biz, .info.


As well as sending and receiving mail the recipient can;
save the address for future reference in an address book
reply to the original message
forward the message to a third party
edit a message
check the spelling and a wide range of other options.

One of the services provided by your ISP is to provide a storage area or mailbox to collect email in. Email software programs control the transfer of this stored email by downloading the messages from your mailbox on your ISP's computer to your own computer. You must be connected to the Internet to do this.

An email message is made up of two parts; the header information and the body. The recipient's address (to), the subject, the sender's email address as well as other information is contained in the header. The content of the message is in the body. You can find out information about an email message by viewing the header content. Most email programs had a 'view header' option in the menu.

Email can be composed and sent as plain text or HTML. Plain text messages can be read by any email client but most modern email clients can compose and display email documents containing formatting such as bold, different font size and colour, images, etc.

New messages can be written or composed off-line (not connected to the Internet). If the ISP charges by the hour, connect to the Internet only to send and receive your email and then disconnect to read and compose your mail.

Many ISP's also offer web mail programs so that you can logon to check and send email using any internet accessible computer.

Some companies offer free email service that you can sign up for. These free services rely on advertising for revenue so your recipient will also be receive an advertisment with the email. Most free email accounts are accessed through a web browser where the user composes and reads their mail online. The benefit is that you can easily access your mail from any internet terminal and the address is easily disposable (if it gets added to a junk mail list for instance).

You can also attach files to email messages to send picture, sound, documents, videos and other types of file with your email. Some email programs automatically open attachments such as photos and html code. Change the program's properties or options to turn this feature on or off.

Unrequested or spam email has become a problem on the internet. A large percentage of the email sent is this unrequested email which takes up bandwidth and causes prices to rise. Businesses must take time to sort through spam to find the legitimate email which also takes time and money. Most ISPs provide software that will filter out the worst of this email. If you find that you are receiving a lot of unrequested email contact your ISP to see if they can provide you with spam filters.


Email Attachments

An attachment is a computer file or files place inside an email message.

Email was originally designed to handle only plain text (no formatting, ie. bold, centering, etc.) which was transferred from one computer to another in a format called ASCII. ASCII is a standard across all computer types which makes e-mail universal. Today many modern email programs allow HTML (hypertext markup language) to be included in email messages which allow you to format your email messages with font sizes, bold, centre and such. The recipient must have an HTML capable email reader to see the formatting otherwise they will get a document marked up with HTML tags.

To attach a document to an email message drag the file attachment to the body of the message and drop it. An attachment can also be added by choosing File Attachment from the menu. Most modern email programs place a button on the Toolbar usually in the shape of a paper clip that you can click. A dialog box will open that allows you to browse and select the file that you want to attach. You can attach more than one file to a single email message. Don't move the original document until the message has been sent.

Most documents created on computer, such as word processing documents (Word, WordPerfect, etc.) or spreadsheet documents (Excel, Quatro, etc.) or graphic files (Corel Draw, Paint Shop, or .gif and .jpg files) are stored in their own unique binary code format. This binary format is determined by the program that the file is created with. Email documents are create as text files so in order to send a binary file or document via email, it must first be encoded into a text format and then attached to the email text message.

Such an 'encoded' document may end up looking something like this:
ugAAANAAAAALAAAAAgD//zQAQgBvAGQAeQAgAFQAZQB4AHQAAABCAG8AZAB5ACAAVABlAHgAdAAA
ANMFCwAAAQAACwDT0wQdAAATAAD//wUAsAQAmA0AEA4AaBAAK5sdANPUGxkAgAEAAAgAigIAAAAA
AACKAooCGQDU1BpXAIABAQAIAAAAAAAAAAAAHAD0GlwSGgkAABEJAAAAYAAYEQAAECoAVABpAG0A
ZQBzACAATgBlAHcAIABSAG8AbQBhAG4AAAAAAAAAVABUAAAAVwDU1AILAAABAAELANTUAwsAAAEA

These lines are all printable or lower-ASCII characters and can be sent via email. When it gets to your computer and you want to view the document, it first must be decoded or converted back to it's binary format before it can be opened. Today this is typically handled by your Email program.

There are several common encoding standards, the most popular being uuencoding, mime, and bin hex. Not all email packages support even these three, let alone all the non-standard ones. If someone sends you a document encoded in a format that your email program doesn't support the email program will not decode the attachment.

The attached file must be loaded into a program to be viewed. For example, if the attached document was originally created in Microsoft-Word you need Word, Open Office or another modern word processor on your computer to work with the document. Most modern software suites can import documents from other suites.

Most modern email programs work hand-in-hand with your operating system to try and open the correct program required to view the document sent as an attachment. This is done by matching the file extension such as .jpg, .gif, .doc, etc... with a registered file type.

Viruses can also be transferred via email attachments. Because your email software handles the decoding of programs sent as attachments it is easy to infect your computer simply by opening an infected attachment. Always check email attachment with an anti-virus program before opening them.

There are several reasons why an attachment will not display properly or at all:
the encoded file is corrupted and cannot be decoded. This is usually due to damage in transit and happens very seldom these days.
the encoding type is not supported by your e-mail program and so the file cannot be decoded back to it's original type.
the attached document was created in a program that you don't have on your computer or is not a registered file type.
the email program has an option set which automatically locks attached files

When sending an attachment you should think about whether the intended recipient has the same program on their computer. When you are sending an attachment to someone you should always use a standard encoding process (the one that comes with your email program is usally best) and send the document in a format that the recipient can view. If in doubt, ask them first by email.

Macs users should be aware that most Windows user won't be able to decode a binhex file.

If your email software automatically locks attachments and you want to view the attachment you can change the programs settings by modifying the Preferences or Options.

If the formatting isn't important it's better to copy your the text from the original program and then paste it into the body of a plain text email message rather than sending an attachment. Everybody's email software can read this 'plain text' ASCII format.


Internet - Newsgroups & Discussion Groups

Newsgroups are discussion groups that are going on all the time. You can write a message and post it to a newsgroup in the morning and come back to read a reply to the message in the afternoon. You can also reply to other's messages.



There are thousands of news groups covering as many topics. Some are moderated, meaning that a person who has knowledge or an interest in a certain topic will receive the message and read it before posting it. This keeps the discussion on topic. Most are not moderated and the discussion can go anywhere but it can be a great way to get a quick reply to your questions.

As well as the public newsgroups many organizations and companies will provide discussion groups of bulletin boards that focus on areas related to their own topics. This can be a great spot to find out more about an organization, find a solution to a problem you are having and participate in the discussions related to that company or organization.

One problem with posting a message to a discussion or newsgroup is that unscrupulous companies mine the newsgroups for email addresses and then send unsolicited email (spam) to the poster. It is recommended that you disguise your email address using your email software preferences or the bulletin board settings.

Many newsgroups have a publicly accessible faq. A faq is a collection of frequently asked questions that have been posted many times to a newsgroup. You may get a gentle reminder or a completely rude and insulting comment if you post a question that is on the faq. It is acceptable to post a question as where the faq is located and you may find that frequent posters will mention the faq in their message.

Internet - Navigation

World Wide Web (WWW) is a collection of web pages connected together with hyperlinks. Each document or page has a unique address that allows you to find it among the millions of other documents on the Web. The address is called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or sometimes a Uniform Resource Indicator (URI). When you chose a new link by clicking on it or by typing it into the address field your browser sends a request for that document and displays it on the screen. That link can be to a different section of the current document, another document on the same website as the original or on another website anywhere in the world. Web pages are designed using hypertext markup language or HTML.

Designing a basic HTML page is not difficult after mastering a few simple codes or if you are planning a website you can have a Web Developer (send me an inquiry) create one for you. The key to the web are the links to different, useful or interesting pages. Many web page user will collect links to their favorite sites or web pages and add them to a bookmark or favorites list.

Receiving information from another computer is called downloading. When a user chooses a web page to go to the browser automatically downloads the information from the page and displays it on the users computer screen. The user can also choose to download specific files. Sending information to another computer is called uploading. To place a web page on a website the developer must upload the file from their computer to the ISPs server.

Being Online means being connected to another computer, whether that computer is your ISP, your friends computer across town or a remote office computer, through a modem, or digital connection. Going Offline means disconnecting your computer from the remote connection.

Internet - Other

File Transfer Protocol (ftp) allows users to transfer files and documents from one computer to another. There are a few different software programs that will make this process quite simple. If you are designing a website you can use ftp to update your website.

Computer users can also use an ftp program to download files and software off the internet. Many companies and universities offer ftp sites that contain software which can be downloaded and used on your computer. A search for 'ftp' will display dozens of ftp programs that can be used to download software.

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Internet Relay Chat (irc) allows users to participate in real-time discussions with other users through the Internet. A user logs on to an irc site and then types messages and replies to others messages as they are written. Often an irc discussions has a topic and users will join to discuss this topic. Other irc discussions are free flowing and regardless of how centred the discussion is it can take some time to sort out the different threads of discussion in a busy irc. They are also used for online conferences with a famous or knowledgeable person contributing their time to answer questions and present information.

Along the same theme are online game sites where Internet users can compete against other users on the Net.


Instant Messaging software, such as ICQ and MSN allows users to find friends and contacts through the Internet and communicate with them in real time. Users maintain a list of contacts which the software will notify when they are online and contact is available. To use an instant messaging service it is necessary to have and register software available on the Internet. Instant messaging allows you to chat, send messages and files and various other features but only with people you choose. Often the software and registration is free.

Some services also provide the ability to connect a microphone to your computer and talk to your contact. Your contact can talk back using their account and software which you can hear using the computer's speakers or an ear attachment.

Internet - Search

If you are looking for a specific company or organization try typing www.company name.com into the address bar first (e.g. www.grassrootsdesign.com). If it is a "country specific" organization try ending with the specific, 2 character country code rather than .com (click here to display countries and their code).

Search Engines make finding things on the Internet relatively easier. Search engines are run by companies that collect information from the Internet, sort and categorize it and present the information to the user based on keyword searches or through directory listings.

It is worth taking some time to learn how to make an effective keyword search as the amount of information that these search engines provide can be overwhelming. It is common to be provided with 10s of thousands of references to any given search term. By narrowing your search to a specific phrase you can target your searches more effectively. Many search engines require that you enclose a search phrase in quotes (e.g. "the cat in the hat").

Different search engines will display different results and sort those results differently. If you don't find the information you want on one search site try another. Some search companies offer meta searches which are compiled from a number of different search engines' results.

Most search sites offer directory listings as well. The information is categorized in a hierarchy from general categories to specific categories. To find a specific web site follow the links down to the category that matches your interest.

The results from a search are a list of pages with links to the documents that match your search. Each search engine has a different way of displaying the results but generally you will see a list with the name of the organization or title of the page. You may also see a short description of that web page. Clicking on the title will take you to that page.

Though there are hundreds of search engines on the Internet there are only a couple dozen that the majority of people use. If you choose "customize" in your browsers search tool you will see a list of some of these search engines.
Website Search

As well as Internet searches many websites offer a website search feature to help visitors find information on that specific website. Generally there will be a button marked 'Search' beside a text field. Enter your query to display links to the pages that match.

ECommerce


Electronic Transactions on the Internet are becoming common place. Books, software and even groceries can be bought and sold with the click of a button (and a credit card). The biggest problem with doing business over the Internet is the lack of common standards around security. There are dozens of different standards involving hundreds of different methods.

The Internet, by it's nature, is an open system which means that information can flow freely from one computer to the next. Information transmitted through the Internet can be intercepted and copied as any point along the path. For this reason it is not a good idea to send confidential information like credit card numbers through the Internet the same way you might send an email to a friend. In order to send confidential information you must be sure that your private information can not be intercepted along the way.

The most common method is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). A transaction computer with an order form for the product that you wish to purchase creates a secure connection which ensures that all the information that you send to it is not accessible to anyone else. If information from a secure connection is intercepted it will be encrypted making it useless to persons with malicious intent.

Most small businesses will not find it economical to setup their own secure server and can purchase a service from a third party which offers a transaction service. These services vary but all require a setup fee and some form of payment for transactions performed on their secure server. This payment can involve a monthly fee, a transaction fee, a percentage of the transaction, a credit card company fee or a combination of some/all of these fees.

When considering hiring a transaction service a company should decide whether they want to setup their own merchant agreement with the credit card companies or pay the transaction service to use theirs. Some transaction companies retain a percentage of receipts for security deposit until a proven transaction record is established anywhere from 30 to 90 days. Some allow limited outside development of the forms used on the secure server and other insist that the forms be developed in-house.

Another model is the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET). This model requires that the customer download and install a wallet into which they enter their password protected credit card information. The SET system development was promoted by the major credit card companies to provide a safe and secure environment for online transactions.

The SET "wallet" model requires that the customer obtain a Digital Certificate from a Certified Authority (CA) which they then use to perform the transaction. The Certified Authority, usually the bank or financial institution that the customer deals with, verifies the validity of the Certificate to the merchant. The customer enters their personalized password to verify that they have the authority to use the Certificate and the transaction is made. This model allows customers to use their credit cards to purchase items from merchants without transmitting their actual credit card details to the merchant.

The merchant uses their merchant agreement with the credit card company to complete transactions, process refunds and verify the validity of the customers credit card information.

Though still in its infancy, many billing companies have begun Internet transaction projects using the SET model to allow their customers to pay their bills, check their account status and much more.