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What is the Internet exactly?
is a bunch of computers connected together, talking to each other, exchanging information, and so forth. You can find a local network in an office or a geeky person's house where all the computers connect and exchange data and share access to the modem, printers and other devices. Well, the internet uses a modem to connect to your phone line and that connects to the internet. It is a term used to describe the type of network connection.... this is a enormous, world-wide connection.
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What does "www" stand for?
WWW is short for world wide web. It is the interface used to connect to different computers. It is based on an address so your computer knows where to find the information. The language used to communicate is the various codes that have been set in place by world wide standards. If we didn't have that, things would be a pretty big mess, but if you knew how many different web languages there are, it is a big enough mess!
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What is a Browser?
Browser is the program you used to pull up the www. Some examples of browsers are Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, etc. It takes the codes from the websites and converts it for your eyeballs.
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What is an ISP?
ISP
Or Internet Service Provider. Unfortunately at this time you can't just fire up your computer and connect magically to the internet. You need to pay a internet service provider money for the connection to the internet. The types of connections and speed varies greatly from provider and price. Let's go over the most common ones and when it comes to internet speed, you get what you pay for.
* Dial-Up It seems that everyone had to start up with this connection. It is the good ol' hook your phone line into the modem and dial up your ISP to connect. You'd hear the dialing of the numbers, and then a bunch of funky computer noises. This connection is still available and is the most affordable and sometimes even free from certain ISPs. The drawback is the speed. You'll take a whole lot longer getting around on the internet as the pages will load a lot slower. The other disadvantage is if you don't have a seperate phone line, you'll be tying up your phone line and won't be able to receive calls. It gets really fun when you have call waiting and someone calls you, disconnects your internet during an important bid on eBay!
* DSLThis connection type is a lot faster and you'll fly through the internet compared to dial-up! You can usually get this from your phone company and uses a digital phone connection. You will have to have a special modem to route your digital phone connection to your computer. When you sign up for DSL it is usually included in the startup package, but you can also purchase them elsewhere.
* CableThis connection comes from a cable company and is also using a digital phone connection. Many of the cable companies are taking advantage of digital phone and now offer internet and bundled packages where you can get phone, tv, and internet. Who would've thought that 15 years ago!!!
* SateliteThis connection is from a satelite and is great if you don't have any phone or cable providers in your area. Cell phone companies are using this to now connect cell phones to internet and laptops too! It is certainly a cool way to connect, but the price is higher than DSL or Cable connections.
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What is a Search Engine?
Search Engine this is the dewey decimal system of the internet. Without it you wouldn't find a single thing except for your second cousins family website that you looked up from the link in the card they sent.
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What is wireless or wi-fi?
Wireless or Wi-Fi is a connection from the computer to a modem without wires. It just doesn't get much better than surfing the web on your laptop in bed!
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What is e-mail?
E-Mail is a form of electronic communication. It is sending a letter through the internet but doesn't involve a postal worker (unless you happen to be one).
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Domain Name?
Domain name is the fancy name or web address that you use to navigate through the www. Such names end with .com, .net, .org, and a ton of other .something combos.
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What are links?
A link is a image or text that will take you to another website. Usually they are underlined, have a box around them, and are set off in a different color. The links on my site are grey and turn orange.
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