Introduction

The Internet is a world-wide communications network, linking together thousands of computer networks through a mixture of private and public telephone lines.

Its component networks are run by government agencies. Universities, and commercial and voluntary organizations.

The Internet has been around for 30 years.

The Internet grew out of the US Government’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPAnet) in the late 1960’s.

It was a way for military computers to communicate in times of war.

No single organization owns or controls the Internet.

What turned out to be just an experiment to link 200 computers proved so successful that the program was extended.

By the 80s it really took off and most major Universities in the world also connected to the network and the name "Internet" took hold.

It has nearly doubled in growth each year.

Let’s look at The History of the Internet (and this one) on the Internet!

A more graphical Internet Timeline with some historical events added in

The internet is actually one giant Network similar to the school’s local network, just on a larger scale.

The computers use a common language called Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol to exchange data.

TCP/IP, which is platform independent, organizes information into small packets of information before shipping it across the network.

These packets must be put back together when they reach their destination.

It is like a giant jigsaw puzzle with each packet containing information that will help the destination computer put the information back together.

The Internet was growing gradually but was by no means an interactive or visual medium.

In the 1980s Berners-Lee at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (known as CERN) created an interface for linking information and including graphics.

The result was the URL, HTTP, and HTML specifications.

URL--The Uniform Resource Locators, or the address where the information is located.

Originally every site was identified by a unique number such as: 01110110111011101110110000111010001

Eventually it was shortened to 4 sets of 8 bits separated by dots or: 193.119.97.209

These, of course, are not very memorable for must of us so today those addresses are translated into names like www.microsoft.com.

Http stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol and it is the standard that allows hyperlinks within pages to take you to another site with just a click of the mouse.

Today you can link not only text but also pictures, artwork, or just a defined area (hotspot) of a graphic.

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language which defines the styles and layout of the pages and, more importantly, creates the links to other documents.

HTMLs development has come under the watchful eye of the World-Wide Web Consortium which is responsible for release the approved versions of the language.

HTML 3.2 is the current approved version.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, the major browser companies (Netscape and Microsoft) have chosen to not wait for the final approval from the W3C before incorporating new HTML functions into their browsers.

HTML 4.0 is in review and will be released soon.

A browser is what interprets the HTML coding and allows you to see pages.

The first graphical (GUI) browser (Mosaic) was developed by the national Center for Supercomputing Applications in Illinois.

This is where Mark Andreessen was a student--the founder of Netscape.

Internet use was greatly simplified.

Although you can find other browsers, the only real choice is either Netscape or Internet Explorer (Microsoft).

Both are free and both handle pages slightly differently.

Which one is best? It is a personal choice at the moment. The functions they support are quite close. Perhaps Microsoft has an edge when it comes to integration with other applications.

E-mail

World Wide Web

Gopher

Usenet

FTP

Telnet

Electronic mail has revolutionized the way we communicate.

Instantly we can send messages to anyone in the world at no or little cost.

E-mail also allows for the attachment of files.

To attach a file to your message click the attach file button in your mail program and browse to the location of the file you will be attaching. Click on that file and it will be inserted into your mail message as a link.

However, before you send a message to another person, be sure they have the correct program (and version).

Text based system designed to help index information on the Internet.

Developed by the University of Minnesota and named after their mascot.

Not as widely used today, but there is still some good information only available through gopher.

Usenet is the place to go to research and interact with others on a particular subject.

It is not a live chat but a message board system where you post and read messages.

There are currently more than 50,000 such groups covering all imaginable subjects.

Some are moderated some are not

There are also several mailing lists you can subscribe to that will email you information periodically on your subject.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the most efficient way to get files to and from the net.

FTP is best handled through either your browser, for retrieving files, or a program such as WS_FTP for uploading files.

Telenet--a way to log in to a remote computer and use it as though it were your own.

Telenet requires a basic knowledge of UNIX commands in order to use and is really only used for systems administrators and occasionally for text based mail systems like "Pine."

Search sites are the easiest way to find the information you are seeking on the net.

However, in order to make good use of them you need to know a little about how they work.

There are basically three types of search sites out there:

Search Engine (http://www.altavista.digital.com)

Web Directory (http://www.yahoo.com)

Parallel and Metasearch (http://www.metacrawler.com)

Read A Short History of the Internet by Bruce Sterling