Using the Internet
At the onset I can tell you about who, why and when the Internet was invented,
but this does not interest us, so I shall start with what is Internet?
To keep it simple, Internet is nothing but more nor less a whole bunch of computers (called servers in the jargon) that are interconnected by ISPs (Internet Service Providers) such as Telenet or Skynet.
The WWW (World Wide Web) is the only part of the Internet which is known by most people.
The World Wide Web is a collection of interconnected computers, where information are stored in documents which we refer as Web pages.
Web pages can contain text, pictures, animations, movies, Forms, Links (Hyperlinks), etc.
When we click on a hyperlink, it can take us to another web page or another
Web Site.
A web page is 1 page, whereas a web-site consists of different web pages.
A Hyperlink if it is programmed via a script can also process information we have entered into a form on a web page.
A Hyperlink (we call this colloquially as “Link”) usually consists of a blue underlined text, but it can also be a photo or image.
If you look at the links on the left on this page, you can see that they are yellow.
So that as a web designer, you can determine the layout of this link.
As a visitor, a link can recognize when your mouse pointer hovers over a text or image goes, and it changes to a “hand” symbol, indicating that this is a link.
And when you click a link an action takes place such as:
it navigates to another page, another site, something is downloaded … etc.
When you click on a link, it changes the URL address.
URL stands for “Uniform Resource Locator”, also known as the Internet address.
In case if someone asks you about URL of the best online courses, then if your reply is just gratiscursus.be, then this is enough for the person to understand.
Clicking on the links is called surfing the Internet, in English one says “Browsing the Internet”.
I would like to conclude by saying in the end, that for surfing you need a program, that program is called a “Web Browser”.
Examples of a Web browser are Mozilla, Netscape, Firefox and of course Internet Explorer.
Internet Explorer is given to us for free with the purchase of Windows XP, by our “friend” Bill.
I call him Bill, because he gives so much to me, that I dare to call him a friend,
or would you instead continue to experience, and address him as Mr.. Gates.
The Web Browser in fact translated the Web language that is usually written in HTML, XML or DHTML, or some other language, so we can read.
Should you be interested, you can view the “web language” by right clicking anywhere in this page on and select “View Page Source”.
A Web Browser
We use a Web browser program to do “surfing” easily on the Internet.
Internet Explorer is the most widely used Web browser, and is available by default on your computer when you use Windows XP.
If you are not satisfied with it, you can download other web browsers from the Internet.
| In order to start Internet Explorer double click the icon that is present on our desktop. If this icon is not present on your desktop, then you can always click the “Start” button in the taskbar, and choose “All programs” – “Microsoft Internet Explorer.” |
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When the browser opens, you see the window is pretty much similar to other Windows programs.
You can find on the top of the “Title Bar”, which tells you what page you’ve arrived, and the browser name to the left and to the right there are buttons to minimize, maximize and close.
Under the “Title Bar” we find the “Address” bar from which we can navigate between previously visited pages
In the Address bar, we can create a web address (URL) to enter, we can scour the Internet on a particular word, and we will find the buttons “Refresh” and “Stop”.
The first is to reload the page again.
The second to stop a page to load.
Under the “Address” bar, we find the “Toolbar”
In the menu bar, we find different dropdown menus using these we can perform various operations such as open a new window or open a new tab to open a webpage, or select and copy text, search for a word on the page, etc.
And below the menu we find the “Command Bar”.
In the Command bar buttons to the left we find “Favorites” and “Bookmark”.
Let me first explain where you can use it.
If we wish to go through a site in the future and we are certain that we want to visit the site again, we can add it to our favorites.
We click on the button “Favorites”
In the Favorites folder we put all the pages we want to visit again in future.
When we click the “Favorites” icon, it opens a dialog where we determine which folder we want to add this site.
If we wish to save it in the Favorites folder, then we simply click on the button “Add”.
We can also save it to a previously created subfolder, by clicking on the blue arrow next to the box “Create in:”
And to save it in a new subfolder, we click the button “New Folder”.
Next, we give a suitable name for our subfolder, and click the button “Create”.
In the next pop-up window you’ll see that Windows automatically adds the new folder and on click of “Add” the site will be placed in the new folder.
If we click on the button “Favorites”, then we can verify that the the folder just created contains the URL.
Besides these two buttons we find various other tabs.
You see in the picture above that we have three tabs of different sites.
Clicking on these tabs allows us quickly to “jump” from one site to another.
The site where we are at that moment has a cross to the right of the title.
On click of this, we can close the tab.
Besides the different tabs we find the buttons “Home”, “Feeds”, “Print”, “Page”, and “Tools”.
The button “Home” brings us to the Home page, we can set it by clicking on the “Tools” in the menu bar and by choosing the “General” tab.
In the upper section we provide the Internet address we wish to use as Home.
The Home page is where you end up when you start Internet Explorer.
The button “Feeds” serves to update the published pages, such as news sites, which automatically check for updates..
If you visit such a site, notice the button “feeds” changing color.
The button “Print”, as you guessed it right, is used to print a page.
By clicking on the arrow next to the button “Page” we can open a new window, copy and paste selected text, zoom in and out, and perform some more of such tasks.
By clicking on the arrow next to the button “Tools” you can block Pop-Ups, display the page in full screen, and perform few other functions.
A Pop-Up is a window that opens unsolicited while viewing another page. ²
Important: I do work with the latest version of Internet Explorer, version 7.
In case you are usin an earlier version, the “look” of Internet Explorer differs.
You can download the latest version, it can be always downloaded from the Microsoft site.
Search the Internet
We can search on the Internet for pages that contain information that we are interested in.
In Internet Explorer version 7, we have to the left of the address bar, a box where we can enter one or more keywords, to search for.
We enter the keywords in the box, choose a Search Engine from the dropdown menu when we click on the arrow next to the magnifying glass.
A Search Engine is a large database of Internet addresses, where we can search for sites that might interest us. Examples are Google, Yahoo and Live search.
The results of all sites based on our keywords are shown in no time.
The more specific we search, the more specific the results will be.
In case you do not work with the latest version of Internet Explorer, for example version 7, you may not have a search box option available.
But does not matter, we could still surf the Search Engine site.
Google is www.google.com
For Yahoo is www.yahoo.com
And for Live Search is www.live.com
Do you already have the Internet address of a site that you want to visit, you obviously do not have to look first, then just type the address in the address box, and click the Enter button on your keyboard.
Items downloaded from the Internet
When we download a file from the internet, we actually copy that file from the computer we downloaded to our own.
So if you download something from the Internet, be on your guard, the possibility always exists that a virus is present in that file.
A virus (which is more likely you have already heard or read) is a program that is specifically written (usually by a sucker) to seriously harm your computer.
You can have different “things” downloaded from the Inte
To mention a number of: files, photos, programs, games, drivers for your hardware.
The important thing to remember is that you must have confidence from the location where you have downloaded from.
For example if you download something from the Microsoft site, you have much less chance of being attached by a virus, than if you download something from some seedy site.
A good site also for software, music or games to download is www.download.com.
Some are free (called freeware), some are very reasonably priced, and can first be tried out for a few days (this is called Shareware).
Depending on what you want to download, you will be asked where you want to save it.
On your desktop is a good place to find it directly, or a folder that you created when you save the downloaded files.
Once a file, usually a program or a driver is downloaded, we will need to be installed.
Read the instruction manual, which usually is present, before you install.
Internet security
First and foremost,
NEVER give your password or username to an individual on the Internet.
NEVER give your password or username to anyone who asks via e-mail.
When you visit a website, or store information on your computer, do you know that your privacy is protected.
Internet Explorer has a number of safety features that help your computer and protect information.
You need to regularly install the latest security updates from the Microsoft site.
Surf to this www.microsoft.com and search for “security” to find the latest updates, and install.
Anti-virus software
Anti-virus software is a program that prevents computer viruses to damage or destroy your computer.
Sometimes it can also restore your system, if a virus try to invade.
The two most common anti-virus programs are Norton Antivirus and McAfee Virus Scan
I use the first, but both function almost the same.
Once this software is installed on your computer, it will look for viruses and worms and if possible will try to repair the damange already done to your computer.
It will give you a report of all the infected files in the Quarantine, and option to repair or remove them.
You can use these programs so that, each time you start your computer, the program automatically starts.
And you are notified when an attempt is made via email or via a website, to “infect” your computer.
Once you have purchased the software, and you are registered with this company, a report of the latest updates for this program are sent to you.
These updates are included in the price, this is usually included for one year.
The next year should you renew your license for 1 more year, you shall continue to receive the latest updates.
