An Over-View Of The Internet

The Internet

Today the Internet is an integral part of our everyday lives. But if you are new to the online experience, it may be a bit overwhelming. You may wondering, "What exactly is the Internet, and how does it work ?"

In this lesson, we will give a brief overview of the Internet, and we will talk about some fundamental concepts such as networks, servers, and clients.

The Internet Today

In the early days, most people just used the Internet to search for information. Today's Internet is a constantly evolving tool that not only contains an amazing variety of information but that also provides new ways of accessing, interacting, and connecting with people and content. As a result, new terms are constantly appearing.

Below are a number a few common terms you might encounter online:-

• Social networking: refers to online services that allow people to interact with each other and stay connected with friends, family, and people around the world. Examples include Facebook and Twitter. Some social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, focus on career networking.
• Poadcast: With a podcast, you can subscribe to a series of audio or video filesthat will automatically be downloaded to your computer. The files can then be played on the computer or an mp3 player. A podcast is basically a web feed for media. Unlike internet radio, podcasts are not streaming, so the media has to download fully before it can be played.
• Online chat: is a system that allows users to communicate in real time. Unlike e-mail, all messages show up immediately in the same window, which makes conversations quicker and easier.Instant messaging is a type of chat where you communicate with a specific person instead of an entire chat room.
• Social bookmarking: allows users all over the internet to save and share interesting sites.
  Some social bookmarking sites are mainly used to share photos that people have found around the web.
• , also known as a news feed, is a way to receive updates from your favorite web sites and blogs. Instead of visiting many different sites to check for updates, you can read their feeds on a feed reader. Two common feed formats are 
• Streaming: If you watch a movie online or listen to iTunes radio, it's called streaming media, which means it plays while downloading so you don't have to wait for it to download first. The media starts downloading a little bit before it starts playing (called "buffering") so that it can play more smoothly.
• Blog: is short for "web log." It's a type of web site that is usually updated frequently, often with news articles or random thoughts. Some sites, such as blogger.com, allow you to create and edit your own blog for free.
• Email: (short for "electronic mail") is a system for sending and receiving messages online. Many email services include extra features such as calendars, task lists, instant messaging, web feeds, and news headlines.
• VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as internet telephone, allows a user to have telephone service through an internet connection. Some people find that they can save money by using VoIP instead of purchasing a separate telephone service. One example is Skype.

What is the Internet?

A diagram of the internet

The Internet is the largest computer network in the world, connecting millions of computers. A network is a group of two or more computer systems linked together.

There are two main types of computer networks:

• Local Area Network (LAN): A LAN is two or more connected computers sharing certain resources in a relatively small geographic location, often in the same building. Examples include home networks and office networks.

• Wide Area Network (WAN): A WAN typically consists of two or more LANs. The computers are farther apart and are linked by telephone lines, dedicated telephone lines, or radio waves. The Internet is the largest Wide Area Network (WAN) in existence.

Internet Servers And Clients

You may have heard someone saying something like "The server is down" or "We're having problems with the e-mail server." A server is a computer that "serves" many different computers in a network by running specialized software and storing information. For example, webpages are stored on servers.

When you access a webpage, your computer is acting as a client. A client runs familiar software such as web browsers or email software, and it communicates with the server to get the information it requires.

In order for your browser to display a webpage, it requests data from the server where the page is stored. The server processes the request, then sends the data to your browser (i.e the Client), where it is displayed.

Diagrams showing the Server-Client Relationship

Note: In peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, each computer acts as both a server and a client. Examples of P2P software include Skype and BitTorrent.

The World Wide Web

When people think of the Internet, the first thing they think about is the World Wide Web. Today, the terms "Internet" and "World Wide Web" are often used interchangeably but they're actually not the same thing.

• The Internet is the physical network of computers all over the world.
• The World Wide Web is a virtual network of websites connected by hyperlinks (or "links"). Websites are stored on servers on the Internet, so the World Wide Web is a part of the Internet.

HTML

HTML means Hypertext Markup Language. The backbone of the World Wide Web is made of HTML files, which are specially formatted documents that can contain links, as well as images and other media. All web browsers can read HTML files. In addition to HTML, it's common for websites to use technologies like CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and JavaScript to do more advanced things.

Example of a HTML document

URL

To get to a webpage, you can type its URL (Uniform Resource Locator) into a browser. The URL, also known as the web address, and tells the browser exactly where to find the page. However, most of the time, people get to a webpage by following a link from a different page or by searching for the page using a search engine.

Diagram of a URL and the Google search engine

The World Wide Web was created in 1989 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a software engineer. Before then, computers could communicate over the Internet, but there were no webpages.

• The foundation of the Internet started in 1969, when the U.S. Department of Defense created  a project to allow military personnel to communicate with each other in an emergency the project called ARPAnet,.

• By 2012, the number of Internet users worldwide reached 2.4 billion—about one-third of the world's population.
• To store all of the information that's available on the Internet, you would need more than 1 billion DVDs or 200 million Blu-ray discs.

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Details On Use And Care Of A Computer Mouse

Introduction

Just like humans would use their hands to interact with objects in their physical environment, the mouse is used for interacting with items on the computer screen. One can move objects, open them, change them, throw them away, and perform other actions, all by pointing and clicking with the mouse.

The Basic Parts Of A Computer Mouse

A computer mouse typically has two buttons:- 

A primary mouse button also called the command button (usually the left button) and a secondary mouse button (usually the right button). The primary mouse button is used more often since it is the button that is assigned the duty of issuing direct instructions like selecting items when using a mouse while the secondary mouse button is mostly used to display context menus. Most mice also include a scroll wheel between the buttons to help users scroll through documents, webpages or whatever content being viewed more easily. On some mice, the scroll wheel can be pressed to act as a third button. Advanced mice might have additional buttons that can perform other functions.

A computer mouse showing labelled parts

Holding And Moving The Computer Mouse

In order to carry out any operations with the computer using its mouse with ease, you must learn to do the following:-

 Place your mouse beside your keyboard on a clean, smooth surface, such as a mouse pad. Hold the mouse gently, with your index finger resting on the primary button and your thumb resting on the side. To move the mouse, slide it slowly in any direction. Don't twist it, keep the front of the mouse aimed away from you. As you move the mouse, a pointer on your screen moves in the same direction. If you run out of enough room to move your mouse on your desk or mouse pad, just pick up the mouse and bring it back closer to you but still on the pad.

The proper way of holding a computer mouse during use

Pointing,Clicking And Dragging With A Mouse

Pointing to an item on the screen means moving your mouse so the pointer appears to be touching the item. When you point to something, a small box often appears that describes the item. For example, when you point to the Recycle Bin on the desktop, a box appears with this information: "Contains the files and folders that you have deleted."

The pointer can change depending on what you're pointing to, or the environment you are working inside . For example, when you point to a link in your web browser, the pointer changes from an arrow to a hand with a finger pointing to the link.

Most mouse actions combine pointing with pressing one of the mouse buttons. There are basically four ways to use your mouse buttons, and that is by clicking, double-clicking, right-clicking, and dragging.

Different Computer Mouse pointers during operation

    Single-clicking

In order to click an item using the computer mouse, point to the item on the screen, and then press and release the primary button or command (usually the left button).

Clicking is most often used to select (mark) an item or open a menu. This is sometimes called single-clicking or left-clicking.

  Double-Clicking

To double-click an item, point the mouse pointer to the item on the screen, and then click twice quickly. If the two clicks are spaced too far apart, they might be interpreted as two individual clicks rather than as one double-click.

Double-clicking is most often used to open items on your desktop. For example, you can start a program or open a folder by double-clicking its icon on the desktop. If in case you have problems on double-clicking, you can adjust the double-click speed (the amount of time acceptable between clicks). Just do the following:-

1. Click and open mouse properties

2. Click the Buttons tab, and then, under Double-click speed, move the slider to increase or decrease the speed.

Right-Clicking

In order to right-click an item on a computer, point to the item on the screen, and then press and release the secondary button (usually the right button).

Right-clicking an item usually displays a list of things you can do with the item, this list is referred to as a context menu. For example, when you right-click the Recycle Bin on your desktop, Windows displays a menu allowing you to open it, empty it, delete it, or see its properties. If you're ever unsure of what to do with something on a computer, right-click on  it.

The computer Recycle bin showing context menu when right clicked

Dragging

Items can be moved around the computer screen by dragging them. To drag an object, point to the object on the screen, press and hold the primary button, move the object to a new location, and then release the primary button.

Dragging (sometimes called dragging and dropping) is most often used to move files and folders to a different location and to move windows and icons around on your screen.

Dragging computer files

Using The Mouse Scroll Wheel

If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can use it to scroll through documents and webpages. To scroll down, roll the wheel backward (toward you). To scroll up, roll the wheel forward (away from you).

Using the mouse scroll wheel

Customizing Your Mouse To Suit You

You can change your mouse settings to suit your personal preferences. For example, you can change how fast your mouse pointer moves around the computer screen, or change the pointer's appearance. If you're left-handed, you can switch the primary button to be the right button. For more information, see Change mouse settings on your computer.

Making Safety Use Of Your Mouse

1. Place your mouse at elbow level. Your upper arms should fall relaxed at your sides.
2. Don't squeeze or grip your mouse tightly. Hold it lightly.
3. Move the mouse by pivoting your arm at your elbow. Avoid bending your wrist up, down, or to the sides.
4. Use a light touch when clicking a mouse button.
5. Keep your fingers relaxed. Don't allow them to hover above the buttons.
6. When you don't need to use the mouse, don't hold it.
7. Take short breaks from computer use every 20 to 25 minutes.

Done, You've mastered using your computer mouse. In case you have a question please visit www.thecomputerculture.blogspot.com read a topic (e.g How To Use A Computer Mouse) ans drop your question(s) as a comment and for sure you are answered.