Basic Internet Resources

Whether you are just starting out on the Internet or are a seasoned user, there are several things you should know to help you make the most -- and the best -- of your time.

Basics, definitions, and snags
A basic understanding of what the Internet is (or isn't) will be useful.  To start with, the Internet, strictly speaking, isn't a "thing"; it's actually a network of networks.  There is no one company, group, or government in control (as much as some would like to intimate that they control the Internet)--it's controlled cooperatively, though there is always some degree of tension involved.

Next, it's important to understand that the World Wide Web is not the whole of the Internet, although it is an important part of it.  Other components of the Internet include email, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), Usenet (also known as newsgroups) and private traffic, referred to as virtual private networks (VPNs).  We will start by focusing on the World Wide Web, then move on to email and text communications, newsgroups, and, finally FTP in future articles.

As of this writing, the Web is about 10 years old; it's most of what has led to the explosive growth of the Internet.  Some understanding of how it works is useful for getting the most out of it.

You may have noticed that web addresses start with HTTP, which stands for Hypertext Transport Protocol.   This tells the servers that the data is based on Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) which has been at the heart of how a web page works since the beginning.  It's what has enabled such features as embedded hyperlinks (links are highlighted, mouse-clickable text that opens a web page), graphics & pictures, and fancy page layouts.  There are newer and more-flexible standards being introduced; Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and eXtensible Markup Language (XML) are the two most important, but there are roadblocks to full adoption of these new standards.

What happens when you click on a link? The link is associated with an Uniform Resource Locator (URL).  The data is sent to a server associated with the Domain Name System (DNS) which translates the name to a numerical address.  The result is sent back to the browser; it's then used to hook up to the site.  The assigning of a name to a numerical address is what registration of a domain is mostly about.

A web browser is a program designed to work with HTML pages and Internet access; the best-known of these is Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)--others include Mozilla and Netscape (they share a code base, but Netscape is bloated and older) and Opera.  There are some advantages to alternate browsers over IE, including better compliance with the new standards--and some minor drawbacks.

The problem with Internet Explorer is that it is fundamentally broken.  It cannot properly handle the new standards like CSS and XML.  Why? Because its code base is obsolete.  There have been improvements and enhancements over time, but the heart of version 6 is still version 3.  Microsoft has admitted as much in print, but has also stated that there will be no new version of IE until the release of the next version of Windows, presently codenamed Longhorn--which is not due until sometime in 2007.   Since IE represents the bulk of browsers in use, that means that full adoption of the new protocols must wait until the new version becomes available.   There are work-arounds--web servers can identify which browser is being used and adust the pages as needed--but this adds to the difficulty in setting up a web site, or to use the correct term, a domain.   Further, some web sites use a control scheme called ActiveX that only works with Internet Explorer under Windows (it's no surprise that the Microsoft.com web site is one of the biggest users of ActiveX).   This is in spite of the fact that JavaScript can be used to perform the same functions, works in all browsers regardless of brand or operating system, and is more secure.

There are aspects to the World Wide Web that can be confusing.  I'm sure that the first time you sat in front of an Internet-connected computer, you wondered, "What now?" You may still be wondering -- after all, there is no "Welcome to the Internet" opening screen -- but it is possible to find good places to start.  Let's begin with some Web-use basics.

Web Portals are intended as literal starting places.  Some general portals gather links for news, shopping, maps and much more.  Two of the best-known of this type are Yahoo! and Netscape, both of which offer free web-based email accounts as well (Netscape now offers a $10-per-month Internet service, as well).  Another type of portal is what you might term a "research assistant".  A good example of this is About.com, where actual people are available to help you find what you are looking for.  No discussion of portals is complete without a mention of the U.S.  Government entry portal FirstGov--a good starting point for finding federal and state government information.

Most portals of the type we have discussed have search capabilities -- but that's not usually their main purpose (FirstGov is an exception).  Most portal-based search functions are actually links to off-site search engines (Yahoo! now has its own search technology)  The best-known search engine (and one of the best overall) is Google, so much so that the word Googled has become part of the language.  This search site has multiple uses, including a newsfeed, basic newsgroup access--even a spelling checker!  Another type of search engine is what is called a meta-search.   Examples of meta-search engines include Mamma and DogPile -- these sites hand off your search term to several search engines simultaneously.   This can be very helpful for some obscure searches.

Google, for example, has indexed over 3 billion web pages -- that's a lot of data to wade through.  There are another 10 billion or so pages that cannot be indexed since a bot (automated web-crawler "robot" also known as a web crawler or spider) can't get to them; they are dynamic, not static, or human input is required.  That's where assisted portals like About.com can help.

There are ways of manipulating your search terms to ensure maximum success with minimum effort.  One of these techniques is the judicious use of quotation marks.  Let's use an example:

You are going to Boston and want to make a side-trip to Martha's Vineyard.  Entering the search term martha's vineyard points of interest (no quotes) returns about 4,500 results.  Quotes around the whole phrase returns one hit (as of this writing) but the link is dead (the Internet is a dynamic entity; things pop up and disappear all the time).  Dividing the phrase as "martha's vineyard" "points of interest" returns about 900 hits, a more-manageable number -- and the most-useful results were on the first page.

There are a number of other tricks, as well -- some obvious, some less so.

• Try misspelling one or more words in your search term.  

• Try contractions like 3rd for third and a & for the word and (or vice versa - expand a term).   Example: "fourth of July" returned 480,000 hits, whereas "4th of July" returned roughly the same number of hits -- but an entirely different list.

• Try changing the word order, especially if the search phrase is in quotes.

• On Google, words can be excluded from a search by putting a dash in front of them.   For example, the search term Athlon (a brand of CPU that's an alternative to the Pentium) returns over 3 million hits, whereas athlon -pentium returns just over a million.

• Entering a phone number with area code on Google will usually get the name and address associated with the phone in question (if it is listed) -- including map links.

There is at least one other type of search engine available: Ask Jeeves can be useful -- it accepts search queries by asking it a question in natural language.

While we are on the subject of "natural language" it should be mentioned that some search engines offer automated on-line translations of foreign-language web pages.   While it's true that the results often resemble mangled Spanglish or Germlish, you can usually get the gist of the content anyway.   A stand-alone translation service can be found at BabelFish, where you can cut-and-paste a block of foreign-language text or enter a web-page address to be translated.

Other installments will cover Internet communications: email,  instant messaging, blogs, and Wikis.

Last revised: 25-May-2004.  Copyright © 2004 Michael Rudas.   All rights reserved.   The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the other members of the Oak Park Computer Club.   All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.   This article was created using the EditPad Classic text editor and OpenOffice.org 1.1.0 word processor, both free.   Permission is hereby granted to publish this article in an unmodified form, except for formatting (contact me for changes or updated versions).   Technical questions and help requests can be directed to my tech-support mailbox, the link to which can be found on this site or the OPCC site.