Internet Software
The language used for data transfer on the Internet is known as TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internet protocol). This is like the Internet operating system.
The first program you need is a PPP (point to point protocol) driver. This piece of software allows the TCP/IP system to work with your modem; it dials up your Internet service provider (ISP), transmits your password and log-in name and allows Internet programs to operate.
Web browsers
The Web is a hypertext-based system where you can find news, pics, games, online shopping, virtual museums, e-magazines - any topic you can imagine.
We navigate through the Web using an application called a browser, which allows you to search and print Web pages. You can click on keywords, buttons or links that take you to other destinations on the net and allow to retrieve other documents - texts, images, video and other content.
This is possible because browsers understand hypertext markup language (HTML), a set of tags, that allow the browser to format and display the content of a page.
Browsers get documents via HTTP, Hypertext Transfer Protocol, which is different from FTP: it is used for retrieving inter-linked resources in the World Wide Web.
FTP is another kind of transferring information over the net. It means "file transfer protocol" and is the technical side of how the files are transferred. With FTP you can copy programs, games, images and video from the hard disk of a remote computer to your own hard disk. This utility is built into most Web browsers, but for more advanced needs (uploading sites, for example) you might use special applications - file managers.
What is TCP/IP and how does it work?
Have fun Test yourself - How much of a "techie" are you?
Match the words in the left column with definitions in the right column. Check via Google for the right answers and count the score (1 right answer scores one point)
Scores:
0 - 3 = not much of a "techie"!
4 - 6 = on the way to being a "techie"!
7 - 9 = quite a "techie"!
10 = the full "techie"! Well done!
Some other notions you need to go Google for (some of them have become obsolete already!):
SPAM: |
Cu-See Me: |
Bandwidth: |
Flame: |
Sysop: |
MOO: |
WYSIWIG: |
VRML: |
|
The WEB
Warm up
Read the quotes and say if you agree/disagree or like/dislike the saying and why:
First we thought the PC was a calculator. Then
we found out how to turn numbers into letters with ASCII — and we
thought it was a typewriter. Then we discovered graphics, and we
thought it was a television. With the World Wide
Web, we've realized it's a brochure.”
~Douglas Adams
When I took office, only high energy physicists had ever heard of what is called the World Wide Web.... Now even my cat has its own page.” ~ Bill Clinton, 1996
We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.” ~ Robert Wilensky, 1996
The 'Net is a waste of time, and that's exactly what's right about it.” ~ William Gibson
<key words>
link |
node |
packet |
domain |
URL |
World Wide Web (WWW) |
scrollbar |
forward/back button |
ASCII |