Internet: Is a huge number of computers that are worldwide connected to each other Or The Internet is a large network that connects smaller networks all over the globe

The computers are situated in many different countries and are connected through telephone lines, cables in the ground(e.g fibre optic) and even satellites in space.

The Internet is often referred to as the ‘information superhighway’.

Why? connects you to millions of other people and organizations.

How? By moving your ideas and information electronically through cyberspace (not geographic al space) by using THE WEB as an INTERFACE to connect to the Internet and to access the resources.

For example use instant messaging to chat with friends and collaborate on group projects like Whatsup, Yahoo messanger.

Or use Web sites to share information with others like Facebook, Jamii Forums, Instagram, Twitter.

The Internet, or ‘Net’, was known as ARPANET (Advanced Research Project Agency Network.

The first ARPANET link was established between the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Stanford Research Institute at 22:30 hours on October 29, 1969.

The term “internet” was adopted IN 1974 as an abbreviation of the term internetworking.

The Web, or ‘World Wide Web’ also known as ‘www’ was introduced in 1992 at the Center for European Nuclear research (CERN) in Switzerland

Prior to the Web, the Internet was all text; there were no graphics, animations, sound, or video. The Web made it possible to include these elements.

The Internet: Is the actual physical network. It is made up of wires, cables, and satellites.

Internet connects millions of computers and resources throughout the world

The Web: Is a multimedia interface to resources available on the Internet.

So A web is used to access resources/materials on the internet

Communicating – sending and receiving emails, online chatting, video conferencing, and the transferring various files and documents.

Shopping – e.g ebay, alibaba, amazon etc.

Entertainment – music, movies, magazines, and computer games

Education or e-learning – classes on almost any subject some are free while others cost.

Searching for information -e.g virtual libraries, latest local, national, and international news etc.

Use Search engine(A search engine is a web-based tool that enables users to locate information on the World Wide Web). Popular examples of search engines are Google, Yahoo!, and MSN Search.

To access internet, three items must be on hand…

Hardware: a computer(e.g desktop, laptop, smart phone) and connection device (e.g. modulator demodulator)

ISP-Internet Service Provider (National, regional and wireless are the three types of ISPs): to connect you to the Internet (e.g. Tigo, Airtel, Zantel, Halotel)

Software: a web browser e.g. Internet Explorer, Chrome, UC browser, Opera, Safari, slimbrowser, slimboat, Qupzilla, Torch for surfing the web, downloading files and using email.

A Web-browser: A browser is software that is used to access the internet.

A browser lets you visit websites and do activities within them like login, view multimedia, link from one site to another, visit one page from another, print, send and receive email e.t.c.

The most common browser software titles on the market are: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google’s Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari, and Opera.

For browsers to connect to resources, the location or address of the resources must be specified. These addresses are called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

URLs have at least two basic parts: protocol and domain name.

Protocols are rules for exchanging data between computers.

The protocol http: // is the most widely used Web protocol. Some other protocols include FTP File Transfer Protocol, SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, TCP Transmission Control Protocol, Telnet Telephone Network, HTTPs Secure Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, POP Post Office Protocol, MTP Media Transfer Protocol, IMAP Internet Message Access Protocol e.t.c.

Domain name is the name of the server where the resource is located. www.tandabui.ac.tz is an example of domain name.

So combining a protocol (http: // ) and domain name (www.tandabui.ac.tz) will form a URL http://www.tandabui.ac.tz.

Many URLs have additional parts specifying directory paths, file names, and pointers.

Types of Internet Communication

Three types of Internet Communication.

E-mail- E-mail or electronic mail is the transmission of information through electronic messages over the Internet.

The big difference with normal mail is speed.

The e-mail has two basic parts, user name and domain name.

Three basic requirements to send and receive e-mail are;-

an e-mail account e.g. info@tihest.org

access to the Internet, and

an e-mail program e.g. Gmail, Hotmail, yahoo mail etc..

There are special Websites that give you e-mail service free of charge, e.g. Google.

There are six essential parts to an email message, including

To: Who the message will be sent to

Cc/bcc: Who will get a copy of the message

Subject: What the message is about

Body: The content of the message

Signature: The name of the person sending the message

Attachment: The file attached from your computer. file name appears on the attachment line.

Instant messaging – share ideas with people you know, live communication e.g. yahoo messenger, Skype,

Discussion groups – share ideas with people you don’t know include mailing lists, newsgroups, and chat groups.

High-speed delivery: allows you to send messages and files to anyone in the world, almost instantly.

Low cost: sending information by email is a fraction of the cost involved when using the traditional mail system, especially when emailing to a different country.

File transfer: documents, images, sound and video files can be sent with email messages as attachments.

Flexibility: once you have a web based email account set up, you should be able to access your email from anywhere in the world that has an internet connection.

Time zone friendly: you can send it anytime and the recipient will read the mail when they want.

Reliability: through email you can save the documents and get them later

Spam

Beware of the possibility of receiving unsolicited mail (spam).

Spam emails offer an increasingly bizarre range of products and services.

Spam causes irritation and fills up mailboxes.

Viruses

Email is one of the major sources of computer viruses.

These viruses are usually hidden in attachments to emails.

discuss different types of internet connection (9 points)

explain features and types of web browsers

SEND TO: yohana@tihest.org