Internet+for+Beginners



Introductory class for users that want to start using the Internet and the World Wide Web. Learn how to search the web for information using a variety of search engines, how to store those sites for later and many other tips and tricks for using the Internet. Participants will also be exposed to setting up and organizing an online email account.

Instructor: Michelle Krill

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What is the Internet?
The Internet is a huge network of networks. It connects millions of computers together globally, forming a network in which any computer can communicate with any other computer as long as they are both connected to the Internet. Information that travels over the Internet does so via a variety of languages known as protocols. //(Source: [|Webopedia])//

How the Internet Works
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What is the World Wide Web?
The World Wide Web, or simply Web, is a way of accessing information over the medium of the Internet. It is an information-sharing model that is built on top of the Internet. The Web uses the HTTP protocol, only one of the languages spoken over the Internet, to transmit data. Web services, which use HTTP to allow applications to communicate in order to exchange business logic, use the the Web to share information. The Web also utilizes browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Firefox , to access Web documents called Web pages that are linked to each other via hyperlinks. Web documents also contain graphics, sounds, text and video. media type="youtube" key="wZoMbBzqxyc?fs=1" height="364" width="594" align="right" The Web is just one of the ways that information can be shared over the Internet. The Internet, not the Web, is also used for e-mail, which relies on SMTP , Usenet news groups, instant messaging and FTP. So //**the Web is just a portion of the Internet**//, although a large portion, but the two terms are not synonymous and should not be confused. //(Source: [|Wikipedia])//

[|Web Terms Explained]

What is a Browser?
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Bookmarking Sites
Internet browsers allow users to bookmark (save) favorite sites for easy access. This can be done with the Favorites icon (Internet Explorer) or the Bookmarks link (Firefox). These bookmarks are stored locally and are accessible from the computer you are using at the time the site is bookmarked.

File Types
A **file format** is a particular way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. A list of file formats is here.
 * .jpg or .jpeg - An image format widely used to display photographic images.
 * .gif - Image format (Graphics Interchange Format)
 * .png - Image format - (Portable Network Graphic -lossless, recommended for display and edition of graphic images)
 * .html or htm - HyperText Markup Language, this is a static webpage format code.
 * .pdf - Portable Document Format

Downloading Files & Saving Files
Files (pdf, image files & more) can be saved to your local computer. In most cases, the right click function provides access to this feature.

Printing
Clicking File>Print will print an entire webpage. This may be appropriate at times, but often results in a large amount of paper wasting.
 * [[image:printfriendly.jpg align="right"]]Some sites, such as Print Friendly will reformat a page for printing - http://www.printfriendly.com/.
 * Many pages will provide a printer friendly icon. Clicking this icon will reformat the page for printing. This usually removes graphics and advertisements.
 * [[image:printselection.jpg align="right"]]Other times you may only wish to print a selection of text from a page. Click and drag to highlight the portion of a page you wish to print and then click File>Print. Click the area next to Selection from the Printer dialog box.

Phishing
In the field of computer security, **phishing** is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. //(Source: Wikipedia)//

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Search Engines
media type="custom" key="7093701" align="left" A **web search engine** is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web and FTP servers. The search results are usually presented in a list of results and are often called //hits//. The search results may consist of web pages, images, information and other types of files. Some search engines also <span class="wiki_link_ext">mine data available in <span class="wiki_link_ext">databases or <span class="wiki_link_ext">open directories. Unlike <span class="wiki_link_ext">Web directories, which are maintained by human editors, search engines operate <span class="wiki_link_ext">by algorithms or are a mixture of algorithmic and human input. //(Source: [|Wikipedia])//

Email


A system for sending and receiving messages electronically over a computer network, as between personal computers. //(Source: Free Dictionary)//


 * [|Create a gmail (Google Mail) account.]

Searching
[|4Nets for Better Searching] [|25 Awesome Google Search Tips] Learn more at: Surf with Saavy - October 26, 2010