The Internet is a worldwide connection of thousands of computer networks. All of
them speak the same language, TCP/IP, the standard protocol. The Internet allows people
with access to these networks to share information and knowledge. Resources available on
the Internet are chat groups, e-mail, newsgroups, file transfers, and the World Wide Web.
The Internet has no centralized authority and it is uncensored. The Internet belongs to
everyone and to no one.
The Internet is structured in a hierarchy. At the top, each country has at least
one
public backbone network. Backbone networks are made of high speed lines that connect to
other backbones. There are thousands of service providers and networks that connect
home or college users to the backbone networks. Today, there are more than
fifty-thousand networks in more than one-hundred countries worldwide. However, it all
started with one network.
In the early 1960's the Cold War was escalating and the United States
Government was faced with a problem. How could the country communicate after a nuclear
war? The Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency, ARPA, had a solution. They would
create a non-centralized network that linked from city to city, and base to base. The
network was designed to function when parts of it were destroyed. The network could not
have a center because it would be a primary target for enemies. In 1969, ARPANET was
created, named after its original Pentagon sponsor. There were four supercomputer
stations, called nodes, on this high speed network.
ARPANET grew during the 1970's as more and more supercomputer stations were
added. The users of ARPANET had changed the high speed network to an electronic post
office. Scientists and researchers used ARPANET to collaborate on projects and to trade
notes. Eventually, people used ARPANET for leisure activities such as chatting. Soon
after, the mailing list was developed. Mailing lists were discussion groups of people
who
would send their messages via e-mail to a group address, and also receive messages. This
could be done twenty-four hours a day.
As ARPANET became larger, a more sophisticated and standard protocol was needed.
The protocol would have to link users from other small networks to ARPANET, the main
network. The standard protocol invented in 1977 was called TCP/IP. Because of TCP/IP,
connecting to ARPANET by any other network was made possible. In 1983, the military
portion of ARPANET broke off and formed MILNET. The same year, TCP/IP was made a standard
and it was being used by everyone. It linked all parts of the branching complex networks,
which soon came to be called the Internet.
In 1985, the National Science Foundation (NSF) began a program to establish
Internet access centered on its six powerful supercomputer stations across the United
States. They created a backbone called NSFNET to connect college campuses via regional
networks to its supercomputer centers. ARPANET officially expired in 1989. Most of the
networks were gained by NSFNET. The others became parts of smaller networks. The Defense
Communications Agency shut down ARPANET because its functions had been taken over by
NSFNET. Amazingly, when ARPANET was turned off in June of 1990, no one except the network
staff noticed.
In the early 1990's the Internet experienced explosive growth. It was estimated that
the
number of computers connected to the Internet was doubling every year. It was also
estimated that at this rapid rate of growth, everyone would have an e-mail address by
the
year 2020. The main cause of this growth was the creation of the World Wide Web. The
World Wide Web was created at CERN, a physics laboratory in Geneva,
Switzerland. The Web's development was based on the transmission of web pages over the
Internet, called Hyper Text Transmission Protocol or HTTP. It is an interactive system
for
the dissemination and retrieval of information through web pages. The pages may consist
of text, pictures, sound, music, voice, animations, and video. Web pages can link to
other
web pages by hypertext links. When there is hypertext on a page, the user can simply
click
on the link and be taken to the new page. Previously, the Internet was black and white,
text, and files. The web added color. Web pages can provide entertainment, information,
or commercial advertisement. The World Wide Web is the fastest growing Internet
resource.
The Internet has dramatically changed from its original purpose. It was
formed by the United States government for exclusive use of government officials and the
military to communicate after a nuclear war. Today, the Internet is used globally for a
variety of purposes. People can send their friends an electronic "hello." They can
download a recipe for a new type of lasagna. They can argue about politics on-line, and
even shop and bank electronically in their homes. The number of people signing on-line
is
still increasing and the end it not in sight. As we approach the 21st century, we are
experiencing a great transformation due to the Internet and the World Wide Web. We are
breaking through the restrictions of the printed page and the boundaries of nations and
cultures.
You may not be aware of it, but the World Wide Web is currently transforming the
world as we know it. You've probably heard a lot about the Internet and the World Wide
Web, but you may not know what these terms mean and may be intimidated by this rapidly
advancing field of science. If there is one aspect of this field that is advancing
faster than any other, it is the ease with which this technology can be learned.
The Internet, by definition is a "network of networks." That is, it is a
world-wide network that links many smaller networks. The World Wide Web is a new
subdivision of the Internet. The World Wide Web consists of computers (servers) all over
the world that store information in a textual as well as a multimedia format. Each of
these servers has a specific Internet address which allows users to easily locate
information. Files stored on a server can be accessed in two ways. The first is simply
by clicking on a link in a Web document (better known as a Web page) that points to the
address of another document. The second way to locate a particular Web page is by typing
the Universal Resource Locator (URL) of the page in your browser (the software interface
used to navigate the World Wide Web). The URL of a page is the string of characters
that appears in the Location: box at the top of your screen. Every Web page has a unique
URL which begins with the letters "http://" that identify it as a Web page. This is the
equivalent of the Internet address and tells the computer where to find the particular
page you are looking for.
The greatest advantage of producing information in HTML format, is that files may be
linked to one another via hyperlinks (or links) within the documents. Links usually
appear in a different color than the rest of the text on a Web page and are often
underlined. Navigating the Web is as simple as clicking a mouse button. Clicking the
mouse on a link tells the computer to go to another Internet location and display a
specific file. Also, most Web browsers allow easy navigation of the Web by utilizing
"Back" and "Forward" buttons that can trace your path around the Web. Links within Web
pages aren't limited to just other Web pages. They can include any type of file at all.
Some of the more common types of files found on the Web are graphics files, sound files,
and files containing movie clips. These files can be run by different helper
applications that the Web browser associates with files of that type.
As a student, the Web can provide you with an enormous source of information
pertaining to any area of academic interest. This can be especially useful when
information is needed to write a term paper. Students can use one of the many Search
Engines on the Web to locate information on virtually any topic, just by typing the topic
that they wish to find information on.
Another application many students find the World Wide Web to be useful for is
career planning. There are hundreds of Web sites that contain information about job
openings in every field all over the United States as well as abroad. Job openings can
be found listed either by profession or by geographical location, so students don't have
to waste time looking through job listings that don't pertain to their area of interest
or location of preference. Alas, if students fail to find job openings they are
interested in, they can post their resumes to employment service Web sites which try to
match employers with those seeking employment.
The Web can also be a useful place for high school students applying to college or
college graduates who wish to delay their job hunt by going to graduate school. Many
colleges and universities around the world are getting on the Internet to provide their
students with access to the enormous amount of information available on it. This allows
students the opportunity to browse Web servers at different colleges where they can find
information useful in selecting the institution most appropriate to their academic needs.
While the World Wide Web can provide information crucial to your academic and
professional career, the information contained on it is not limited to such serious
matters. The Web can also provide some entertaining diversions from academics. You can
spend hours on the internet and it only feels like a couple minutes. A recent topic I
have personally been looking into is three dimensional chat rooms. In this type of chat
room you virtually walk around and approach other people and attempt to have a
conversation with them. Unfortunatlely everyone is not always responsive as you would
like them to be. As an avid user of the internet I highly recommend all people to look
into "Worlds Chat".
As the 21st century approaches, it seems inevitable that computer and
telecommunications technology will radically transform our world in the years to come.
The Internet and the World Wide Web, in particular, appear to be the protocol that will
lead us into the Information Age. The social and political implications for this new
technology are astounding. Never before has such an enormous amount of information been
available to a limitless number of people. Already, issues of censorship and free-speech
have come to take center stage, as the world scrambles to deal with the power of modern
technology.
The World Wide Web has already affected our educational, political, and commercial
sectors, and it now seems poised to affect every other aspect of human life. The days
where every home will have a computer are not far from the present. In order to keep up
with the technology of the future, you need to catch up with the technology of the
present. The easiest way to do this is to simply wander around the World Wide Web. It's
as easy as clicking a mouse. So sit back and explore the World Wide Web at your own
pace, and don't let yourself get left behind when the next technological breakthrough
comes along.
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