"I'm cruising down the Information Superhighway in high gear... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ _ , __ __ __ __ __ -- -,_/\\_~0_\ ___ __ __ __ -- / ___ \- `___`"-, --- `"-( @ )----( @ )---` jgs '-' '-' ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Surfing the waves of the Digital Ocean.. . . - _ . . ~ . ~ - ~ . = . ~ ~ ~ __.---~~_~~_~~_~~_~ ~ ~~_~~~ . . .-' ` . ~_ = ~ _ = . ~ . ~ .' `. ~ - = ~ - _ ~ ` ~ . }` = - _ ~ - . ~ ` = ~ _ . ~ }` . ~ = ~ = ~ - ~ - _ . } ~ .__,~O ` ~ _ ~ ^ ~ - `}` - = /#/`-' - ~ = ~ _ ~ ~ . } ~ - |^\ _ ~ _ - ~ -_ = _ }` _____ /_ /____ - ~ _ ~ _ jgs }` `~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`_ = _ ~ - _ _ _ }` `. ~ . - _ = ~. ~ = . - = Exploring the uncharted regions of Cyberspace!" . * . . * -0- . . * - )- . * o . * o | . -O- . | * . -0- * o . ' * . o . . | * * * -O- . . * | , . o .---. = _/__~0_\_ . * o ' = = (_________) . . * * - ) - * . . "Actually, I'm sitting on my butt staring at a computer screen." - TT _ ~0 (_| |(_~|^~~| TT/_ T"T jgs^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -joan From: Veronica Karlsson The "Internet" consists of many computers, all over the world, connected to each other: ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ [(_)] |=| [(_)] |=| [(_)] |=| [(_)] |=| [(_)] |=| '-` |_| '-` |_| '-` |_| '-` |_| '-` |_| /mmm/ / /mmm/ / /mmm/ / /mmm/ / /mmm/ / |____________|____________|____________|____________| | | | ___ \_ ___ \_ ___ \_ [(_)] |=| [(_)] |=| [(_)] |=| '-` |_| '-` |_| '-` |_| /mmm/ /mmm/ /mmm/ These computers can then be used to communicate with each other in many different ways. Three of the most common ones are "The Web", "Email" and "Discussion groups" (also called "Newsgroups"). ----------------------------------- The "Web" consists of html documents, with links to each other as well as to other types of data: .------. ___ .' ___ \ ___ ___ |===|-' |===| `>|===| |===| |===| |===| |===|---->|===|| _/| |==_|---->|==_| |==_| .-|==_||| // o\ | ^ .' |___|| || ._) | `----------' |___|------> //__\ | | )___( | V | M | ||||| /'\ V ) ||. .|| ` \_____/ |||\=/||| (_____) o |.-- --.| /| /| o /(.) (.)\ / | \| 8o \ ) . ( / '( v )` \ | / ( | ) '- -` On the web you find things using a kind of address called a "URL", which often begins with "http://". The programs used to access these things are called "browsers". ----------------------------------- "Email" consists of messages sent between a limited number of people (often just two people): __________ |Hi Jane :)| | | |Are you | |coming to | |see me on | |Tuesday? | |__________| __________ |Hi John :(| | | |Sorry but | |I have to | |do some | |homework. | |__________| In email you use email addresses to send messages to specific people. They usually look something like this: jane@somefunnyplace.something To send email one uses "email programs". ----------------------------------- "Usenet" consists of "Discussion groups", which are basically "big containers" where one can send messages that anybody can read. To make communication more efficient the content of these containers is sent around the world to "news servers" and it is to such a news server you connect to read and post messages. The actual messages look a lot like email, but with the difference that they are intended for anybody to read. The messages get "flushed out" after a while to leave room for new messages. On Usenet you use the group names (e.g. alt-ascii-art) as a kind of address and the software used to read and send messages is called a "news reader" or "news program".