TCSF Basic Internet Workshop Outline

Basic Internet Training Agenda
- Introduction to the Internet
- Email
- Browsers
- Searches and Search Engines
What is the Internet?
- The Internet is a global system of networked computers that allows user-to-user communication and transfer of data files from one machine to any other on the network.
The Concept of the World Wide Web
- The "Web" is a concept, not a program, not a system, and not even a specific protocol.
- The World Wide Web provides the technology needed to offer a navigable, attractive interface for the Internet’s vast sea of resources
- The goal is to hide complexity behind usable interfaces
- In much the same way that the toolbar on a word processor screen obscures the intimidating codes that the program actually consists of.
History of the Internet
- Ancestor of the Internet was the ARPANET, a project started by the Dept. of Defense in 1969.
- Around 1980, networks began popping up (timesharing machines which served simultaneous users, thus client-server networks)
- WWW dates back to March of 1989.
WWW - W3 Consortium
- The three important components of the proposed system were the following:
- A consistent user interface.
- The ability to incorporate a wide range of technologies and document types.
- Its "universal readership"; that is, anyone sitting anywhere on the network, on a wide variety of different computers, could read the same document as anyone else.
- http://www.w3.org/ - Find the organizations official statements.
What You Need to Be "On the Internet"
- Computer
- Modem and Phone Line
- Internet Service Provider (ISP)
- Software
Internet Protocols
- All computer communications which use TCP/IP protocols are considered "on the Internet."
- IP is "Internet Protocol" and is the set of conventions used to transmit data.
- TCP is "Transmission Control Protocol" and is the set of conventions which emulates a dedicated circuit (to make sure data goes where it is supposed to).
How the Web Works: HTTP
- The transaction takes place in four basic phases:
- Connection
- Request
- Response
- Close
- The client connects with the server, the client sends a request to the server (the request specifies which protocol is being used, the server executes the response (ie. transferring), and finally the connection is closed.
How the Web Works: HTML
- HTML operates through a series of codes placed within a text document. These codes are translated by a client/browser into specific kinds of formats to be displayed on the screen.
- These items include links, lists, headings, titles, images, forms, and maps.
Different Services
- Electronic Mail (e-mail)
- Information retrieval
- Bulletin Boards (Usenet, BBS)
- On-line conversation
- Gossip (Internet Relay Chat)
- Games
Different Kinds of Files
- Text Files
- Executable Files
- Archives and Compressed Files
- PKZIP
- Compress
- Zip, gzip
- Stuffit (Mac’s)
- Data Files
Different Kinds of Graphic Files
- GIF
- JPEG (photos)
- MPEG (digitized movies)
- Others include PCX, TIFF, TARGA, PICT
Uses of the Web
- Graphical Design of Information
- Dissemination of Research
- Browsing and Ordering of Products (Shopping)
- Client and Customer Support
- Display of Creative Arts
Future Uses of the Web
- Full-scale Publishing
- Voting
- Live Interactive Entertainment
- News
- Distance Education
- Distance Presentations
- …and much more!
Internet Addresses
- URL - "Universal Resource Locator" is the address to specific information on the Internet.
- For example: Where on the Internet Host Computer File and Directory
- http://www / ceres.ca.gov / tcsf/index.html
Domain Name Extensions
- The three letter extension at the end of the domain indentifies the type of network used:
- .com commercial
- .edu educational institution
- .gov government institutions
- .mil military sites
- .net networking organizations
- .org other organizations
Email
- A message transmitted electronically to one or more persons.
- Every address has two parts, separated by @.
- Local @ Domain
- your user id @ computer holding your messages
- ie. heatherb @ sierra.net
-
Domain Name Extensions
- The three letter extension at the end of the domain identifies the type of network used:
- .com commercial
- .edu educational institution
- .gov government institutions
- .mil military sites
- .net networking organizations
- .org other organizations
Browsers
- Software which makes it possible to view information on the World Wide Web
- A software program that enables access to the World Wide Web and displays the files found there.
- Most browsers are graphically based and allow point-click access. Include features such as bookmarks or hotlists, navigational tools, transfer tools, etc.
Popular Browsers Include:
- Netscape
- Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Mosaic
- IBM WebExplorer
- And many others...
Browser Attributes
- Tool Bar
- Home
- Back
- Forward
- Scroll Bars
- Title Bar
- URL or address information
- Downloading
- Bookmarks or Favorites
Search Engines
- Software which makes it possible to search for and view information on the World Wide Web.
- Software program that follows links in homepages, searching for key words specified.
- Displays a list of homepages which contained the key words and allows point-click access to them.
- Specify key words that are descriptive, but not too limiting. Check spelling!
Popular Search Engines Include:
- Yahoo
- InfoSeek
- Alta Vista
- Lycos
- Magellan
- WebCrawler and many more...
Homepages
- A homepage is a WWW document that acts like a graphical table of contents. It gives an individual or a group a presence on the Web.
- Homepages can contain text and graphics and should provide simple introductory information, in addition to links to more detailed information.
HTML
- HTML is the acronym for "hypertext mark-up language." It is the language used to create the documents for the World Wide Web.
- HTML is the encoding system which allows browser programs to display text and other features in the graphical format you see on the Internet.
- HTML can include formatting, graphics and links to other documents.
File Transfer Protocol
- Protocol used to retrieve files from a host computer and copy them to another computer.
- FTP transfers in either binary or text format.
- FTP can transfer very large files (including application programs), whereas email programs usually limit file size.
- FTP requires that a user have the host site’s password to access available files.
- Anonymous FTP sites allow open access to designated files. These are the sites which contain "freeware" or "shareware" for downloading.
Internet Resource Guide
- Available through TCSF and SEDD
- Available On-Line at: http://www.ceres.ca.gov/tcsf/IRG/

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