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The Internet, sometimes called simply
"the Net," is a worldwide system of computer networks - a network of networks in which users at any one computer can, if they have permission, get information from any other computer (and sometimes talk directly to users at other computers). It was conceived by the Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA) of the U.S. government in 1969 and was first known as the ARPANET. The original aim was to create a network that would allow users of a research computer at one university to be able to "talk to" research computers at other universities. A side benefit of ARPANet's design was that, because messages could be routed or rerouted in more than one direction, the network could continue to function even if parts of it were destroyed in the event of a military attack or other disaster.
Today, the Internet is a public, cooperative, and self-sustaining
facility accessible to hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Physically, the Internet uses a portion of the total resources of the currently existing public telecommunication networks.
Technically, what distinguishes the Internet is its use of a set of protocols called TCP/IP (for Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). Two recent adaptations of Internet technology,
the intranet and the extranet,
also make use of the TCP/IP protocol.
For many Internet users, electronic mail (e-mail)
has practically replaced the Postal Service for short written
transactions. Electronic mail is the most widely used application
on the Net. You can also carry on live
"conversations" with other computer users, using Internet Relay Chat (IRC). More recently, Internet telephony
hardware and software allows real-time voice
conversations.
The most widely used part of
the Internet is the World Wide Web (often abbreviated "WWW" or called
"the Web"). Its outstanding feature is hypertext, a method of
instant cross-referencing. In most Web sites, certain words or
phrases appear in text of a different color than the rest; often
this text is also underlined. When you select one of these words
or phrases, you will be transferred to the site or page that is relevant to this
word or phrase. Sometimes there are buttons, images, or portions
of images that are "clickable." If you move the pointer
over a spot on a Web site and the pointer changes into a hand,
this indicates that you can click and be transferred to another
site.
Using the Web, you have access to millions of pages of information.
Web browsing is done with a Web browser, the most popular of which are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. The appearance of a particular Web site may vary slightly depending on the browser you use. Also, later versions of a particular browser are able to render more "bells and
whistles" such as animation, virtual reality, sound, and music files, than earlier versions.
| LAST UPDATED: |
27 Feb 2006
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