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Connection to the Internet
Internet Explorer. This, along with Netscape, is the most used "WWW browser" in the world. It is the main way that people explore and use the Internet, the world wide connection of networks which ties millions of computers and people together. Internet Explorer (IE4) lets you browse the World Wide Web, lets you search for information, lets you download programs or files, lets you shop for products, learn about any subject, access music and videos, and much more.
There are some terms that you will frequently encounter that are useful to know:
- Client and Server: a client program or client-side program is one that runs on your own PC and typically makes requests and displays results produced by a "server". A Server is a program running on a remote machine that accepts requests made by the client and obtains the information desired. For example, Internet Explorer is a client program that runs on your PC. When you click on a link, it sends a request to the "server" program on some remote machine whose purpose is to figure out how to get the information that you requested. Generally, the "client" is anything on your side of your telephone, and the "server" is anything on the other side of your telephone.
- WWW: the World Wide Web. The graphical hypertext service that operates on the Internet. It uses the same protocol as the Internet but adds an additional protocol, HTTP, of its own on top of the basic Internet protocols.
- Internet: the global communications network composed of many thousands of smaller networks which use the TCP/IP protocol to provide communication.
- GIF (Graphics Interchange Format): a graphical file format that is commonly used on the WWW (World Wide Web). GIF files have the extension ".gif"
- HTML: HyperText Markup Language. The language for describing the contents of a web page
- HTTP: HyperText Transport Protocol. The communications protocol that allows WWW browsers to retrieve information from servers.
- Hyperlink: a pointer from text or an image to a page or location in a page on the WWW
- TCP/IP: the protocol for the transmission of packets over the Internet
- URL (Uniform Resource Locator). A string that supplies the Internet address of a Web site, along with the protocol (usually HTTP).
- Packet: all messages on the Internet are divided into small blocks called "packets". Each packet contains the address of the message as well as its position in the message. The packets are dispersed and may follow completely different pathways to the destination where they are reassembled in correct order. Some packets may be sent by satellites, others though cables, others thru microwave links.
- Search Engine: these are systems that scan most if the WWW and, as a result, will extract lists of articles that contain keywords or phrases. The best know search engines are MetaCrawler, Alta Vista, and Yahoo. These tools are invaluable.
How information is transmitted between you and the Internet:
- Your keystrokes or files are converted to 1's and 0's, then your Modem converts these to analog phone signals and sends them to the server site. Its modem converts them back to 1's and 0's. The server then looks at information and sends a request to some other site. The other site then creates a packetized response which is then sent and reassembled at the first server site. Then it is returned to you over the phone lines
Using Internet Explorer 4:
- Invoking Internet Explorer: you normally double-click on the icon on your desktop, or use START > PROGRAMS > Internet Explorer
- Customizing IE4: click on VIEW > Internet Options and you will
several tabs:
- General: lets you set a home page. Also, if, for some reason, you cannot refresh a web page to a new version, click on DELETE FILES to clear your IE4 cache
- You can skip most of the other tabs, but you might use ADVANCED. In particular, this has checkboxes for "Show Pictures" which you might want to turn off if the display is too slow.
- Normal operation. You use the following to browse the
web:
- FILE > OPEN to specify a URL to go to
- EDIT > FIND to search for text on a page
- FAVORITES to add, remove, or view "bookmarks" (URLs that you wish to visit again)
- Click on STOP to stop a long file from loading
- Click on SEARCH to search for various sites
- Use FILE > OPEN and go to "www.washington.edu" for a site that lets you use many search tools (click on Reference Tools) such as MetaCrawler
- Click on HISTORY to see you previous IE 4 sites you visited
- Locating search engines: start with this address: http://www.washington.edu. Then click on "Reference Tools" in the blue bar near the top right, then click on "Web Tools", then click on "MetaCrawler", "Alta Vista", or other search engines. For MetaCrawler, you can search for keywords or key phrases.
- To install dial-up access to an ISP (Internet Service Provider --
you only do this once) you
- Click on My Computer > DailUp Networking
- In the window that opens up, specify a name for this connection, and then identify the modem that you have, and click on NEXT
- Then specify the full phone number (for AdcomSys it is 206 729 0151)
- Then click on FILE > SHORTCUT and drag the icon to the desktop
- For Windows 95, you may have to do things explicitly"
- Click on START > SETTINGS> CONTROL PANEL and double click on ADD/REMOVE Programs
- Click on the WINDOWS tab, click on COMMUNICATIONS and then click on DETAILS
- Then click the tab for Dial-Up Networking. If this does not install correctly, you may need to remove it and try again (always reboot), or download patches to it.
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