The Internet is a term used to describe an information service available through interconnected computers located around the world. We can access this service by connecting our computer to the phone line and having an Internet service provider (ISP). The job of the ISP is to allow us to access much larger computers and services. The ISP provides also web storage space and a number of electronic mail addresses. To access the ISP our computer needs to be able to use a standard telephone line, this is achieved by a piece of equipment called a Modem (modulator demodulator). The modem converts the digital computers signal to an analogue signal that can be carried over the telephone lines and vice versa. In addition, we need a way of viewing and finding things on the Internet. This is achieved by a browser software. If you have Microsoft windows on your computer then you will have Microsoft Internet explorer as a browser. The World Wide Web is part of the Internet, it has its own protocols. All the world wide web addresses begin with www. The individual web structures are comprised of pages that can support text and graphics, audio and video media. These pages can be connected with "hyperlinks" that, when activated, enable the viewer to transfer to another page either within the local web or to any other page on any site on the World Wide Web. Information contained on web pages is vast and varied. The World Wide Web is commonly used for both recreational activities and research. Other Internet protocols such as Usenet, electronic mail, File Transfer Protocol and TeInet facilities still offer their own specialist functions. Active X ActiveX offers the opportunity to embed animated objects, data, and computer code on Web pages. A web browser supporting ActiveX can render most items encountered on a Web page. For example, Active X allows users to view three-dimensional VRML worlds in a Web browser without the use of a VRML plug-in. As another example of the power of ActiveX, this technology can allow you to view and edit PowerPoint presentations directly within your Web browser. ActiveX technology was developed by Microsoft and works best with Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser to make plug-ins less necessary. Plug-Ins Turns your computer into a radio or television.File formats requiring plug-ins are known as MIME types. MIME stands for Multimedia Internet Mail Extension, and was originally developed to help e-mail software handle a variety of binary (non-ASCII) file attachments. The use of MIME has expanded to the Web. For example, the basic MIME type handled by Web browsers is text/html associated with the file extention.html. A common plug-in utilised on the Web is the Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Acrobat Reader allows you to view documents created in Adobe's Portable Document Format. These documents are the MIME type application/pdf and are associated with the file extension .pdf. When the Acrobat Reader has been configured to your browser, the program will open and display the file requested when you click on a hyperlinked file name with the suffix .pdf. The latest versions of the Acrobat Reader allow for the viewing of documents within the browser window. Web browsers are often standardized with a small suite of plug-ins, especially for playing multimedia content. Additional plug-ins may be obtained at the browser's Web site, at special download sites on the Web, or from the Web sites of the companies that created the programs. The number of available plug-ins is increasing rapidly. Once a plug-in is configured to your browser, it will automatically launch when you choose to access a file type that it uses. Digital imaging course http://www.inform.umd.edu/UMS+State/UMD-Projects/MCTP/Technology/image/index.html http://www.inform.umd.edu/UMS+State/UMD-Projects/MCTP/Technology/image/image.html http://www.inform.umd.edu/UMS+State/UMD-Projects/MCTP/Technology/image/sources.html Domain names http://angelfire.lycos.com/doc/subscriptions/index.html Free web space http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/ the UK's largest provider of web hosting http://www.netthe.net also web design/web hosting http://www.oneandone.co.uk web hosting http://www.123-reg.co.uk web hosting http://www.0catch.com web hosting E-mails corporate http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=%2Fdirectory%2Fcontent.asp http://www.perryland.com/lotusquestions1.html E-mails tips http://www.ico.gov.uk/eventual.aspx http://www.islandnet.com/~tmc/html/articles/email.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=E-mail&printable=yes http://malektips.com/emb0021.html http://malektips.com/electronic_mail_help_and_tips.html http://malektips.com/maillist http://www.webfoot.com http://www.webfoot.com/advice/email.top.html http://www.webfoot.com/advice/email.jargon.html?Email Free e-mails http://www.bigfoot.com free email & tools for people’s finding http://www.cybercaptive.com offers public Internet access http://411locate.com email search http://www.freeserve.com first for free Internet access http://www.ft.com offers free email http://www.50connect.co.uk free email address http://www.hotmail.com first free web mail /virus checks/block spam http://www.mail2web.com to pick up your email from any POP3. http://www.talk21.com free email account http://www.tiscali.co.uk Ex line/free email/ shopping mall http://www.twigger.co.uk gives you e-mail similar to a home email. http://www.webbox.com search directory/ full access to email & files http://uk.yahoo.com free email/web space/greeting cards/directory File Transfer Protocols between computers on the Internet ftp://ftp.fast.net/ http://www.ftpfind.com ftp find http://www.ftpsearchengines.com ftp search engines ftp://ftp.globalnet.co.uk http://www.ipswitch.com/ WS_FTP LE (32-bit) 5.08 transfer file http://ftp.uu.net ftp://ftp.microsoft.com Microsoft http://ftp.netuni-c.dk/tucows/ftp95.html http://tucows.fast.net Internet browsers http://www.opera.com home http://www.opera.com/index.dml browser http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx home http://www.mozilla.com/en-US home http://www.netscape.com home http://browser.netscape.com/ns8 browser Internet Consortium http://www.w3.org/ The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops specifications, guidelines, software, and tools to lead the Web to its full potential as a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding. http://www.w3.org/P3P/ The Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P), provides a simple, automated way for users to gain more control over the use of personal information on Web sites they visit. http://www.w3.org/Privacy/Activity.html W3C has taken on an important role in how people can be sure that personal and other information will be accessed only according to their wishes, and will not be disclosed to other parties without their permission. 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http://news.com.com Technology news http://www.cnn.com/video/netshow US CNN video news http://www.microsoft.com/isapi Microsoft text only directory http://disney.go.com Disney home online http://www.foxnews.com US based world wide news http://foxsports.lycos.com/named/Index/Video US based sports news http://www.hollywood.com/netshow Hollywood movies & Photos Gallery http://windowsmedia.msn.com/radiotuner/MyRadio.asp Radio tuner http://www.msnbc.com/m/v/video_news.asp news from around the globe http://launch.yahoo.com/musicvideos live music videos http://nbcpublish.console.net US based world wide news http://www.mp3.com live mp3 music videos http://showcase.universalstudios.com universal studios online http://www2.warnerbros.com Warner Bros. http://windowsmedia.com/mg/home.asp what is on now Shockwave to view animated and interactive multimedia. http://www.macromedia.com/software/shockwaveplayer/index.htmlFlash turns your computer into an interactive animation machine. 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directory. http://www.excite.com for meta search /photo/classified/yellow/white pages http://www.overture.com/ formerly GoTo, is a leading in performance search. http://www.hotbot.com good databases /distinctive filters for precise search. http://www.infoseek.com Walt Disney site, news groups and FAQ. http://www.ixquick.com most powerful metasearch engine/news/MP3/Pictures http://www.lycos.co.uk search, Internet access, homepage building & chat. http://www.searchenginewatch.com http://www.ukplus.co.uk for all family, it excludes offensive content. http://www.uk.yahoo.com top directory for all http://www.webcrawler.com search for news/ photos/ yellow & white pages Security and Protection http://www.adultcheck.com http://www.cyberangels.org the largest internet safety organization http://www.cyberpatrol.com protect children against inappropriate material. http://www.familyinternet.about.com links to internet safety tutorial/sites http://www.icra.org empowers parents to protect children 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http://www.freespace.net general search directory http://javascript.internet.com free "cut and paste" JavaScript for web pages. http://netthe.net register domain names, web design & hosting http://www.register.com register domain names & offer free 3 pages web site http://www.stars.com under construction http://www.theglobalnetwork.co.uk web hosting Newsgroups http://www.broadwatch.com http://www.bulletinboards.com http://www.dejanews.com http://www.thedirectory.org/diamond/bbslists.htm http://www.easynews.com http://www.liszt.com Internet level 1 http://www.learnthenet.com Internet basics http://www.monroe.lib.in.us/class/net101/index.html web basics http://www.dur.ac.uk http://www.dur.ac.uk/undergrad http://www.dur.ac.uk/undergrad/clearing.htm http://www.talk21.co.uk task 2.1 Emails http://www.upmystreet.com task 2.4 search for information http://www.icteesside.co.uk http://www.tees.ac.uk main site http://www-scm.tees.ac.uk computer & mathematics http://www.castlesandgardens.co.uk http://www.cleveland.ac.uk http://www.iii.co.uk/investments http://www.ukhotelnet.com http://www.trocn.co.uk http://www.frontstreet.co.uk http://www.railtrack.co.uk http://windowsmedia.com/radiotuner/default.asp http://www.netdoctor.co.uk http://www.101cd.com http://www.mfc.co.uk http://www.movie-mistakes.com http://www.consumer.gov.uk http://www.amazon.co.uk http://www.asda.co.uk http://www.argos.co.uk http://www.sainsburys.co.uk http://www.hampers.co.uk http://www.Dominos.co.uk http://groups.google.co.uk task 2.5 News groups http://www.educate.org.uk/forum/messages/338/338.html?1010764670 ftp://ftp.globalnet.co.uk task 2.2 File transfer protocol ftp://ftp.microsoft.com ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Services/Education ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Services/Education/Curric/Office ftp://ftp.uu.net http://ftp.netuni-c.dk/tucows/ftp95.html Children websites http://www.ajkids.com ask Jeeves for kids http://disney.go.com/dig/today Disney for kids US http://disney.co.uk Disney for kids UK 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