If you've seen the latest IBM commercials, you know that the Internet is making the world a much smaller place. Anyone anywhere in the world who has a computer and a connection to the Internet can communicate with all the other people on the Internet
to
gather information, market products, share insights, and just have some fun.
However, as the world becomes smaller, the global Internet is popping its seams. When it first started, the Internet was little more than an electronic hangout for computer geeks to exchange messages and send files back and forth. Today, the Internet
is
open to all, and it contains a vast assortment of features. Sure, you can still exchange messages and files, but now you can view pictures and video clips, play sounds and interactive programs, chat with others as if you were talking on the phone (with
your keyboard), shop for and order products. . .well, you get the idea.
The fact is that "the Internet" is an umbrella term that covers a wide range of areas: the World Wide Web (WWW or the Web, for short), IRC (Internet Relay Chat) for gabsters, Gopher (a menu system), Telnet (for remote computing), e-mail (for
exchanging messages), and newsgroups (electronic message boards). This chapter introduces you to the various Internet features. Subsequent chapters in Part I show you how to connect to the Internet and use Internet Explorer 3.0 to tap into these
resources.
Chapter 2, "Introduction to Internet Explorer 3.0," shows you what a Web browser does and provides an overview of Internet Explorer 3.0.
Chapter 3, "How to Get Connected," tells you what you need to plug into the Internet. You'll learn which type of connection you need, how to find an Internet service provider, and how to connect for the first time. If you run into problems,
this chapter will help you find the solution.
Chapter 4, "Configuring Windows 95 for the Internet," provides instructions for connecting to the Internet in Windows 95.
Chapter 5, "Installing and Configuring Internet Explorer 3.0," tells you how to find and download the latest version of Internet Explorer, install it, and change the settings that control its appearance and behavior.
If you already have an Internet connection and a copy of Internet Explorer 3.0, feel free to skip ahead to Part II, "Navigating with Internet Explorer 3.0." This part provides instructions on how to use Internet Explorer's basic and advanced
tools for navigating the Internet.
In the early 70s, during the Cold War's most frigid era, the Defense Department was worried that an attack on a single computer system could destroy its communications infrastructure. To prevent this from happening, the Defense Department created
ARPAnet (named after the Advanced Research Projects Agency). This experimental project was designed to allow various military and educational institutions to communicate in the event of a national disaster. If one computer in this interconnected network
were destroyed, communications could be instantaneously rerouted through other computers.
When a few college kids and businesses realized the potential of this vast network of computers, and when the network opened to the public, the Internet was born. Currently, the Internet consists of millions of computers all over the world that are
connected by network cables, satellite, and phone cables. And, it's getting bigger.
The World Wide Web (WWW for short) is part of the Internet. It consists of millions of Web servers that store documents consisting of electronic pages. And when I say "documents," I'm not referring to stodgy, old text documents that you might
find in some government warehouse. Although most Web documents do contain text, they also contain pictures, sounds, video clips, animations, and interactive programs. Think of the Web as a huge multimedia encyclopedia that encompasses the globe.
What makes the Web unique is that these documents act as a single document. Each Web document contains links (hypertext)—highlighted text or small pictures or icons that you can click on. When you click on a link, your computer loads
the corresponding Web page, whether it's stored on the same Web server or on a server somewhere in Siberia. You can wander the globe simply by clicking on links. Many links also point to multimedia files; if you click on one of these links, your computer
copies the file and starts playing it.
In order for you to meander the Web, you need an Internet connection and a Web browser. You establish an Internet connection by using special software that connects your computer to a computer that's on the Internet. (You'll learn how to do this in
later chapters.) The Web browser (Internet Explorer 3.0) uses the Internet connection to load Web pages and display them on your screen. The Web browser handles all the technical mumbo jumbo behind the scenes while you click on links (see Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1. Internet Explorer loads and displays Web pages.
Although Internet Explorer 3.0 can handle most of the information contained in a Web page (including pictures), it needs help playing some multimedia files and interactive programs. If you click on a link that points to a file type that Internet
Explorer 3.0 can't handle, a dialog box appears that gives you the opportunity to save the file to your hard disk.
To play file types that Explorer itself cannot play, you use helper applications or add-ons. For example, you can set up Internet Explorer 3.0 to use a helper application or add-on that plays AVI files (video clips). When you click
on a link for an AVI file, instead of prompting you to save the file to disk, Explorer will copy the file, run the helper application or add-on, and immediately start playing the clip. You can learn more about helper applications and add-ons in Part IV,
"Viewing Multimedia Files and Interactive Sites."
NOTE
The World Wide Web started in the 1990s in Geneva, Switzerland, where a group of physicists stitched together the first Web documents. Their plan was to develop a system that would make it easy for scientists from all over the world to share information and ideas. The first Web documents consisted simply of text with links to other documents. In recent years, however, Web documents have come to include all sorts of interactive, multimedia elements.
As you innocently click on links, flipping Web pages and skipping from one Web server to another, your Web browser is busy finding all those sites, pages, and files. How does a Web browser perform this busy work? Behind every link is a URL
(Uniform Resource Locator), which acts as an address for Web pages and other items on the Internet. You've probably seen URLs on TV or in magazines. For example, you can visit IBM's Web site at http://www.ibm.com
(pronounced "http-www-dot-ibm-dot-kahm"), or the White House at http://www.whitehouse.gov, or the site for the animated movie Toy Story at http://www.toystory.com.
If you are simply wandering the Web, you don't need to know much about URLs. You can click on link after link until you stumble across something interesting or reach a dead end. You can then use the Back button to return to a page you visited or
Forward
to load a page you've already loaded and then backed up from.
However, if you know the URL of a specific page, you don't want to have to follow a trail of links to get there. And, you don't have to. Every Web browser, including Internet Explorer 3.0, has a text box into which you can type the URL of the Web page
or Internet site you want to access (see Figure 1.2). You type the URL and press Enter. Internet Explorer 3.0 does the rest.
To successfully navigate the Internet, you should know how URLs are constructed. The first part of a URL indicates the type of Internet resource: http:// (for Web pages), ftp:// (for FTP, file transfer, servers), gopher:// (to navigate with Gopher
menus), news: (without the double forward slashes, for newsgroups). Following this initial designation is the domain name of the specific resource, for example, www.whitehouse.gov. You read the domain name from right to left (general to
specific). In this example, gov stands for government, whitehouse stands for Bill Clinton's pad, and www stands for World Wide Web.
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Always type a URL exactly as you see it. If you type a backslash (\) where a forward slash (/) should be, Internet Explorer 3.0 won't be able to locate the resource or it might locate the wrong resource. And although Internet Explorer is pretty good at interpreting difference in upper- and lowercase characters, you should type characters in the case specified (usually lowercase).
URLs are great if you know specific URLs, but how do you find a site if you don't know its address? The Internet has search tools that can help you track down Web sites and other Internet resources. (See "Internet Search Tools," later in this
chapter.) And when you find sites that you want to revisit, Internet Explorer 3.0 enables you to add the site to a list of favorite places. To return to the site, you simply select it from the Favorites menu instead of typing the entire URL. See Chapter
7, "Favorite Places," for instructions.
Before the inception of the World Wide Web, the main feature of the Internet was that it enabled users to transfer files. This has remained one of the most important uses for the Internet. Using your computer, you can connect to an FTP server and copy
files from it (download) or copy files to it (upload), assuming you have permission from the FTP administrator. (FTP, which stands for File Transfer Protocol, is a set of rules that govern the transfer of files over the Internet.)
In the old days, you would use UNIX commands to connect to FTP sites, change directories on the FTP server, and copy files. It was sort of like using DOS file management commands over a remote connection. Although you can still use these commands to
copy files, specialized FTP programs make copying files much easier, as if you were using File Manager or Windows 95 Explorer.
FTP file transfers have become even easier with the introduction of Web browsers. Internet Explorer 3.0 supports FTP file transfers. You simply enter the URL of the FTP server that has the file you want. Directory names and filenames are displayed as
links. To change to a directory or copy a file, you right-click on its link, select Save Target As, and specify where you want the file stored (see Figure 1.3). To learn more about performing FTP file transfers with Internet Explorer 3.0, see Chapter 9,
"Accessing Other Services with Internet Explorer 3.0."
NOTE
Most FTP servers are for private use only. To access the server, you must enter a username and password, given to you by the server's administrator. However, many FTP servers allow public access (anonymous access) to some directories and files. To access these servers, you typically enter a username of anonymous and type your e-mail address as a password.
If the standard postal service is too slow and costly for you, consider sending mail electronically. With an e-mail program, you can send messages and files over the Internet, and they will arrive at their destination in a matter of minutes.
To send e-mail, you start your e-mail program and then enter the command to create a message. In the dialog box that appears, you type the recipient's e-mail address, a brief description of the message, and the message itself (see Figure 1.4). You can
also attach files to your message. After you send the message, it travels across the Internet and is stored on the server that the recipient uses to connect to the Internet. The recipient connects to the Internet and uses his or her e-mail program to
check
for mail and to read your message.
Although Internet Explorer 3.0 does not have built-in e-mail capabilities, you can use Microsoft Exchange in Windows 95 or install a separate e-mail program for sending and receiving e-mail. See Part III, "Communicating with Internet Explorer
3.0," for details.
Newsgroups are electronic message boards where Internet users can post ideas, ask questions, and share files. The Internet has more than 10,000 newsgroups covering computer topics, sports, TV shows, movies, the art of tattooing, literature, and just
about any other topic of conversation you can imagine. In a busy newsgroup, you're likely to find over 100 messages and responses posted daily.
With Internet Explorer 3.0, you can now connect to newsgroups and read messages and responses that other people have posted (see Figure 1.5). However, in order to post your own messages or replies, you'll need the help of a bona fide newsgroup reader.
For details, see Chapter 13, "Using Internet News to Access Newsgroups."
Figure 1.5. With Internet Explorer 3.0, you can read messages in newsgroups.
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Although Internet Explorer does not enable you to post messages directly in a newsgroup, you can send a response via e-mail to a person who posted the message. See Chapter 11, "Using Internet Mail." Chapter 13, "Using Internet News to Access Newsgroups," shows you how to integrate Microsoft's newsgroup reader with Internet Explorer 3.0 to read and post newsgroup messages.
When the Internet was just starting to take off, Internet pioneers and aficionados were searching for ways to make it easier to navigate. A group of professors and students at the University of Minnesota (home of the Golden Gophers) came up with an
indexing/menu system of their own. Named partially after the university mascot and partially after the gopher (a burrowing mammal), Gopher searches the Internet for resources and provides a menu system to give Internet users easy access to those systems.
Although the World Wide Web is a more sophisticated tool for navigating the Internet, you're sure to come across Gopher sites. Fortunately, you don't need any special Gopher program to use a Gopher site; Internet Explorer 3.0 provides a much better
interface than any Gopher program around. Just pretend that you're at a Web site, and click on the links (see Figure 1.6).
Figure 1.6. If you stumble upon a Gopher site, click on the links to navigate.
With a Telnet program, you can connect to a remote computer and use it just as if you were sitting at its keyboard. Libraries, universities, and other institutions commonly allow public access to their computers. For example, you can connect to the
library at the University of Washington and poke around for information.
Although you can't perform a Telnet session directly from Internet Explorer 3.0, you can set up a Telnet program to run automatically whenever you click on a link or enter the URL of a Telnet site. If you have Windows 95, you already have a Telnet
program you can use; look in your Windows folder for a file called Telnet.exe.
The only trouble with Telnet sites is that they have no consistent look. At some sites, you are greeted by a menu, while other sites display a prompt that is about as friendly as the DOS prompt (see Figure 1.7).
Figure 1.7. Many Telnet sites provide menus for easy access, although some are not so user-friendly.
Online services, such as America Online and CompuServe, have popularized computer chat. On these services, you can enter a chat room and start "talking" to other people about anything from weather and sports to computers and dating. Whenever
you enter a message, it appears on the monitors of everyone in the room. Whenever someone else enters a message, it pops up on your screen. If you sign on to America Online during the evening hours, you'll find thousands of chat rooms packed with eager
chatters.
The Internet has developed its own chat areas, which commonly use a system called IRC (Internet Relay Chat). Using a special IRC program, such as Microsoft's Comic Chat, you connect to an IRC server, tune into a channel (chat room), and start talking
(that is, typing), as shown in Figure 1.8. The only drawback is that there are so many chat rooms, it's difficult to find the right one, but you'll have fun looking.
Microsoft offers two programs that let you chat over the Internet: Comic Chat and NetMeeting (which is a collaboration tool for virtual corporate meetings and voice phone calls, not an actual chat program). Neither of these tools are integral parts of
Internet Explorer 3.0; they are separate Internet programs from Microsoft. To learn how to use NetMeeting, refer to Chapter 14, "Real-Time Conferencing with NetMeeting." Comic Chat is covered in Chapter 36, "New Technologies and Internet
Explorer."
Figure 1.8. To chat over the Internet, you need an IRC program.
NOTE
Some chat rooms contain automated hosts called bots that will greet you, ask questions, judge your answers, and even host a chat room version of a game show. One such bot hosts a version of Jeopardy. The bot states the category and how much the question is worth. The first person in the room who comes up with the right answer wins the money (at least theoretically).
You're probably wondering, with all the Internet offerings, how you can possibly find anything. Fortunately, the Internet has several sites that offer search tools. A search page is usually nothing more than a fill-in-the-blanks form. With a
forms-capable Web browser (Internet Explorer 3.0, for example), you can connect to a Web search site, type one or two unique words to specify what you're looking for, and then click on the Search button or its equivalent (see Figure 1.9). The search tool
finds resources that match your entry and displays a list of links for you to try.
Figure 1.9. The Internet can help you find what you're looking for.
Most search tools are automated. On a regular basis, the search tool explores the Internet to find information. It then updates its index to accommodate new sites and information. When you perform a search, the search tool does not actually search the
entire Internet. Instead, it searches its index.
To learn more about Internet search tools and how to use them, see Chapter 8, "Searching the Internet."
If you believe Hollywood, maybe you're afraid that if you connect to the Internet, some brilliant hacker is going to creep into your computer, steal all your personal secrets, get your credit card numbers, take possession of your house, and conjure up
a
few more ways to ruin your life.
Actually, if you're a little careful, the Internet is a fairly safe place. Unless you set up your computer to answer the phone and give anyone in the world access to your computer, you have little to worry about. If someone really wants your credit
card
number, they can usually get it without the help of your computer, anyway.
However, many companies do prompt you to enter personal information (such as your name and address), and you can order items from mail order companies (and pizza joints) on the Internet, assuming you have a credit card.
So, how can you be sure that some depraved computer whiz kid won't intercept the number in transit? First, be as careful about giving your credit card number over the Internet as you are giving it out over the phone. If a company does not seem
legitimate, don't give them your number. Second, use a Web browser (such as Internet Explorer 3.0) that supports the latest Internet security standards: SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and SST (Secure Transaction Technology).
Most legitimate Internet sites that request personal information and credit card numbers follow these security standards (which use advanced encryption technology to protect your information in transit). If you are about to send any information to an
unprotected site, Internet Explorer 3.0 displays a warning, asking if you want to proceed (see Figure 1.10). If you're not sending any sensitive information, click Yes to proceed. If you're sending credit card number or personal information, you can
simply
cancel the transaction. For details on how to enter security settings, see Chapter 5, "Installing and Configuring Internet Explorer 3.0."
NOTE
Internet security issues were popularized in 1995 when two Berkeley students, Ian Goldberg and David Wagner, figured out a way to break the encryption key used by Netscape to secure transactions over the Internet. Although they didn't use their knowledge to steal anything, Goldberg and Wagner proved that a purportedly secure system was fallible. Since then, encryption technologies have improved, but cypherpunks are busy testing the new standards.
Transferring information over the Internet is not the only security issue. You also have to think about viruses. Generally, viruses hide in programs (although some of the latest viruses can hide in document files). If you download programs from the
Internet and load them, you run some risk of infecting your system. However, most FTP sites test their files for viruses regularly, so if you download from a reliable FTP site, you're usually safe.
To defend your system, take a few precautions:
Don't let security issues prevent you from taking full advantage of the Internet, but you should be aware of the possible risks.
NOTE
In Part IV, "Viewing Multimedia Files and Interactive Sites," you'll be connecting to Web sites that have applets (small programs that Internet Explorer downloads and plays). The companies that have created the programming language for these applets have built-in safeguards to prevent programmers from writing viruses into their applets. However, their is a slight risk that eventually a deviant hacker will figure out how to create viruses for these applets.
This chapter presents a tour of the Internet, providing a brief overview of its offerings. The next chapter focuses on Web browsers and takes a look at Internet Explorer 3.0.
