Welcome to the Internet

A New User's Guide to "surfing the net"

Welcome to the Internet! Also commonly called "The Information Super-highway," "Cyberspace" or even simply the "World Wide Web". The Internet is the World's largest storehouse of information, software, entertainment and educational material in existence. There is something for everyone on anything and everything you can think of; from the latest in medical and scientific research to the best of comedy TV. The Internet also provides you with everything from stock quotes to the current weather or sales at your favorite store. The world is now literally at your fingertips, and you can surf around the globe and across the net in seconds..!

But!..before you can start "surfing the `net," there are a couple of basics you need to know.

# 1, you have to understand the Internet's layout.

Physically the Internet is simply hundreds of thousands of computers connected together by an unbelievable quantity of wire, fibre optic cables and satellite signals.

Practically the Internet is a collection of billions, of the very things you are looking at now - web pages (sometimes called home pages). WebSites on the net may contain 1 or many thousands of "Web Pages". Any web page may contain sound, video, text, images (pictures) or "links". A"Link" is the most important concept for a new web surfer to understand. Links usually appear as underlined text, and when "clicked on" will link or TAKE you to another web page or Website.

Click here to try using a link.

Here's another example: Do You need More Money? FAQ

Sometimes a link is a picture or a "Button" or some other image too. .run the mouse arrow accross this button and watch the arrow change to a hand symbol. That means that the button or picture contains an active link that will take you somewhere if clicked on. In this case..the Help Center! You can use the browser back button to return you here if you click the button below.

(A Button )

Normally, "buttons" as they are commonly called, are labeled "Download this" or "Visit that" or "help Center" to give you an idea of where the "button link" will send you. Unlabeled links are called "Blind Links" because they do not indicate where you can expect to be taken.

Some picture links are not labeled but the picture or "Icon" is self explanatory. This little mailbox is also an animated picture/drawing and is, of course, a mail link used to send email to someone. Now that you fully understand links and buttons, lets get back to surfing.

Like most new people using the net, you are probably overwhelmed by all the "web terms" and computer jargon being thrown around by everyone these days. If that is the case, you may want to check out our CYBER DICTIONARY

Then try our SEARCH ENGINES page. This page explains what search engines are, and how to use them for finding ANYTHING on the Internet. When you are comfortable with how search engines work and you have a specific topic or interest you want to look for, try our SEARCHING THE INTERNET page where you will find links to all the major search engines.

If you just want to get an idea of what is out there, check out the section USEFUL LINKS which is a list of links to interesting places you may want to visit (In case you don't have any particular place you want to go.)

If you're looking for something a little different, try our COOL SITES page. This page contains links to, well, Cool Sites...and some interesting things you can do that you probably don't know about. Just check it out and see.

If you would like to more fully understand the Internet, you can learn all about Internet Addresses. This page explains different internet addresses and why they look the way they do.

Finally, don't forget to visit our FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) Page. You'll find that a lot of your everyday miscellaneous questions are answered there.

Happy Surfing !!!

We are not sure who first coined the term "Surfing" as it is applied to describe moving about the Net, but it is in very common use these days so.....Let's Surf!!! By the way, for some of you that have asked..in reality your browser works by requesting web pages from remote servers around the net and then "compiles" and "runs" the HTML code in the pages it recieves so that you may view them. This is the reason that the same page may view with slight differences depending on the type of browser you use. The remote server will only deliver those pages to your browser, if your browser asks for them correctly ( By you giving it the proper address). Your browser doesn't physically "GO" anywhere. The only thing that goes "out" is a request. Everything else comes to you!!!

Your browser may also need a little help in handling different kinds of files and or code it receives. Attachment software called "plug-ins" can be added to your browser software to do this for you. Usually for free. Visit you browser manufacturers home page to get info on the different types of "plug-in" software that is available for your browser and what it is used for.