Internet Concepts

a beginner's "how to" and "what for"

Introduction:

There's obviously varying degrees of understanding that many have when they say, "I want to connect to the Internet". And just as there are numerous people saying that phrase- with wide and varied backgrounds, there are, also, many answers as to what that means...

In this brief web-page (which should take you less than 10 minutes to read (though it may take a second or third reading to fully understand) I'll attempt to set-out some vocabulary about "Connecting to the Internet", then once I've set-that-out - we'll talk about some of the more common goals about connecting, and how some of those goals are rational and achiveable, some are not, and some other things, like network security that most people have never considered...

Vocabulary:

the "Internet"(note the capital "I") is in very very simply terms, "A Network of Networks" - it's the vast-array of connectivity, not the computers, the connectivity, that hooks together some several hundred million computers around the world. And these are not just personal computers in people's homes, these are the biggest, most powerful research computers - the business servers, the educational institution's libraries and almost any other computer you can think of. Almost all general purpose computers in the world, today, are connected, in some way, shape or form, to the "Internet"

Connected to the Internet: This typically means NOT that "you" (a human) is 'connected' to the internet - it typically means that your COMPUTER (a piece of hardware, with some software on it) is connected to the internet Many people have the mis-perception tha they (personally) are connected - that is both technically and grammatically wrong. Their Computers are connected, and through their computer's connectivity, they use software to accomplish tasks on the "Net".

Connectivity between your computer & the "Internet" happens in three "main" ways:

• dial-up-modem:(about 45,000 bits / second): using an 'analog' telephone line and an analog modem
• xDSL(Digital Subscriber Line)(about 1,200,000 bits / second): - which is a more "exotic"(digital) form of the above
• CableModem(about 800,000 bits / second): - which is another form of a more 'exotic' analog modem

Some will be connected to their 'corporate network' via what is known as "VPN" (Virtual Private Networking) - which is a more restrictive, secure, and verifiable form of one of the above methods. Many VPN software tools / connectivity methods only work over xDSL and/or CableModem - because those methods are so much faster than dial-up modem. VPN, though is not a separate connectivity method, it is just avariation - a tunnel - or another method of xDSL or CableModem.

The "Connectivity" is a combination of three separate & distinct things happening (almost always "all at once" - so, mostly, you don't see the distinction between them):

• Physical: cables, connectors, wires, telephone lines, etc.
• Protocol: the 'protocol' of the Internet is called "TCP/IP" - and it is the only protocol accepted by all Internet connected devices. Other protocols CAN run across the Internet - but most do not.
• Application: - this is software you use to accomplish some task across the Internet:
  • Netscape or Internet Explorer, OmniWeb, Cake, others
  • E-mail session (Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Netscape Communicator, Pine, Elm, others
  • FTP (file-transfer protocol) session
  • Telnet session (interactive text-only) session
  • MPEG (moving video) session
  • MP3 (music) session
  • others

Surfing the Net: this is a common-term that incorporates any activity someone may engage in while "Connected to the Internet". Typically it implies using a web-browser-client-software (Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer to name two of the most popular client-browser software tools) to view web-pages of advertising, stock quote information, school grades, research information, etc.

So - now that we have some basic vocabulary down, and we are "seeing eye to eye" (speaking the same language), lets talk about some other concepts;

Goals: - what do people want when they say, "I'm going to be connected to the Internet?"

It's fairly obvious, to one and all that everyone doesn't have the same goals & objectives in mind, BUT THAT many different people will have different goals, and lets talk about a few of the rational and achieveable goals here...

Some rational expectations about "being connected to the Internet":

it will reduce the time you spend seeking commonly available information

it will reduce the time you spend sending and receiveing e-mail (if you already are engaged in running (at least part of) your life with e-mail) (NOTE: it will NOT reduce the time you spend Reading and Writing e-mails (which is where most people spend their time - NOT sending & receiveing)

it will reduce the time you spend SENDING BIG PICTURES and/or RECEIVING BIG PICTURES - since, in "most" cases if you're going to send or receive BIG PICTURES - you'll have to subscribe to one of the xDSL or CableModem services, which are significantly higher speed than the dial-up / analog modem connectivity...

it will change your way of life - in that you'll find that much of your life is 'driven' by the desire to seek information about:

• family members
• investment decisions
• financial income / outflow
• sports or other leisure time actitivies that you engage in
• vacations you wish to take
• books you wish to read (either through purchase at a bookstore or through renting at the local library)
• daily news of a local, regional, national or international nature
• other items

ONCE you recognize that your 'urge' for information can be satisfied quickly, painlessly, and with such great efficiency, then your lifestyle will begin to change to being one of a lifetime spending more hours looking for information (efficiently) and less time 'thrashing about' heedlessly in an information-devoid environment

So all those 'goals' outlined above are rational, achieveable goals about getting "Connected to the Internet"...

However - there's a plethora of goals and objectives that you may also have that may be hindered by the single greatest risk of being "Connected to the Internet" and that is simply:

Security of your information:

• on your hard disk on your 'home or business' computer
• your privacy
• your identity
• your family member's privacy & identity
• potential for family members to be exposed to in-appropriate information (pornography, hate-mail, etc.)
• spamming / forging of emails in-bound to you / your family members (that is they may receive e-mail who's source is forged
• they may be arrested for forging or spamming of outgoing e-mails to other people / institutions / law-enforcement

Don't let me 'scare you off' becomming connected to the Internet" by saying these things - recognize that they are all risks, like the risk of leaving your door unlocked in the morning, or leaving your car unlocked or losing your wallet. All those risks you take every day, because the benefit is worth the risk / cost. Computer-use is no different. You CAN be "Connected to the Internet" "safely", but it is a question of understanding the risks, and like locking the car or house, or driving to work, being both willing and able to evaluate the risks and mitigate them to some degree until you are comfortable with the trade-offs that the risk-reward equation offers you.

last updated: Saturday, 31 August, 2002, by: Bill Schell