Q. How does the Internet work?
Q. Who owns the Internet?
Q. How do Search Engines work?
Q. What is a Domain Name?
Q. What is an IP Address?
Q. What is Web Hosting?
Q. Why can't I host my web site on my home computer?
Q. Why do I need a professional to build my web site?
Q. What is Blogging?
Q. What is Social Networking?
Q. How does the Internet work?
A. Put very simply the Internet is a VERY large network connecting your home or office computer to web sites, file resources and other personal computers across the planet. By a current estimate a quarter of the human race now makes use of the Internet and that number is cinstantly growing.
When you connect to the Internet your computer
contacts the "hub" of your local Internet Service Provider. There are thousands of providing companies across the world, but in any one locale you will find two or three main competitors vying for business in the area. In addition to companies supplying connectivity to your home and office, cell phone providers now also provide Internet connection options for your Blackberry or PDA.
The process of connecting to a provider is called a "handshake". Your computer sends a packet of information to the local hub server identifying itself and requesting a connection. If the information is recognized and valid the Provider establishes a connection and you have the Internet at your fingertips.
Every computer or web server location is identified by an IP (Internet Protocol) address. This is in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx where xxx can be any number between 0 and 255, a possible 4,294,967,296 possible addresses! Although this may seem a very large number, plans are already under way to extend this number when these address combinations come close to being filled, probably as soon as 2011.
When you connect to a web site, download a song, watch a video on YouTube or send an e-mail the information is transferred backwards and forwards in "packets".
Q. Who owns the Internet?
A. Fortunately for creativity, free speech andv competition everywhere, no one government or corporate entity has overall control of the Internet.
Though many companies, such as Google and Yahoo with Internet search, and e-bay and Amazon with online shopping do have an enormous share of there particular markets, the freedom on the Internet means that there are always inovators and competitors hot on their heels and forcing everyone to stay fresh and break through new boundaries.
Q. How do Search Engines work?
A. Search Engines work by actively and continually "crawling" the Internet, following the links between web sites and "indexing" the pages they find based on various factors such as page title, the density of phrases found in the text of the page, and how many relavent sites link to the site (one good measure of how important or useful a site may be on a particular topic).
Once a site has been crawled by the automated computer programs sent out by companies such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft (Bing), the results are stored in an "index", a database set for fast access based on word search.
When you visit a search engine and enter your search terms the database quicky checks it's index based on a formula or "algorythm" and returns the results that match the criteria they have created for most useful or relevant.
The exact formulas used by search engines are very closely guarded industry secrets but as a rule, the more particular your search terms, the more useful the results you should receive.
Q. What is a Domain Name?
A. A domain name is a lbel that identifies a particular entity on the Internet, whether a group of pages, a collection of files, or part of an e-mail address.
Q. What is an IP Address?
A.
Q. What is Web Hosting?
A.
Q. Why can't I host my web site on my home computer?
A.
Q. Why do I need a professional to build my web site?
A.
Q. What is Blogging?
A. A blog is essentially an online diary posted periodically by an individual or a company.
Q. What is Social Networking?
A.
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