Tips and Tricks

Web and Internet Tips

Colour Key:
Normal / Useful / Important / Unread

Web vs Internet

The web is the term for a particular type of information accessible on the Internet.

Do not make the mistake of considering the two terms to be interchangeable though. While closely linked, they are not the same thing but rather analogous to the relationship between a phone system and a phone conversation.

That is, the Internet is a vast network of computers and related devices communicating through a system of connections and standards (the main one being TCP/IP).

You have an "Internet connection" through your ISP and get charged by the amount of time you are connected, or by the "amount of information" you transfer.

The web, on the other hand, is one style of requesting and transmitting information over the Internet, and is generally suitable for information presented as pages with each page able to be linked to other pages through use of hyperlinks.

You can have an Internet connection without using the web (i.e. like ringing someone's phone but not actually talking to them) but to access the web you require a connection. A common case of this is when you are using email. You aren't using the web, but still require the Internet connection.

Beginner

  • Information stored across the Internet and made available in the form appropriate for the Web are called web pages.

  • The application used to view web pages are called web browsers (or just browsers)

  • One of the first browsers available to the general public was Netscape, but there are many choices available today.

  • Some browsers commonly in use today are Netscape, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, iCab and Mozilla / Firefox.

Intermediate

  • The first browser released to the public was NCSA Mosaic, released in late 1993.

  • Five of the people who worked on Mosaic left NCSA to form their own company which was to become known as Netscape. The first version of their browser (nicknamed Mozilla) was released late in 1994.

  • If you are at a web page that you would like to come back to later, but don't want to be bothered making a bookmark out of it, you can highlight the URL and drag it to the desktop or to the Dock. It will create a clipping file which will take you back to the page when this file is opened.

Advanced

  • TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol, and is one of the most primitive protocols involved in the net. It has the responsibility of taking little "packets" of information and make sure that it reaches its destination.