1294 Week 6 Reading

Week 6© R. Craig Collins, 2005

The following information will add to, not replace, your text book reading! Please read the assigned material first, then look over the following 'lecture.'

Chapter 7

p. 75, What is an Internet connection

Perhaps you have two computers in your home... if you run a cable between them you have created a network. A network is just computers that can share data with each other. If the network is confined to one room or one building, it is called a Local Area Network, or LAN. Networks that cover a city, such as Temple College, are called a Metropolitan Area Network. Networks that cover huge areas, such as global companies like Ford, are called Wide Area Networks, or WANs. When you group Wide Area Networks, what you wind up with is a global network called the Internet.

To get on the Internet, you must connect your computer, through the phone or cable, to an ISP (Internet Service Provider). Your computer then becomes a client that can trade information with server computers.

p. 76, Why would I want to connect to the Internet.

One book can only hold so much information. To get access to more information, perhaps you go to a library, where many books are collected. The same holds for computers; in order to expand your access to information, you get on the Internet.

p. 77, What do I need to get connected.

You computer speaks 1s and 0s (bits), which is delivered in a digital signal. Phone lines however, are usually carrying analog signals. To convert the signals, a modem is used. Once your computer is set up with the hardware, you then need to hook up with an ISP to gain access to the Internet. The book mentions several items to consider when shopping for an ISP. I personally prefer providers who just grant access to the Internet, rather than those that try to provide other content.
Finally, your computer needs software designed to operate on the Internet, such as Internet Explorer, an email client, and perhaps chat software.

Run through the Playit! on p. 78 for an understanding on connecting to the ISP.

p. 79, What’s the World Wide Wait?

Dial up phone Internet connections are very slow, but other types of access, ISDN, DSL, Cable, all claim to be faster than their competitors. In reality, they all push information at about the same speed, but they may differ in bandwidth. Just as a fire hose can deliver more water to a fire than a garden hose, different providers have differing capacities of delivering information.

p. 80, Hardware

This section delivers the details on analog data, modems, bandwidth of dial up, and simulations on connecting your hardware.

Chapter 8

p. 87, What is a web page?

A web page is a document that can deliver content, as well as direct you to more content, using hypertext links. The computers that deliver the content to your machine are called web servers.

p. 88, What’s a URL?

A URL is just a web address. The address DOES NOT include http://. This is just to indicate to your browser that you are trying to retrieve a web page created in the hypertext markup language. You then read the URL as the postman reads an address, from the back. The .gov, or .com, or the .edu is similar to a zip code, and is called the top-level domain. Working backward, the next item read it the name of the network, such as templejc. Once the network is located, the next item requested is the particular machine that holds the information; many times this machine is named www.

Some mail addresses are apartment buildings, not houses, so this information is added to your postcard. In a URL, if you are looking for a particular document, this is added to the end of the URL, after a /. Most web pages end with .htm or .html.

p. 89, How does a browser work?

The software that retrieves a document from a web server is called a browser. This program interprets commands called tags to display the web page as designed. Other content aside from web pages can be delivered using other programs, called plug ins.

Many times a server and browser exchange information repeatedly. To avoid this, cookies were created to record some of this information locally on your computer.

p. 90, How do I use a search engine?

While the book mentions Yahoo, my favorite is Google. It has the largest catalog of pages to refer you too, and is also the fastest search engine. The Playit! walks you through the process of searching.

Rather than saving a web page, as mentioned on page 91, which could be a copyright violation, I prefer to add the site as a bookmark or favorite. Typically you choose Favorite/Add to Favorite and then you’ll be able to return to the site whenever you need to.

p. 92 Continues the discussion on hardware, this time for non-dial up access. Note the chart, which shows how increased bandwidth (not speed) can deliver more information per second… saving you 40 minutes of download time on a big file!

Don’t pass up the tutorial on page 95, about creating web pages. While you can convert your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files into web pages, this is not an efficient way to do it. Check into my ITSC 1313 classes, for a really fun class where you learn to make real web pages!

These labs are straight forward, requiring only careful attention to the book.
Make sure you have done ALL and