Internet Facts

Internet Facts

The Internet is a powerful liberalizing tool that has changed the way the world functions. One of the biggest Internet facts is that the borders between countries have been rendered useless in certain scenarios, and the transfer of data and information has become as simple as it gets. There is a growing concern that the Internet technology is beginning to get segregated today, with the whole debate about net neutrality making that clear, but in the meantime there is still plenty to enjoy about this wonderful power.

In most developed nations, Internet penetration and Internet access runs as deep as 75%, which means that a majority of the people are online. In developing nations and third world countries, the situation is not so bright. But the point is that this number is only going to rise further in all countries around the world, and pretty soon every single individual in the world can be connected to the world wide web.

Interesting Internet Facts

There are many fascinating aspects of the Internet, and some of the most interesting stories is about the birth, the evolution and the history of the Internet.

    The Internet was created in the 1960's by the United States defense organization. Read more on when was the Internet invented.
    In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee coined the term 'World Wide Web'.
    The very first hard drive was capable of storing only 5 MB of data.
    On an average, a person spends about 51 minutes per session surfing the net.
    This works out to about 25 hours a month surfing the Internet.
    Average view time for a webpage is about 45 seconds.
    Almost 80% of pictures on the Internet are of naked women. Internet censorship is a losing battle that many regulators are facing.

Amazing Internet Facts

One of the biggest achievements of the Internet is how fast it has actually grown. The power that this tool gives us is unlimited, and we have become information super-highways.

    The Internet achieved 50 million users in 5 years. It took the radio 38 years, and it took the TV 13 years to reach the same figure.
    Despite the high number of users, 80% of the world's population does not use the Internet.
    There is an Internet crime committed around the world every 10 seconds.
    Every year, about 2 million TB of data is created and stored.
    About 70% of Internet users are men.
    Total number of Internet users around the world is 2 billion approximately. This article on how does the Internet work will also be useful to you.

One of the biggest threats that the Internet brings is that of Internet addiction and Internet security.

Internet Facts for Kids

Children born in this age seem like they know everything about computers since the day they are born. To a certain extent this is true, because they grow up surrounded by this amazing technology around them.

    The first mouse was created by Douglas Engelbart in 1968.
    Mosaic, the first web browser was released in 1993.
    Sweden is country with the biggest percentage of Internet users, at 78%.
    HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol.
    Parents of 70% of child users have no idea what their kids are doing on the Internet. These Internet safety facts will also teach you more.
    There are about a billion websites running all around the world today.
    A person using the Internet blinks 10 times a minute, whereas a person not using the Internet will blink at least twice as many times.

All these interesting and weird Internet facts: Internet statistics show how powerful the web has really become. Simultaneously, the Internet has also achieved very little. There is still tremendous scope left for increasing the user base of people accessing the net around the world, and this is something that is slowly happening in many countries. Third world countries are lagging far behind in the field of Internet infrastructure, but over time they will catch up.

There are many disadvantages of the Internet as well, and this depends entirely on the person who uses this service. Sharing of information on the public domain is bound to have its negative effects, and this is something that countries are keeping an eye on. In the meantime, these Internet facts should be enough to keep you thinking for a while.

Internet and its Uses in Our Daily Life

Internet and its Uses in Our Daily Life

How difficult our life would have been if there was no Internet. Think about it. To find some information, we all have acquired the habit of 'Googling' it on the web; within a few seconds the screen displays the desired information. You want to book tickets for a movie night with friends, you can book them at the click of a button, again through the Internet media. Many of us cannot imagine life without the social networking sites. The Internet has indeed made the world a small place and living life easier. And the rapid progress of technology has made it possible to access the Internet from anywhere through plenty of means. It has such a plethora of uses in our daily life that we use it for one purpose or the other daily. The routine uses and some positive effects of the Internet in various sectors have been discussed in detail below.

The Uses of the Internet in Daily Life

For Information:
For a layman, Internet is nothing but a collection of websites. And there are innumerable websites that serve a variety of purposes. There are news websites, social networking websites, websites that provide information and websites of various businesses and organizations. These websites are updated frequently to provide information to the user. You can find everything of anything on the web just by browsing through a few websites. You can also use emails, blogs, IM chat, social networking websites and communication software for sharing your information with the world. The Internet has made access to information cheaper and easier and this is its most common use in daily life.

Business & Advertising:
Almost all the businesses these days have websites, through which they promote and advertise themselves. This medium these days has been used extensively for promotional campaigns. Not only promoting your business but you can also effectively advertise your event or any cause on this medium. There are many businesses that depend on the Internet for their survival like stocks and call centers, to name a few. It has promoted faster access to necessary information which strengthens the business processes.

Education:
Internet also is a popular medium used by students. Many students use it for educational purposes, like for finding study material or for applying to some college or university. It is now a virtual world and all the applications are done online through the website of the concerned educational body. Students use websites for these and many other purposes like checking exam results, exam schedule, application procedure to any course, etc. Students also take the help of the Internet for project help and for obtaining the required images. Everything on the Internet is a click away from us.

Communication & Networking:
The use of the Internet for networking is very popular among all age groups. There are many good social networking websites that are used by people for communication. These websites provide an effective and easy platform that facilitates interaction. In daily life, it is widely used as a means of communication through means like networking websites, chat websites, blogs, etc. Through these websites you can also share your photographs with your near and dear ones. The Internet is widely used by job seekers for job applications and job searching. Facilities like video conferencing has made it possible to conduct interviews online.

Entertainment:
Another popular use of the Internet in daily life is for entertainment. Facilities like listening to online music, downloading music and movies provides a platform for entertainment. There are plenty of other ways through which you can entertain yourselves on the Internet. You can play online games, view sports matches, or watch videos of your choice. It is a trusted means of entertainment for these kinds of purposes and is extensively used for the same.

Other Popular Uses:
It is popularly used for banking. Almost all the banking transactions are possible through this medium. Apart from these common uses, it can also be used for shopping. Online shopping is very popular among masses and on the Internet you can buy anything and get it delivered at home. There are also many people who use it to work from home.

These were some of the chief common uses of the Internet in our daily life. It is a boon for us and has made our life easy by facilitating so many uses. But it is also prone to attacks of many kinds that threaten safety over the Internet. To protect the Internet from these attacks we should all use it carefully and also protect ourselves from various privacy intrusions. The Internet as a tool for communication will always remain its most powerful use. The array of uses of the Internet is vast and with the progress of technology new uses will get added to the list of uses continuously.

Basic Internet Terms and Terminology

Basic Internet Terms and Terminology

Internet, by definition is a network of networks that interact with each other through exchange of data packets. The Internet hosts an enormous information base and carries numerous information resources and services. Here is a look at the buzzwords of the world of Internet.

List of Internet Terminology

Internet Terminology - The Structure and Design of the Internet
Here is a list of the terms associated with the structure and design of the Internet. You may want to take a quick look at the basic of Internet technology before going ahead.

ARPANET: The acronym stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. ARPA of the United States Department of Defense developed ARPANET, which became the world's first packet switching network. Internet is the successor of ARPANET.

Internet Service Provider: A company, which provides users with an access to the Internet, is known as an Internet service provider or Internet access provider. ISP, as it is called, offers email accounts and other services like remote storage of files for its customers. Here is information about choosing a cheap ISP.

OSI Model: The Open System Interconnection Model is used to describe a layered communication and network protocol design of a network. It is composed of seven layers, each of which performs certain functions and provides the layers above it with some services. Go through an elaborate description of the OSI model.

Internet Protocol Suite: It is a set of communication protocols, which are used for the Internet. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) were the two pioneering protocols to be introduced in the Internet protocol standard. The Internet protocol suite is composed of a set of layers wherein; each layer provides a service to the upper layers in the set. The upper layers deal with abstract data while the lower layer protocols translate data into physically transmittable forms.

PPP: Point-to-Point protocol (PPP) is a data link protocol that facilitates the establishment of a direct connection between two nodes on a network. Here is a brief introduction to the Point-to-Point-protocol.

IP Address: It is a way of numerically identifying an entity on a computer network. The original addressing system known as IPv4, used 32 bit addresses. With the growth of the Internet, IPv6 came to be used wherein the addresses are composed of 128 bits. You might want to know how to find your IP address.

MAC Address: Media Access Control address (MAC) is the physical hexadecimal address assigned to each device on a network.

Domain Name System: DNS, as it is called, refers to the hierarchical naming system used for computers, resources and services on the Internet. It translates the computer hostnames to IP addresses. By way of the implementation of DNS, the domain name 'www.buzzle.com' translates to its IP address, say, 208.70.178.150. With the help of DNS, domain names can be assigned to Internet users.

Cyberspace: This term coined by William Gibson, is used to refer to the computer networks connected to each other and the content they host. It is often used to refer to the Internet.

WWW: It is a collection of interlinked documents that are accessible over the Internet. It consists of millions of web pages that contain text, images, voice and videos. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist working at CERN, created the World Wide Web.

W3C: It is the acronym used for the World Wide Web Consortium, which develops standards for the web community.

Website: A website is a set of web pages consisting of text, audio and video. Web servers host websites. Know all about website designing.

URL: It specifies the location of a resource on the Internet. It consists of the basic address and path.

Web Page: Web pages are resources of information. They are generally created in the HTML format and provide the web users with navigational abilities through hyperlinks to other web pages on the web.

Home Page: The term home page is used to refer to the page that is the default page of any website. It is the main page of a complex website. Here is an example of the Buzzle home page.

Proxy Server: Client machines on a network connect to the proxy server, which forwards the client requests to other servers and returns responses to the clients.

Web Server: A web server is a computer program that accepts HTTP requests from web clients and provides them with HTTP responses.

Web Browser: A web browser is a software application that facilitates user interaction with the text, audio, video and other information that is located on the web.

Cache: Web browsers maintain a cache of recently visited web pages. Some of them use an external proxy web cache, which is a server program through which web requests pass. This enables the browsers to cache frequently visited pages. Even search engines make available already indexed web pages through their caches.

HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol, abbreviated as HTTP, is a communications protocol used for the transfer of information over the Internet. A client makes an HTTP request using a web browser to which an HTTP response is sent from the server.

Web Cookie: Also known as an HTTP cookie, it is piece of text that is exchanged between the web client and the web server. It is sent by the web server to the web client and returned unchanged by the client each time it accesses the server. You might want to know how do websites use cookies?

Session: It is an exchange of information between a computer and its user. It is established for a certain period of time after which it ends.

Hyperlink: A reference in a document to another section of the document or to another document is termed as a hyperlink. Hyperlinks are used to redirect the user from one section of a page content to another.

Web 2.0: It is used to describe the changes in the www technology and web design. The term deals with the idea of the development of interactivity and connectivity of the web content.

Internet security: It is one of the major concerns today. As the Internet acts as a communication platform that can be accessed by millions of users around the world, it becomes necessary that proper measures be implemented. Issues like Internet safety that deal with the content that is made accessible over the Internet are equally important. Internet privacy relates to safeguarding the privacy of the web users and the sensitive information on the web from hackers and stalkers.

Internet - A communication Platform
Internet serves as one of the most efficient means of communication. Computers from different parts of the world can be connected to each other to exchange information, thanks to the Internet. Emails and chats are excellent means of communication over the Internet. Blogs and online forums give the Internet users a platform to reach out to the masses. Here is a list of the basic Internet terms associated with the Internet as a communication platform. Also look at some Internet terms related to the security threats to network communication.

Email: It is a store-and-forward method of writing, sending and receiving written messages. Electronic mail is an Internet e-mail system that uses network-based protocols to exchange messages between network subsystems.

Email Address: It identifies the network location to which an email can be delivered. An email address is a combination of the user name of the mail user and the host name of the mailing system. It is of the form, 'username@domain-name'. An email alias is a forwarding email address. It simply forwards emails to specific email addresses.

Spamming: The act of sending unsolicited bulk messages over an email system is known as spamming. It is an undesirable use of the electronic messaging systems.

Phishing: It is a fraudulent activity of acquiring the sensitive information by the use of a fake identity during electronic communication. It is implemented by means of emails and instant messages wherein a user is lured to enter his/her details, which are actually captured by a fraudulent website.

Hacking: Hacking is the activity of programmatically gaining access to a computer application that is otherwise inaccessible. The act of gaining an unauthorized access to a computer is known as hacking. Hacking of passwords that leads to breach of email privacy is a threat to communication over the Internet. Internet crime refers to all the criminal activities that are carried over the Internet.

Email Scams: With the increase in the use of email systems, its security needs also rose. Fraudulent users started tampering with the email systems to breach security.

Email Virus: It is a computer code that is transmitted through an email in the form of an attachment. The email attachment causes the destruction of some of the files on the receiver computer's hard disk and is programmatically emailed to the contacts in the address book of the receiver.

Email Client: It is also known as a mail user agent (MUA). An email client is a front-end computer program or an agent that acts as a client for the email server.

Mail Server: It can also be called Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) and is responsible for receiving incoming email from local users and forwarding outgoing mails for delivery. A mail server application forms the heart of a messaging system that performs all the functions to keep the mails moving over the network.

SMTP: Short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, SMTP is the standard for the transmission of electronic mails. The electronic mail server software uses SMTP to send and receive mail messages. ESMTP, that is known as extended or enhanced SMTP refers to the protocol extensions made to SMTP and is widely used today.

POP3: Short for Post Office Protocol, POP3 is an application layer Internet standard protocol. It is used to retrieve mails from a remote server. Here is a brief introduction to POP3.

IMAP: Internet Message Access Protocol, as it is called, is another Internet standard protocol used for retrieval of emails.

Internet Chat: It is a real-time Internet chat or synchronous conferencing that is used for group communication as well as one-to-one communication over the Internet. Jarkko Oikarinen, a Ph.D. from the University of Oulu is the developer of the first Internet chat network. He developed the client and server programs for Internet Relay Chat in August 1988. Do you want to know about some good chat rooms?

Social Networking: Social networking is about building online communities of like-minded people. Serving as an excellent platform for sharing of information, social networking is a rage today.

ADSL: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, abbreviated as ADSL, is used for the transmission of digital information using high bandwidths on existing phone lines. ADSL technology is characterized by high download and low upload rates.

Dial-up: It is the means to connect to the Internet using the copper phone lines and a modem. Dial-up connections are capable of sending information from the client's end at very slow speeds of about 56kbps.

Modem: It is a device that modulates analog carrier signals to encode digital information and demodulates carrier signals to decode information. A cable modem provides access to data signals sent over the cable television infrastructure. Modems are commonly used for facilitating Internet access.

Communication Bandwidth: It refers to the data that can be transferred between two points in a given period of time. It is expressed in terms of bits per second. It is commonly known as the bit rate.

Blogs: Blogs are the expressions of the common masses about social or political issues or simply anything. Blogs can often be in the form of creative write-ups by writers in different parts of the world.

Internet Forums: It is a bulletin board that serves as a platform for group discussion. Registered users are free to contribute to the issues raised in forums thus making them open discussion platforms.

Usenet: Usenet can be considered as a worldwide bulletin board. Usenet newsgroups serve as a repository of messages posted from users around the world.

Internet - A Search Platform
Internet that hosts an ocean of information has also become an excellent platform for information retrieval. The Internet search engines, which crawl and index web pages, organize the information on the Internet and the web directories link to information on the network. Here is a list of the Internet terms that relate to Internet as a search platform.

Internet Search Engine: It is an information retrieval system that is designed to help find information over the Internet. Search engines use algorithms to scan the huge information base of the Internet and sort it making it retrievable for the web users.

Web Crawler: Popularly known as a spider, a web crawler is a program that browses the World Wide Web in an automated manner. Search engines use the crawling technologies to index pages on the web.

Search Engine Optimization: The process of organizing the content of a website with intent to increase its relevance with respect to keywords and search engines. The process of optimization involves editing website content and HTML coding to support search engine strategies of ranking and indexing.

Internet Bookmark: The Internet browsers of the modern times aim at enabling the users to organize the web pages they access. Links once visited can be saved in the favorites or preferences categories. Bookmarks are usually integrated into browsers. Social bookmarking is a method used by Internet users to store and manage web pages.

Web Directories: It is a directory, which links to other websites and organizes those links. They should not be mistaken as being search engines.

Some Basic Terms related to the Internet

Router: A router connects two or more logical subnets and performs the functions of routing and forwarding information.

Intranet: It is a relatively smaller private network that uses the Internet protocols and connectivity. It is an extension of the Internet and is privately used by organizations.

Extranet: It is a private network that uses Internet technology to share a part of the business information and operations with suppliers and customers. It can be a part of a company's intranet that provides access to the users outside the company.

Virtual Private Network: It is a private network that allows the exchange of information between computers over a shared or a public network.

Wireless Networking: It refers to computer networking that is carried out over the wireless media.

Broadband Internet: Broadband connectivity to the Internet provides the users with a high-speed Internet access.

Dial-up Internet: In this type of access to the Internet, the user's computer is attached to a modem connected to a telephone line. Dial-up Internet access involves a modem that dials into an Internet service provider to establish a connection.

Satellite Internet: Internet services that make use of the satellite communication media are termed as satellite Internet services. They are used in locations that are mobile thus making terrestrial Internet connectivity, an impossibility.

Some Funny and Interesting Internet Terms

Googling: The Google search engine, being the most popularly used one, has made the word, 'google' synonymous to the concept of search engines. Searching the Internet by using the Google search engine is known as googling.

Copypasta: If a text is copy pasted from somewhere and posted in a forum, it is termed as a copypasta. The source is often unknown in such cases. Are you into copypastas?

Egosurfer: The web users who search over the Internet for themselves fall under the class of egosurfers. I am sure most of you play an egosurfer once in a while.

Netiquette: This term is short for net etiquette and refers to the principles of courtesy and consideration for the people using the Internet. It refers to certain basic principles to adhere to while using the Internet. The general ethical principles to be followed in relation to using mailing systems of the Internet are termed as email etiquette.

Trasher: The users who search over the Internet using all possible means, sometimes even risking the Internet security are known as trashers.

Troll: Trolls are the users who try to become infamous on chat by introducing disturbing links, mimicking other users' posts and profiles and fighting with others.

Youtuber: A person who is addicted to watching videos on the Internet is referred to as a youtuber.

Educational Uses of Facebook and Twitter

Educational Uses of Facebook and Twitter

Bringing social networking into your classroom can add another layer of education for your students, and it can be fun, too.

social networking seems to be absolutely everywhere. Students these days can't seem to go five minutes without checking their Facebook or Twitter streams. Harnessing this technology can be difficult for teachers, especially because they didn't grow up with it themselves, but it can be a necessary tool for success in the classroom. From simply sharing information to creating projects using these sites, social networking in the classroom is powerful and should be used.

Spreading Information

Students are signing into their Facebook and Twitter accounts more than they're checking their e-mail, and definitely more than they're checking the school website. If you can create an account that your students can follow, you can share information and important reminders with them quickly, and you can be sure they're getting the message. Facebook and Twitter allow you to upload videos, link to documents, and share other great resources with your students. They're checking it already, so why not add a bit of education to your students' streams? If they need help in doing their homework, they can go to your page and find a video tutorial you've uploaded. If they need an extra reminder to study for a big test, they'll get it by looking at your updates or checking a message from you. If they have a question that isn't answered on the site, they can easily tweet you on Twitter or message you on Facebook. With all the mobile apps available, this can be useful for students without computers or teachers who can't stay logged in to their e-mail all the time.

Projects

Using Twitter and Facebook to create projects can be really fun, and can require more critical thinking than other projects or even writing a paper. For English teachers, a favorite project is to have the students create a Facebook or Twitter profile of a character in a book. This can be a great group project, too, if each student in the group takes a different character and creates different profiles. Then, they can friend or follow each other and comment or respond to the updates. This shows they truly understand the characters and their use of language. This project can be easily adapted for history, as well, by having the students choose an important historical figure they have studied in class and doing the same thing. For science, math or other subjects, you can use this as a research project for students to research famous scientists or mathematicians and create their profiles.

Caution

As a teacher, you will definitely want to use caution when employing social networking. If you have a personal Facebook or Twitter account, you will want to think about creating an account just for teaching and keeping it separate. Your students definitely do not need to know about your personal life, and keeping that separate can be very important to not blur lines in the teacher-student relationship. You will also want to be cautious with students who want to friend or follow you. If you find out information about them that a school counselor should know, you may want to have a policy in place for contacting someone immediately. It's a good idea to speak with your principal or school counselor or a social worker before starting anything like this. You may also want to have your students and their guardians sign an Internet acceptable use policy. There are many of these online that teachers have used if you do an Internet search. This ensures that they know what is expected of them and what will happen if they break the rules.