About Internet

1. Internet:
The Internet is a large group of computers that are connected to each other.
The Internet is used to send information quickly between computers around
the world.
It has millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government
networks and websites, which together carry many different kinds of
information and services. So in other words, the Internet is a network of
networks. Computers are connected through different telecommunications
links like:
 Phone lines
 Fiber optics lines
 Satellite
 Wireless connections

2. History:
The Internet was developed in the United States by the "United States
Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency" (DARPA). It was
first connected in October, 1969. The World Wide Web was created at CERN in
Switzerland in 1989 by a British man named Tim Berners-Lee.
Summary:
 1960’s US government seeks nuclear war proof communications, briefs
project to ARPA.
 1969 Universities and researches connected to ARPANET.
 1977 ARPANET engineers realize the network is going to grow beyond
expectations.
 1983 ARPANET switched to TCP/IP.
 1989 Tim Berners-Lee proposes a new set of Internet protocols.
 1995 US government releases Internet for commercial use.

3. Working of Internet:
The internet is a collection of millions of computers. These computers are linked
together on a computer network. These network is used by the computers to
communicate with one another.
A personal computer can be connected to the internet using phone lines, DSL or
cable modem etc. These devices communicate with the server of internet
service provider.

4. Uses of Internet:
The Internet is used for many things, such as electronic mail, online chat, file
transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other documents of the World Wide
Web.
Some uses of internet:
Communication:
The internet opens up many different possible ways to communicate with
others. Here are some:
 Email
 Blogs
 Social networking sites e.g. Facebook
 Chatrooms
 Forums
 Internet telephone

5. Research and homework:
The internet is a fantastic place to research information for a project or piece of
homework. It doesn't matter what topic you have been set, you can guarantee
that you will find something on the subject.
Exploring the world:
The internet has many services that help you explore the world.
 Satellite and mapping applications e.g. Google Earth
 Travel sites providing details of other places
 Live web cams showing other parts of the world
 Almanacs and encyclopedias
Entertainment:
There are many different ways that you can choose to spend your time online
and amuse yourself. Here are a few:
 Playing online games
 Listening to music
 Reading online books and e-books
 Watching online videos e.g. YouTube

6.  Looking for holidays or concert tickets
 Reading about your hobbies
 Keeping up-to-date with the news and sporting events
 Watching television
Education:
Education is one of the best things that the internet can provide. There are a
number of books, reference books, online help centers, expert’s views and other
study oriented material on the internet that can make the learning process very
easier as well as a fun learning experience.
The Advantages & Disadvantages of The Internet:
Advantages:
The Internet has proven to be very useful and has come with lots of
advantages. Here are some advantages of the Internet:
 E-mail: E-mail is an online correspondence system. With e-mail you can
send and receive instant electronic messages, which works like writing

7. letters. Your messages are delivered instantly to people anywhere in the
world, unlike traditional mail that takes a lot of time.
 Access Information: The Internet is a virtual treasure trove of
information. Any kind of information on any topic under the sun is
available on the Internet. The ‘search engines’ on the Internet can help
you to find data on any subject that you need.
 Shopping: Along with getting information on the Internet, you can also
shop online. There are many online stores and sites that can be used to
look for products as well as buy them using your credit card. You do not
need to leave your house and can do all your shopping from the
convenience of your home.
 Online Chat: There are many ‘chat rooms’ on the web that can be
accessed to meet new people, make new friends, as well as to stay in
touch with old friends.
 Downloading: This is one of the most happening and fun things to do via
the Internet. You can download innumerable, games, music, videos,
movies, and a host of other entertainment software from the Internet,
most of which are free.
 Search Engines: Internet provides a vital source of information. We have
search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo where we can find about
every subject.
 News: Most of the newspaper has now online version so that people can
find their likely newspaper any time anywhere without any cost
 Services: Internet is making our life a lot easier by offering different
services like online banking, online booking, hotel reservations, online
shopping, and many more.

8. Disadvantages:
In spite of providing a wide-range of benefits, internet has some disadvantages.
 Theft of personal information: Hack personal information like name,
address, credit card number, etc. which brings financial loss to a person.
 Virus threat: Virus is a program which damaged the functioning of
computer systems. It comes through internet and can crash the total
system.
 Wrong Information: There is a lot of wrong information on the internet.
Anyone can post anything, and much of it is garbage.
 Time waste: Easy to waste a lot of time on the internet.
 Spamming: It refers to sending of huge unwanted e-mails intentionally to
destroy the computer systems. Such activity is a harassment to the
computer user.
World Wide Web ("WWW" or "The Web"):
The World Wide Web ("WWW" or "The Web") is the part of the Internet that
contains websites and webpages.The World Wide Web is used to describe HTML
webpages that are part of the Internet.

9. There are several applications called Web browsers that make it easy to access
the World Wide Web; Three of the most popular Web browsers are:
 Firefox
 Microsoft's Internet Explorer
 Google Chrome
Search Engine:
A software program that searches a database and gathers and reports
information that contains or is related to specified terms.
OR
A website whose primary function is providing a search for gathering and
reporting information available on the Internet or a portion of the Internet.
Some Popular Internet Search Engines are:
1. Google → www.google.com
2. Yahoo → www.yahoo.com
3. Bing → www.bing.com
4. Ask → www.ask.com