Internet Tutorials - a Fast-Track Approach WebPro logo

Site Structure: (click the diamond)

I'm Connected. What next?
Traditional vs. Fast-Track Tuition
Which Application Packages to use?
The Value of an Application
Basic Skills - Worldwide Web Browser
Basic Skills - e-Mail Package
Basic Skills - UseNet NewsReader

Great, I'm connected. BUT WHAT NOW?

OK, so you're connected. But now you need to know, REALLY KNOW, how to use all this stuff. And the first step is to know what the internet is really about.

Forget about knowing how it actually works. It's sufficient to understand that that the world is meshed with interconnected computers using satellite, landline, government and academic links. No-one controls the internet; it's very creation was an attempt to assemble a self-healing computer network which would withstand a thermonuclear strike in the USA. Routers find the quickest way to deliver your information, and an e-mail to someone 1km away might circumnavigate the globe if that's the quickest route. Get your mind around that one and you're mostly there!

Think of the word "internet" as describing the physical infrastructure of network components that connects (and includes) all the web servers, mail servers, news servers, routers, and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). This part of the internet is permanently connected; these elements are up at all times and running. Your connection, however, is temporary. When you want to connect to the internet your PC dials up a modem at your ISP which has its own IP address on a particular server. Depending on which modem you get at your ISP when you dial in, that's your internet address until this session is terminated. You are effectively part of the connected, permanent internet network until you drop the line. An ISP might have 100 incoming lines and modems, and if they work on a 10-to-1 ration they may have signed up 1000 subscribers at R100 each per month, working on the probability that no more than 100 would try to dial in at any one time. They then pay for maintaining a server and for their high-speed links to the internet backbone from the R100000 monthly income. (More or less.)

      Internet Map - The Americas, Europe and Africa
      Internet Map - Asia, Pacific Rim and Australasia

So if the internet is just a bunch of cables and computers then you are no nearer to understanding anything. That's right. So start concentrating now! The explanation that follows may not be watertight, but it is largely correct and you can explain most services in terms of its structure.

Historically, e-mail messaging was the first server-based service to evolve. Remember, that's what the US military originally designed the ARPAnet to do. The academic community were quick to develop news servers which formed the UseNet which today is known more commonly as the Newsgroups. And the development of the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) led to the growth in web servers and the rapid expansion of the Worldwide Web. And through this discussion you should note the repeated use of the term "server" as this is the basis of almost all the services. Some readers will be quick to ask about the omitted IRC, FTP and Chat services, Telnetting and the role of UNIX, as well as many other issues. But remember that the scope of this document is to provide a context for new users to understand the basic environment of the internet.

So now we have three main services; e-mail, newsgroups and the web. All three are server-based and are used respectively for message handing, bulletin board reading and posting, and for browsing documents written in HTML spread over many different servers. And, O Diligent Reader, THAT IS THE INTERNET.

But why the newsgroups? Isn't browsing and e-mail enough ?

The three services are strongly interrelated in that if you have an interest in a particular subject, then you will probably start off by searching the web for relevant websites. From these sites you will probably find pointers to newsgroups, that is if you havn't gone and searched the group subjects first. Lurking (which is a term for those who browse the groups but do not post) in these newsgroups will give you many pointers back to other websites and the opportunity to address your queries to thousands of people with the same interest. If you intend to make effective use of the internet then it is critical that you understand and use the newsgroups.

Burst packets, routing, and the Irrelevance of Distance

And these final concepts need to be understood to help give you some grasp of this cotton-wool like Internet thing. And understanding the concepts of burst packages and random routing often helps new users get a feel for the internet if they need to visualise how things work.

Firstly, accept that there are no permanent connections made. All services (e-mail, browser, newsgroups, FTP and IRC) send parcels of information in bursts which will typically travel via ten or more computers (in steps called hops) and the remote server replies with a data package which also travels via a whole lot of machines. Funny thing is that the package reply from the server will nearly always use a completely different route to that used by your first package. And your next request for a web page from that server will generate a burst package which will probably use a route that's not exactly the same as your first package.

A call from a user to a website where both browser and website are in Durban might well travel via Cape Town and Johannesburg if the server peering requires it. And if that route is busy you could be routed Altanta, Boston, London. What is important to understand is that these are costless connections and whichever route is the least congested and the fastest is, by definition, the most efficient. Get your head around these concepts and you are getting somewhere.

Traditional vs. Fast-Track Tuition

In general, most users find the WWW concepts (using the browser) the easiest to grasp, probably because the software is the easiest to use. Load up some site address, click on the hypertext, click off again to somewhere else or back button it to the previous site. Dead easy. But usually they go on with this aimless surfing for some time, learning only what an ideal place the net is for wasting big globs of time. No real effective use gets made of the web.

e-Mail gets used "on demand", most people starting a sporadic correspondence with a friend, and maybe clearing a little business mail. But this is a case of "use it or lose it" because they need to assemble a whole range of skills to handle the e-mail package properly. Support staff will agree that the majority of client calls for help deal with e-mail disaters where mail had got lost or deleted because the user has forgotten basic procedures.

The UseNet (a.k.a. the newsgroups) gets used the least of all, but is probably the most underutilised of all the internet resources. It provides a huge repository of information, is interactive in nature (ask and it shall be answered.....) and is an invaluable source of information for web browsing. But very few internet users get to ever use the newsgroups effectively, and many never even venture close to the newsgroups.

But this is the result of using traditional methods of picking up internet skills. You are presumably reading this treatise in the hope of fast-tracking your internet learning and towards the end of this document you will find reference to three "Basic Skills" documents which you can access with your browser. We believe that if you can find useful applications for your internet use, then the skills will follow quickly. Read the Basic Skills documents for specific help, the next section explains which internet software we recommend you use, that is followed by a discussion on the value of having applications and what broad software skills you need to acquire.

Which Application Packages to use?

The so-called "browser wars" have resulted in Netscape and Microsoft slogging it out by expanding their browser packages with extra features to handle e-mail and newsgrouping. You can now use your browser (Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer) to read and send e-mail and access the newsgroups all from the same interface within the browser.

However, we still believe that the standalone packages offer better features in a cleaner focussed interface and, if you are serious about the services, then you should be using a dedicated e-mail package and newsreader. While we appreciate that it is easier to start using e-mail if it's one click away on your browser screen, the tendency over time is to stay with what you get to know. And by so doing you deny yourself access to what is more powerful, especially as your usage develops.

While we do not necessarily endorse packages we must express a preference for that which we support. And that currently includes;

The Value of an Application

The old adage "if you don't use it, you lose it" really does apply here and it extends to "if you don't start to use it, you'll never get to use it" which makes self-evident sense. In other words; even though you don't know how to use the newsreader, define an objective which will require you to get the newsreader up and running. In the process you will pick up more skills in using the newsreader and you will find other information sources that will encourage further use of the newsreader. The process will either sustain itself or you will lose interest through not finding relevant information.

The Webpro sites listed below give all the necessary specific detail for developing your applications, identifying the generic software package skills required, and then specifying the step-by-step routine to use with the supported packages. And if that doesn't get you there, then nothing will!

Worldwide Web - Basic Browser Skills

You need to know how to:
visit Webpro - Basic Browser Skills for step-by-step instructions to use Netscape Navigator for these operations.

e-Mail - Basic Mail Package Skills

You need to know how to:
visit Webpro - Basic e-Mail Skills for step-by-step instructions to use Pegasus Mail for Windows for these operations.

UseNet - Basic NewsReader Skills

You need to know how to:
visit Webpro - Basic NewsReader Skills for step-by-step instructions to use Forte Free Agent for these operations.

Your input & comments would be appreciated ....... your chance to snarl back!

Learning Function
-Yes, I can see clearly now
-Worth reading, I learned a bit
-Now I'm really confused[1/3]
 Length
-Just right
-Too short
-Too long
 Technical Content
-Just right
-Not technical enough
-Too much technobabble

Care to Identify Yourself ? Helps us remember there are real people out there! Who are you, where you're from, how did you find us - but Hey, we don't need to know what bugs you in life.....

Comments and/or Special Requests Is there any area that was particularly confusing or subjects that you think should be covered? Or maybe sections that were boringly self evident.....?

  OR   Thanks for taking the trouble !

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