Internet Business Expert

The Uses of the Internet in Daily Life

2011-11-17T22:20:00.001-08:00

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.

What to Do When You Are Bored With the Internet

2011-11-12T17:20:00.000-08:00

Play Games
Get into a social group of gamers and send across invitations to other players to come and play online games with you. Kill monsters and hunt for treasures, this way you will meet a lot of interesting people and you will have lesser reasons to be bored. If that is not enough then find out which are the best and the most competitive video games in the market, download them or buy them and play them on your computer. Go to game reviews online and seek the games that grab your attention the most.

Read Wikipedia
This is personally my favorite ways to pass time, you can search for almost anything under the sun and you will find it on Wikipedia. If that is not enough you may volunteer to write for them and they will only be too happy to welcome your important inputs. What is better is that you will also gain a lot of information and knowledge in the process. Learning can be fun, if it is one of your interests. Find out about some of the interesting things to do on the Internet so that the whenever you go online, you never get bored again. Surfing the Uncyclopedia (the, Wiki spoof) could be one wacky way of driving away your boredom.

Try Audio Books
Opt for audio book and the reviews of the best audio books online. Trust me you will thoroughly enjoy yourself, and you get to catch up on the latest authors and the newest stories in the world. For those who do not get time to read books, this is the most suitable option as they get to have someone read the entire book out for them. Try titles that interest you and genres that you have always had a fascination for. Find about some of the cool things to do online here.

Sharpen Your Talents
You can pick up new tips and skills from the Internet that can help you gain newer talents as well as sharpen your older ones. For example, if you like photography, you can pick up tricks that can help make you a better photographer, you can learn how to manipulate the light as well as angles for the perfect shot. You can even try blogging, so that the more and more people can read about your opinion about things. If you like painting and sketching then you can learn new tricks of shading and figure formation through free web portals. Some of the fun stuff to do online when bored, may include almost anything from learning how to fix your bike or car, or even learning new dance forms through videos on YouTube etc. You can even make your own videos and share them with people. Try it!

Recent World Events
News and world affairs may be the answer to your question as to, what to do when you are bored on the Internet? Don't just concentrate on what's happening in your own neighborhood or country, go ahead and read news, online or watch videos of world events. Learn more about the history of your own place as well as other countries and find out how the present events are connected to the events of the past. Read about government and politics, about cultures and religion. There is so much to learn that, initially you will feel like it's an assignment but take it slow, one topic at a time. Trust me you will have so much fun, finding about these things. Also read about the fun things to do online here at Buzzle.

Hopefully this article has given you an idea as to, what to do when you are bored on the Internet . You can come up with more interesting things, talk to your friends and find out what do they do to avoid getting bored when they are online.

The Negative Effects of Internet on Children

2011-11-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

Internet Addiction Disorder
Although studies on this disorder are in preliminary stages, it has been established that children who spend most of their time on the Internet, show a peculiar kind of behavior which is marked by an urge to be on the Internet all the time, so much that the child may shun all activities and become immersed in the virtual world. Surveys conducted over the years have found that most people who suffer from Internet addiction disorder are young adults, who easily fall into the lure of exploring everything that is available on the Internet. In America alone, it has been estimated that around 10-15 million people are suffering from Internet addiction disorder, and this is increasing at the rate of 25% every year.

Reduced Physical Activity
There are a host of games that are available on the Internet and this has made most children to shun all outdoor activity. In the absence of physical activity, children can easily fall prey to a lot of lifestyle related diseases such as obesity, apart from failing to develop interpersonal skills. Apart from these factors, sitting continuously in front of a computer screen can seriously damage our eyes, and put a strain on our neck and shoulders. Children are in their developing years and these factors can create life-long problems for them.

Easy Access to Pornography
This is one of the greatest threats Internet poses to children. Internet has provided an easy medium to children to gain access to pornography and this can cause them to either become sexually-deviant or sexually-addictive. This phenomenon has also caused another problem, and that is the increase in prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) in children. According to reports, one out of every four teenagers gets infected with a STD every year. The adult content that is present on the Internet promotes irresponsible sex and creates false notions in the minds of students.

Vulnerability to Cyber Crime
If you have been following news lately then you must know what we are referring to. Children have been lured by pedophiles posing as good Samaritans and have been physically abused and molested. Internet has also made it easy for unscrupulous elements to get in touch with children and this has led to an increase in the cases of kidnapping and identity thefts. About 60% young teens in the United States have admitted to responding to messages from strangers. This kind of behavior is extremely risky and has made children extremely vulnerable to become victims of cyber-crime.

The negative effects of Internet on children mentioned above have posed new challenges to teachers and parents. There are demands from various quarters that there should be some sort of regulation to check this issue. However, we believe that instead of making Internet a taboo, we should educate children to use it for their benefit. It is advisable for parents to monitor how much time their children spend on the Internet, and if possible set a time-limit till which they would be allowed to use the Internet. Having the computer in the living-room instead of a child's bedroom can also ensure censorship on what they are accessing on the Internet. It is also important that you talk to them about 'the birds and the bees' because if you do not talk to them, they will turn to their friends and Internet for answers which may not provide authentic information.

This article is titled 'negative effects of Internet on children' but it in no way means that we are undermining the importance of Internet in our lives. We have written this article for the Internet audience, and you are reading it through the Internet, which itself explains the positive side of Internet usage. It is for us to decide whether we use technology for the betterment of our lives or put it to unabated abuse. Children may not be mature enough to understand this, but we as parents, teachers and guardians need to ensure that we inculcate the right behavior in our children.

Advantages of Using Internet with Education

2011-11-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

The fast and relatively low cost access is one of the major benefits of Internet to people and students all over the world as getting an Internet connection is easy. Communication and information are the two most important advantages of the Internet in education. Secondly, information can be updated or modified at any time and for any number of times, which helps in learning and better understanding. Let us take a look at the role of computers in education.

Easy Contact
As mentioned above, communication is one of the biggest advantages of the Internet in education. Students can contact other students or their teachers via the E-mail if they have queries about any information. Sharing of information, discussions on a particular subject, etc. can be easily carried out using the Internet. At the same time, teachers can also contact the parents and guardians easily using Internet.

School / College Projects
The Internet can be most useful for completing projects in schools and colleges. As the Internet is an ocean of information, covering nearly all subjects known to man, one can literally find information, research work, etc. required for one's projects. Going through the information on the Internet is definitely faster than reading an entire book on the subject. Homework is also made easier with the help of the Internet which is also one of the important use of computers in education.

Encyclopedia
Sometimes, encyclopedia may not always be available to students and they may have difficulty in gaining access to the books in the library. In that case, the encyclopedia of different subjects available on the Internet can be helpful. This is more useful for students who belong to communities not having English as their mother tongue. Kids and younger children can also be benefited by the Internet by using the pictures, videos, etc. which is one of the major advantages when thinking of textbooks versus computer teaching.

News
All the latest news are constantly updated on the Internet on different news sites which is one of the major advantages of the Internet in education. Students, learning politics, can have an access to all the current affairs through the Internet in the school campus, at home, or at any other place. Historical accounts like speeches, biographies, etc. are also easily available on the Internet in detailed and accurate versions. This is one of the biggest use of Internet in education.

Online Learning
Another positive effects of Internet in education is the onset of distance education or online learning. With this facility, you can take up short term courses with the course material available online, learn and give exams. One of the benefits of online learning is that people from any part of the world can gain knowledge on different subjects, complete courses, etc. with the help of online learning.

With these points, we find that the importance of Internet in education cannot be denied and hence, every student should be given access to the Internet for deeper understanding and knowledge of a subject. However, lots and lots of information can be termed as both, advantages and disadvantages of the Internet as students can also have an access to unwanted or unethical information and sites. Therefore, it is only wise for parents to make students understand what is good and what not for them or keep a watch on their surfing.

These were some of the advantages of the Internet in education. Lastly, although the Internet cannot replace books or classroom education, it is one of the best substitute for those who wish to gain deeper knowledge on literally every subject. Good luck!

The Internet Today

2011-11-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

Today is the era of technology and computers, the internet is one of most important things that are necessary to live. A long time back, some twenty years, internet was used by only handful of people. It was a very costly affair and the computers were very bulky. There used to be a 5MB hard drive double the size of the washing machine that we use today. Just imagine how things have changed in these 20 years. Now, a small chip can store GB’s of data. Internet was not very common. Twenty years back, internet was used by a small minority of people, it was very expensive and it was the time when e-mail and www were just launched, then gradually people started learning about computers and Internet.

Today, we can see so much of change. Internet has developed in such a way that it has transformed the life of people. Talk of anything you can do it with the help of internet, be it communication, entertainment, news, sports, business, education, shopping and information of anything and everything. If we talk of them one by one, we will see that how things have become easy and we can do any task in just seconds or may be fraction of seconds. World is here on your fingertips always.

When we talk about communication, we know a long time back, we used to write letters, then post them and then after a couple of days it used to reach the other person, then they used to write and same process used to happen, it was time and money consuming and there was no surety that whether the important mail will reach or not. But, with the help of Internet, one can mail the other person and within minutes they get the reply back, they don’t have to pay and the time is saved.

Then, talk of entertainment; one can see movies, songs on YouTube, YouTube has almost everything. One can learn cooking on the same; one can learn dancing and one can watch their favorite songs, and earlier people used to bring the DVD, used to pay for them and had to go to the market for the same. One can see news on the internet, when the cable is not working or when due to rain, the dish TV also gives trouble. Earlier, one had to wait for morning or some fixed hours to know the news, but now it is 24into7. If you miss news, you can catch up with the same on the internet at any time. Internet has helped in the field of business also, earlier it used to be face to face interactions and the reach was very limited, but now you can reach the whole world with your idea and product and as per the market, you can export the goods or open your office in another country. It is great for growth in business.

Earlier, people used to go to school and the only way for getting a degree was going to the college, but now people who can’t afford schools or colleges, they work and with that they study online and enroll themselves for the online courses, they work and study and grow and the best part is that many can afford to study now, as they work and earn. People also find so many jobs on the Internet, they can sit back at home and can earn. In recession, they really don’t have to worry about the expenses, as they are working online and they have a source of earning. One can do plenty of shopping online and can have the goods delivered at home and also they can find information of almost anything and everything. It works like an encyclopedia too.

How to Use Usenet

2011-10-24T11:23:00.001-07:00

Usenet facility is the precursor of today's online forums, which started out when Internet was in its infancy. Through its 'Newsgroups', many hot topics are discussed and insights on various topics is shared. It is still used today by millions of users worldwide. Usenet was and is still used for file sharing, discussion on various topics and is still popular among geeks as a forum.

Tips On How to Use Usenet
Usenet predates Internet technology and has been around since the 1970s. Usenet as a resource is still quite alive and kicking today, due to its huge amount of content in the form of binary files which can be downloaded quite fast and specialized newsgroups. Usenet is controlled by a decentralized set of connected servers that host newsgroups and data files. Be it any topic of your interest, Usenet has newsgroups numbering in thousands, catering to it. Usenet is not a peer to peer service, but a paid one. Here are some tips on how to use Usenet for those of you, who want to connect to this enriching source of information.

Select Usenet Service Provider
First and foremost, to use Usenet, you must connect to a Usenet service provider, who can give you access to Usenet resources. For that, you must have a registered account with one of these Usenet service providers. Many Internet service providers provide accounts for Usenet or you may gain access through third party sources. Most of the Usenet service providers charge a monthly or yearly fee for access. The amount depends on the size of bandwidth you demand. So, that is news for those of you who are wondering how to use Usenet for free! The fees are quite nominal and affordable. 'Giganews' is one of the most popular Usenet service providers.

Get a Usenet Software Client
To access Usenet resources through your account, you need to get a special Usenet software or Usenet reader. This software connects with the various Usenet servers available on the Internet, to give you access to its resources. These software programs are generally freely downloadable or available as share ware at a minimal cost. This software is analogous to a web browser that is used on the world wide web. Download a software that is compatible with your operating system. There are dedicated clients for each operating system which includes Linux, Windows Vista and Macintosh.

Install The Usenet Reader
Next step is of course installing this software after downloading it. Make sure that the 'download location' that you select has enough storage space as Usenet files can be large.

Configuring the Usenet Reader
Once you have subscribed to a Usenet service provider, you must configure the Usenet reader according to the user name, password and server address provided to you by the Usenet service. This is an essential step as you cannot access Usenet, without a valid user name and registration.

Search and Subscribe to Various Usenet Groups
Let us see now how to use Usenet Newsgroups. Once you are logged in through the Usenet readers, portals of the Usenet world are open to you. You can download list of Usenet group archives now and access a variety of such newsgroups according to your area of interest. The Usenet reader allows you to subscribe to any one of these newsgroups. Once you subscribe to any one of these newsgroups, all the latest posts and developments on it are downloaded automatically on your computer.

If you are wondering how to use Usenet to download files, then know that the Usenet client or reader that you have installed can search and download files for you. There are many free software downloads available on Usenet. Since, downloads on Usenet are not peer to peer based, but direct downloads from servers, the speeds are phenomenally faster. You need to download '.nzb' files, which are similar to torrent files, to start a particular download.

Hope this article has given you a good idea about how to use Usenet and gain access to an alternative source of information and software download. Many people don't know that Usenet is still around and its power can be harnessed to gain specialized data and information. Hope this article serves to dispels ignorance about how to use Usenet and help more people in gaining access to it!

Interesting Internet Facts

2011-10-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

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 1960s 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.

The Internet – America’s New Lost and Found

2011-10-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

I sat thinking of how Bill O’Reilly only the night before had tried to dismiss a story only because it was found on the internet. His co-anchor reminded him of some of the breaking stories that came from the internet and were missed entirely by all other media sources. He coalesced to his cohort but in a condescending manner. I still think Bill may have missed the point.

It is easy to understand that the Apostle James was referring to what comes out of a man when he said "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?" (James 3:11) Yet, it is still hard to imagine a fountain that can bubble up with clear fresh water at times, and bitter poisonous slime at others, until you discover the internet.

The same internet that was used to raise millions of dollars for the Obama campaign now is being used to haunt the President with questions about his missing documents and now the use of a Connecticut social security number that makes no sense for a person who never resided in Connecticut a day in his life.

Major newspapers goin online just to survive and the deep rift that is forming between state sponsored media and independent journalism that just wants to tell it like it is, makes the internet look like the only true breakthrough media left in the nation. The day when a story was legitimized only when it made it to the evening TV newscast is becoming a thing of the past.

The success of internet news organizations like Breitbart which recently published a Krauthammer piece that boldly asserts that the Obama administration is "lawless" to the much maligned World Net Daily that broke the story of the Presidents Connecticut social security number is just in time for a world moving as fast as it is today. This is not news with a slant it is news that points in all directions and allows the readers to decide. It is water seeking its own level without the teaspoon of sugar to make the medicine go down.

The double sided nature of the internet is feared by those who don’t want every detail to be known but rather than being something to fear it is something that is inevitable. It is information finally discovering the place where the rivers change direction across the great divide. Not much you can do about that except to decide which side you are going to live on.

Emails gave way to chat rooms which gave way to blogs which gave way to social sites which gave way to ad infinitum. You can find church services on the web or sleazy porn sites that make you want to throw up. You can find nonsense of every kind including You Tube type video sites that would take five lifetimes to view if you didn’t take time to eat or sleep.

The internet is banned or regulated in some countries but in America it is the great lost and found of our generation. You can get lost in it or use it to find truths that can never be fully covered in the evening news with a few sound bites and the need to go to commercials.

For people who have integrity and still take the time to discern between what is urgent and what is actually important; the internet can be a place to find, as in the words of the late Paul Harvey, "the rest of the story."

Intranet Vs Internet

2011-10-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

The age of information technology owes a lot to the development of computer networking. It is computer networking on various scales, which has turned information into even more of a commodity today. There are two types of computer networks that you always keep hearing about. One is of course the 'Internet' and the other which may be in use in your company is an 'Intranet'. This article will make an intranet vs internet comparison and give you an insight into the difference between the two types of networks.

The concepts fundamental to both the intranet and internet are those of computer networking. Computer networking enables the sharing of resources and information among a group of computers. The first operational computer network was created for the United States Department of Defense and was known as 'Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET). Since then, networking technology and architecture evolved in complexity and sophistication, finally giving us the internet. An advanced set of computer networking software and hardware has made networking possible. As you will see ahead, an intranet and the internet are two points on the scale of networking complexity.

Intranet vs Internet : Definition
An intranet is an internal private computer network or connection of one or more computer networks, whose use and access is restricted to an organization and its employees. Transfer of data over this kind of a network is controlled using the internet protocols like hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) and file transfer protocol (FTP). These kinds of networks are used for ease of information sharing and communication in companies. In industries based on the Information technology sector, having intranets is absolutely necessary as their work involves a lot of data sharing.

The very fact that you are accessing information is through the Internet, shows that you have an idea of what the internet or 'International Network' can do for you. Take small networks spread in a small region of your city, then integrate it with other such small networks to form local area networks. Then integrate all such local area networks to form a wide area network of computers. Next integrate such wide area networks into a national network and then join all such national networks together and what you will get is the Internet! It is a single network that connects computers all over the world using Internet protocols, which make information sharing and routing possible. The main point of difference between intranet and Internet is, that while intranet involves the networking of a few hundred computers, Internet is a network of more than billion computers spread worldwide!

Intranet vs Internet : Structure, Scale & Complexity
The structure of an intranet is similar in principle to the Internet. Both use a server-client structure and both networks transfer data using Internet protocols. In fact, an intranet is often referred to as a 'Private Internet'. However, they fundamentally differ due to the vast difference in networking scale and complexity. With billions of computers sharing and transferring data amongst each other, the administration of the Internet is far more complex, as it is the mother of all computer networks. A large amount of networking and routing hardware is needed to connect all the computers worldwide. On the other hand, an intranet, being restricted to a few computers is easier to manage.

Intranet vs Internet : Server Control
One of the most fundamental of intranet and internet differences is the server control. An intranet is controlled by a single server, generally which can adequately handle all tasks. Whereas, the Internet is operated by linked set of billions of computer servers world wide. This is due to the sheer size of data that is exchanged over internet, which makes it essential that control centers be decentralized. It is the difference between the governing of a city and governing a nation! Decentralization is essential.

Intranet vs Internet : Uses
The Internet and the intranet differ in their uses. Internet is a global network which has information sharing on a global level as its goal. Whereas, an intranet is built in an organization, so that its resources can be shard and employee communication is made possible. Corporate intranets have restricted access controlled by user ids and passwords, which are not accessible to anybody on the outside. Internet is more open in the sense, that everything that is shared on the internet is accessible to every person connected to it, all over the world.

So, these was Intranet vs Internet comparison, which was aimed at showing you the fundamental difference between the two. The difference is primarily that of complexity in manageability while, the fundamental principles and technologies that make both networks possible are the same.

Internet Facts: Internet Statistics

2011-10-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

If you have reached this page, I need not say that you already know what the Internet is and how it is used. But there are millions of us who use the Internet and are so very unaware of the amazing Internet facts and Internet statistics that lie hidden behind this awesome medium. So brace yourselves, rest back on that easy chair, sip a drink, and enjoy reading these mind-blowing Internet facts and statistics, that would amaze you. And even before you go through these facts, it would be good to have a look at some information on when was the Internet invented and of course who invented the Internet.

Dotcom (.com) Facts

The dotcom is over 25 years old, and was actually a short form for commerce as it was initially set up for the use of e-commerce websites.
There are around 12 million e-commerce and online business websites, 4.5 million entertainment sites, 3.1 million finance-related sites, and around 2 million sports sites.
The first dotcom company was Symbolics.
Initially, .cor was decided, but later .com was finalized to be used.
As we speak, there are about 300 million websites, out of which 100 million are .com.
All through the 1980s, just around 100 dotcoms were registered, while in the 90s, around 20 million came into existence. In the last 10 years, nearly 60 million dotcoms have been registered.
http://www.llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch.com is the longest website name online.
The world's most expensive dotcom is insure.com which was sold for $16 million.
53 billion requests for websites including dotcoms are logged everyday.
The most popular word used in domain names is 'home' (1.3 million & counting).
The dotcom domain is now a stage for a $400 billion annual economic activity.
There are nearly 4 million domain names that are registered each month.

Internet Statistics by Country/Continent

Continent	Usage
Asia	38%
Europe	29%
North America	21%
South America	8%
Africa	3%
Australia	1%

Country	Population	Total Users	Penetration	% of World Users
China	1.34 bn	360 mn	30%	21%
United States	307 mn	228 mn	75%	13%
Japan	127 mn	96 mn	76%	5.5%
India	1.15 bn	81 mn	7%	4.7%
Brazil	199 mn	67 mn	34%	3.9%
Germany	82 mn	54 mn	66%	3.1%
United Kingdom	61 mn	47 mn	77%	2.7%
Russia	140 mn	45 mn	32%	2.6%
France	62 mn	43 mn	69%	2.5%
South Korea	48 mn	37 mn	77%	2.2%

Internet Statistics: United States

In the United States, 228 million out of the 307 million population use the Internet. That means that 3 out of every 4 people use this medium, and are connected. The United States accounts for around 13% of the world's Internet usage, and as we all know, is the place where the Internet actually started.

Internet Facts for Kids

4 out of every 6 kid's parents have little or no idea what their kid surfs on the Internet.
Kids who use the net do so for an average for an hour everyday.
87% of kids aged 12 to 17 use the Internet in the United States.
40% teenagers receive a request online for personal information.
Over 15% children in the United States are confronted by a stranger online, for some reason or the other.

Internet safety tips for kids is something that all parents must be aware of, so that their kids are safe from the various dangers lurking on the net.

Interesting Internet Facts

The Internet is more than 40 years old.
In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee coined the phrase 'World Wide Web' (www).
Mosaic, the first web browser arrived in 1993.
Around 15 countries still do not have Internet access at all.
Less than 20% of the world's population surf the Internet.
70% of Internet users are men while 30% are women.
Roughly, there are around 15 billion devices connected to the Internet.
Every 10 seconds there is a cyber crime committed somewhere in the world.
The late 80s experienced the first Internet worms that crippled thousands of computers.
The first advertising banner on the Internet was put up in 1994.
The first speech recognition software called 'Hearsay' was developed in 1971 in India.
Current microprocessors contain about 10 million transistors.
Around 1,700,000 terabytes of information is created and stored every year.
The first hard disk drive could hold just 5MB worth of data.

Fun Internet Facts

Xu Jinglei, a Chinese actress has the most popular blog in the world.
80% of the pictures on the Internet are of naked women.
The QWERTY keyboard layout is around 130 years old.
The first mouse was made of wood.
It took www 4 years to reach an audience of 50 million, the same milestone was achieved by TV and radio in 13 and 38 years respectively.
Your cell phone that you make use of to connect to the Internet now, is a million times cheaper, a hundred times smaller, and a thousand times more powerful than a computer 40 years back (read: Internet Turns 40).
An Internet user blinks less than 10 times a minute, 20 being the average for a normal person.

And here is something that we all should take note of. It is believed that nearly 2% of the worldwide Internet users are depressed and suffer from the Signs of Internet Addiction Disorder. Now it has still not been established whether they are addicted to the Internet because they are depressed, or it is the other way round. Proper research on Internet addiction still has a long way to go before we get more conclusive evidence and counter measures that help.

The Internet facts and Internet statistics are mind-boggling and never-ending. One could go on and on for days writing about them, but I have tried to list the most important and fun ones. We have a comments column here, so do feel free to add your comments about any noteworthy fact that I may have overlooked mentioning here.

tanned black

2011-09-26T10:26:00.001-07:00

tannedblack

Cool Things To Do Online

2011-09-26T06:45:00.000-07:00

The advent of the Internet has revolutionized the way people spend their time now. Instant access to endless arrays of music, movies, ebooks, social networking sites, games and many other such forms of entertainment have made the computer a center of immense amusement and utility.

We use the Internet for many purposes today and as all the other instruments of technology, the computer too gets misused occasionally. But we have come to rely on these machines so heavily, that to think of our lives without them seems like an impossibility. Especially at times, when we find ourselves bogged with boredom, the Internet can be a perfect escape and there are plenty of cool things to do online.

Cool Things To Do Online
Here are a few entertaining things to do online when you're bored and just feel like passing some time.

YouTube: YouTube is a service provided by Google that lets you upload or watch videos. Out of the many cool things to do online, this is something you can spend hours doing. There are many videos that will interest you and you can search for a video related to pretty much anything under the sun. You can also choose to upload your own videos on the site and view other people's comments and opinions on it.
Google Earth: Another great feature by Google is Google Earth. You can view any location on the planet via a satellite image and see a real-time image from overhead. There is a lot of cool stuff to do online, and this is probably one of the best. You can view your own city, your own street or you can see any place on the planet that you would like to go to. Its reach is unmatched, and it is hard to believe that you actually have the entire world at your fingertips.
Social Networking: One of the most fun things to do online, that you will hear from a lot of people, is visiting social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. These platforms help you keep in touch with your friends, no matter what corner of the world they may be in. This is one of the many cool things to do on the Internet today as everyone is connected with each other in some way. You can constantly see what your friends are up to and they can always feel like they know what is going on in your life.
Music: The best part about the Internet is the unlimited and extensive access to music. There are radio stations available that can be easily found, and you can hear various genres of online music from all around the world, sitting in your home. Any artist from any time is available at the click of a button, and this is a great way to spend a few hours for music lovers.
Movie Trailers: Out of the many cool things to do with computers, you can also watch trailers of new upcoming movies. This is a great thing for movie buffs and one can really spend hours watching these trailers online.
Games: There are many fun games to play online as well that you can resort to in order to pass your time. There are specialized websites that exist over the Internet for this very purpose and it is very easy to find them and play their games online.

Apart from these options, there are many others as well that you can do online like blog, read, chat or shop. There are also many cool things to do with pictures online. The Internet is vast and there are many cool things to do online which can either interest you, intrigue you or even get you completely hooked onto. Here is some more fun stuff to do online when bored.

Apart from the many cool things to do on the Internet, there are certain unethical and immoral activities that are easily accessible through the Internet and these should be handled at your own discretion. The Internet has given us much to do but we should learn not to abuse the power that we have in our hands.

Things to do on the Internet

2011-09-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

The Internet is used for innumerable purposes, such as surfing for the required information, chatting, sending emails, payment of bills, ticket booking and many more. Due to its uses, the Internet has become very popular since its launch. We can get the desired information by using the famous search engines, like the Yahoo and Google search engines, in very less time. Apart from these two, there are other search engines that are popular in the various parts of the world. The number of website owners has increased by millions over the years, due to increasing number of activities on the Internet. Let us discuss the fun stuff to do online when bored, in detail in the following paragraphs.

Surfing For Information and Images

You can get detailed information on a variety of topics by going through the number of concerned websites on the Internet. Some of the categories in which the information available can be classified in, are education and higher learning, health, entertainment, politics, national and international news and finance related information. This information is used by people from varied backgrounds and professions. Surfing helps us update our knowledge and keeps us informed about the things happening around us. It can be a good hobby and a method of recreation. The Internet can help you access and search for many pictures and images, which you are interested in viewing, just by a single click. You can also download the images, by carefully reading the terms and conditions of the website. Internet surfing saves a lot of time, money and energy.

Connecting With People

Sending emails and chatting are cool things to do on the Internet. You can stay connected with your friends and family, even if they are far away from you. You can register yourself on the famous social networking sites and share your views and feelings with people you like. You can make many friends by viewing the profiles of the people, from all over the world. You can improve your relationships with the people near to you by using the Internet. Matrimonial websites are of great advantage for the people seeking a marriage alliance.

Business Transactions Using Internet

The Internet is used on a large-scale, to carry out various business transactions. For executing the business transactions online, you need to have an Internet banking account. You can buy your favorite items by paying the bill online, in a few minutes. This is better than personally visiting the place, to shop. The regular banking transactions can be carried out using the Internet properly. You can transfer money to different accounts, anywhere in the world. You can consider the idea of paying all your bills, filling admission forms of universities via the Internet, etc. for the quick completion of the task. There are many online jobs available, which can fetch you a decent amount of money if you complete the job well and in time. You can also carry out your stock market transactions through online trading, for transactions like placing an order for shares and selling the shares, without much efforts.

Fun Things to Do on the Internet

Writing your own blogs, articles, playing Internet games, watching movies by logging on the concerned website, listening to the latest hit songs of top singers, etc. are some fun things to do on the Internet. These are the best things to do on the Internet. The online games market is increasing with every passing day.

The Internet has an answer for all your queries and difficulties, for it provides with many fun things to do online. However, one should avoid misusing the Internet, as it can lead to serious consequences.

Who Invented the Internet

2011-09-13T19:11:00.000-07:00

The Internet was not an idea of an individual, but a visionary thought in the minds of many geniuses. The first person who initiated this idea of mass amalgamation of knowledge was Leonard Kleinrock. He published his first paper on May 31, 1961, 'Information Flow in Large Communication Nets'. He understood the concept that an individual phone line and modem for each person is very expensive. One could overcome this problem with the application of packet switching that allows multiple users to connect using a single connection. He replaced the old circuit switching process with packet switching. This new concept referred to the transfer of information online and depends on the theory that is very important for the working of the Internet.

The Soviet Union had launched the first satellite, Sputnik I, that prompted the US President Dwight Eisenhower to create the APRA agency. This was to stay in the lead in the arms race and appointed J.C.R. Licklinder as the head of the new IPTO (Information Processing Technology Office) organization in 1962. Licklinder applied his vision of a galactic network and thought to commix all the people around the world with this galactic network.

As he lacked the experience in computer programing, he appointed Lawrence Roberts to help him create the Internet for ARPA. Lawrence lead a team that created the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), in 1967. Thus, was created the precursor that lead to the development of Internet. He was the first scientist to use the full potential of the new circuit created by Kleinrock. Even today, you will find, Internet uses packet switching as the primary method for transferring data. You can read more on how to share files over internet.

The Network Working Group (NWG), held their first meeting in 1968, which was presided by Elmer Shapiro of the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). The other attendees of the meeting were Steve Carr, Jeff Rulifson, Ron Stough, Steve Croker and Ron Stoughton. They discussed the issues related to hosts that communicate with each other. Then in 1968, Shapiro published a report 'A Study of Computer Network Design Parameters'. Lawrence Roberts and Barry Wessler created the final version of the Interface Message Processor (IMP) specifications based on the works of Shapiro, Paul Baran, Thomas Marill and many others. Soon, Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc. got a contract to design and build the IMP sub network.

The first network switch and piece of network equipment called 'IMP' (Internet Message Processor) was sent to UCLA on August 29, 1969. Thus, the first data moved from the UCLA host to the switch on September 2, 1969. The first Internet message was sent from a computer science professor Leonard Kleinrock's laboratory to the University of California on October 29, 1969. This was after the second piece of network equipment was installed at SLI. This was considered as the first Internet backbone.

The most widely used form of communication today, the e-mail was first developed in 1972, by Ray Tomlinson. For the first time one could send messages across the network to other users. In 1973, Victon Cerf and Robert Kahn designed the TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). They published it in December 1974 in RFC 675 with the help of Yogen Dalal and Carl Sunshine. In 1973, Bob Metcalfe managed to develop the first Ethernet.

The mastermind trio, Danny Cohen, David Reed and John Shoch splits up the TCP into TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) that can now support real-time traffic in 1978. This TCP/IP helped in creation of UDP or the User Datagram Protocol . Soon the TCP/IP was standardized into the ARPANET in 1983 and remains to be used as the primary protocol on the Internet even today. You can read more on basic internet terms and terminology and TCP/IP Reference Model.

The DNS was introduced in 1984 by Paul Mockapetris and Jon Postel. The major contribution to the way one navigates and views the Internet today was by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, by developing the HTML. Soon, he introduced the World Wide Web to the public on August 6, 1991. By 1993, Internet faced a major boom and has become accessible anywhere at anytime by anyone today. You can read more on things to do on the Internet.

This was all about the invention of Internet. Many believe it was Al Gore who invented the internet. But this is one of the biggest misconception among people. He did nothing that contributed towards the development and creation of Internet. He never said or claimed to have a hand in the invention of Internet. He just supported the advancement of Internet by government funding. You can credit him for coining the term 'Information Superhighway'. So as you can see the question who invented the internet does not have a single name as an answer to it. It is the contribution of many experts from various fields who helped in creating the Internet. Internet and the world will forever remain indebted to all those known and unknown faces who chipped in their expertise to help create the virtual world of knowledge.

How Does the Internet Work?

2011-09-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

Working of the Internet is based on a series of protocols. A protocol is a set of rules or a kind of agreement, wherein two parties agree to abide by a set of rules. In this case, these rules govern the transmission and reception of data, to and from a computer from a party and situated at some unknown location.

To know how protocols work, it's important to understand the protocol layers. The network is firstly divided into various layers and protocols that are set for each of these layers. Let's see what the protocols are, layer wise:

Application Layer Protocol
The application layer acts as the interface between the user and the system. This layer has application specific protocols like hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), e-mail, chatting, or file transfer protocol (FTP) for downloading, etc., which communicates with the subsequent TCP layer.

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Layer
Every application requiring network access communicates with the TCP layer first. This protocol has a set of rules that govern the functioning of the transmission layer, which is between the application layer and the IP layer. While receiving data, TCP directs data to a specific application using the port number.

Internet Protocol Layer
The main job of this layer and the protocols associated with it, are to give the machine an identification on the network. Every computer on the Internet or a local network gets assigned a unique address commonly known as Internet Protocol address or simply the IP address. It is a number of the form xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, where xxx must be any combination from 000 to 255.

Hardware Layer
This is the layer which physically connects a computer to the data transmission media which may be a phone line, a cellular or a satellite connection. This layer includes modems, ethernet cards and hardware lines which materialize the actual connection process. The protocol governing this layer converts computer readable digital binary data into transmittable analog data (this is not needed, in case an ethernet line is used).

To demonstrate how data flow occurs through these layers when using the Internet, let's consider the case of two computers, where computer 1 is trying to access some data on computer 2. Let's say that user1 and user2, are the respective users. User 1 is using an application, let's say some browser. Thus, he directly communicates with the application layer only. His actions are relayed through by application layer to the TCP layer. The TCP layer communicates with the IP layer and the IP layer, then corresponds to the hardware. All this while, the respective protocols take care that these layers function the proper way. Now, the data or the request from user1 is sent to computer 2, via the Internet framework. This is when the importance of protocol is evident. All protocols on the receiver's end function for the opposite cause. We better not go too deep into the working of protocols, as that is not what we're looking for.

Till now, we were concentrating a lot on the Internet in the wired world. But, with technologies like Wi-Fi and WiMax giving the cable a run for its money, it's time to throw some light on wireless Internet.

How does Wireless Internet Work?

Before answering this question, let's find out about the type of wireless Internet connections. They are of two types: a wireless connection using a router, more commonly known as Wi-Fi, and the Internet accessed through a mobile phone network. Now, let's know 'how does the Internet work on Wi-Fi?' and 'how does the Internet work on mobile?'.

How Does Wi-Fi Work?
A Wi-Fi capability is achieved by simply making your normal wired connection wire-free. This is done with the help of a router. A router, as the name suggests, is simply a re-routing device. It is equipped with a low-power radio transmitter and receiver, with a range of about 300 ft. It is connected to the normal wired media like a phone line, satellite TV line or the ethernet cables. The router converts the received electrical signals into radio signals capable of being transmitted through the air. While sending the data on the Internet, it does the exact opposite, i.e converting radio signals into electrical signals. For Wi-Fi compatibility, you need to have computers equipped with wireless cards, which is nothing but a radio transmitter and receiver. Wi-Fi is technically termed as IEEE 802.11 and has quickly evolved to newer versions like 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n being the latest. As a router creates a Wi-Fi hotspot of about 300m radius, Internet can be accessed in those hotspot areas only. Read more on how does wi-fi work.

How Internet Works on Mobile?
If you own a relatively new mobile handset, then it's most likely to be equipped with a built-in web browser. Mobile phones with internet capabilities are based on a system called WAP (Wireless Application Protocols). Those areas, where GSM (Global System for Mobile) phones are in use, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is available to the users to access the Internet in 2G and 3G systems. A 2G system offering GPRS service is often called 2.5G. A typical 2G GPRS system provides a speed of 56-128 kbps. This system works on converting data packets into radio packets using an in-built WAP modem. This method of data transmission is known as packet switching. Packet switching is more beneficial, as compared to circuit switching used in voice transmission over cellular networks. Here, the cell phone connects to the same wireless connection used to make calls, but instead of getting re-routed to another cell phone, it connects to a web server. Web content from this web server is downloaded to your Internet phone and the modem demodulates the data to be viewed by the browser.

Internet on CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) phones uses a similar mechanism over a different technology. It has a much faster speed, as compared to the GSM-based Internet services.

Protocols and layers similar to those used in computers control all these operations. Now, you have a fair idea of how Internet works in mobile phones.

WAP-based Internet on mobile phones has been slow to take off, mainly because of the numerous disadvantages associated with Internet on mobile phones, like small screen size, lack of windows, lack of ease of navigation and speed. In Japan, newer and faster cellular networks are using a technology called i-mode to access the net from a cell phone.

Internet Turns 40

2011-09-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

'LO' - two mere alphabets that have gone down in history, as the first message to be sent, from a computer at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to a recipient computer at Stanford Research Institute, 314 miles away, thanks to the invention of what is better known today as the Internet. Of course the fact that, the original message was supposed to be log in and that the computer it was sent to crashed, milliseconds after receiving the first two alphabets, is but a minor detail.

Forty years ago, on October 29, 1969, Leonard Kleinrock and his team at the UCLA, created a network that would allow computers to speak to each other, and make them as easy to use as telephones. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were then concepts that were straight out of a science fiction novel set at least a hundred years in the future. Kleinrock, now 75, claims to be constantly surprised by the applications that have come into being along the way.

The Cold War can be thanked for the existence of the web. A constant battle of one-upmanship between the Russians and the Americans, led to the establishment of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the U.S., the agency that ultimately paid for the project that allowed the creation of a network that could link two computers over a distance. It was in 1983, that DARPA divided the existing network into two parts, the military component and what we know as the Internet. It was in the 1990s that the internet started resembling the cyberspace we are more familiar with, thanks to the opening up of the internet to business propositions and the wave of the World Wide Web. More on How does the World Wide Web Work.

But it has not been all smooth sailing. Spam, online fraud and Internet crimes have all become widespread providing detractors with fodder to attack the invention. While there is more freedom for the average Internet user to communicate, play or even work, there is also increased information control, due to authoritarian regimes and even increased security fears. After 40 years, maybe a midlife crisis has hit the Internet technology. But it is still responsible for a whole range of conceptions, that leave us dumbstruck on a daily basis.