“Internet”
the word which contains every thing, I repeat every
thing but since no single entity is in control, and
its pieces run themselves, cooperating to form the network
of networks that is the Internet. However, because no
single entity is control, nobody knows the whole thing
about the Internet. Measuring it is especially hard
because some parts choose to limit access to themselves
to various degrees. So, instead of measurement, we have
various forms of surveying and estimation. We can find
fascinating facts on a phenomenon that has changed communication
to an extent which was previously totally unimaginable.
The Net is a unique creation of human intelligence.
è The first intelligent artificial organism.
è Represents the growth of a new society within
the old.
è Represents a new model of governance.
è Represents a threat to civil liberties.
è The greatest free marketplace of ideas that
has ever existed.
This is a global network that consist of hundreds millions
of computers around the world. All of them can be connected
with each other. People pay their bills, book airline
tickets and hotel rooms, rent, sell and buy homes, cars,
and do a lot more online. Government, businesses and
a great part of population of the developed countries
appeared too depend from the Internet now. Significant
part of the national leading library resources is reachable
online, the colleges propose online courses, and search-engines
provide answer to almost any questions.
But at the same time porno-show industry became one
of the fastest growing sources of the online revenue.
This industry generated Internet content that creates
healthy fear of parents.
In other words the virtual Net-world that was born
just a couple of years ago on the border between two
millenniums creates tremendous new opportunities and
almost the same scale of unpredictable fears.
All these events happened so fast that people outside
IT professional community mostly was not able to understand
where this new online technology comes from and what
the scientific basement of the virtual world is.
I want to show you how internet
is beneficial for any business.
è The Internet is extremely different from
print advertising in that space is cheap, your advertisement
is accessible for a longer period of time, the content
can be changed without having to ask someone to do it
for you and you can potentially reach a wider audience.
è It has allowed businesses to break through
the geographical barriers and become accessible, virtually,
from any country in the world by a potential customer.
è A website is not just a medium for representation
of your company, it is a form of media from which everybody
can acquire information. You can use this media to sell
advertising space to other businesses.
è No more turning customers away when its time
to close shop and leaving an irritating message on your
answering service specifying your trading hours tell
them to visit your website for information they are
looking for.
è It is far more convenient for a person to
research a product on the Internet, the potential customer
can visit your website whenever they like in their own
privacy and comfort, without the stresses and distractions
that exist in the real world.
è By offering convenience, a point of reference
and that touch of individualised customer service, you
ultimately add value to your offering and your customers
experience a higher level of satisfaction.
è Your website can add value in other ways
too, by featuring tips, advice and general interest
content you can entertain your customers. This will
also help them remember you better.
è By looking at which approached / pitches
have worked in the past and those which have not, you
can produce the ultimate pitch and use it with your
website, so that you use it on every customer. No more
training of sales people and waiting for them to get
a feel for your line of trade.
è A website gives you the opportunity to tell
potential customers what you are about and why you deserve
their trust and confidence. In fact, many people use
the internet for pre-purchase research so that they
can determine for themselves whether a particular supplier
or brand is worthy of their patronage, and won’t
take them for a ride.
è The Internet also allows for Viral Marketing
where your website visitors spread positive word-of-mouth
about your business - your customers do your marketing!
è A website serves as a great place to refer
potential investors to, to show them what your company
is about, what it has achieved and what it can achieve
in future.
è Customers can quickly and easily give feedback
on your product and/or marketing approach.
è You can use features on your
website such as visitor polls, online surveys and your
website statistics to find out what your customers like
more and how they feel about certain aspects of your
business to determine how you can improve your product
and the way you do business. Website statistics show
you how much traffic your website receives, how the
visitor got to your website and where, geographically,
the visitor is from.
In the Internet Era, you can create
Multiple Streams of Internet Income by creating multiple
business website once you become familiar with how the
Internet Business WORKS.
Now here I must clarify followings:
E-Mail - Anyone can apply for
an e-mail address and send and receive messages from
their computer. Once you start using e-mail you’ll
soon be unable to imagine life without it. Not only
can you send and receive texts, but also attachments
with pictures, sound documents and even video clips.
Unfortunately very often some of these attachments are
unwanted to the point of being illegal. In addition,
viruses that can destroy computer data can be spread
via e-mail. So be careful.
File Transfer Protocol - Web
pages are transferred between computers using the HTTP
protocol, with other types of files sent using FTP.
Users can share files, such as music and videos between
themselves and the rest of the world by uploading them
to a server and then allowing others to download them
to their own computers.
Internet Relay Chat - IRC is
a service allowing you to connect to your chosen channel
and talk to others with the same interests.
USENET - USENET (Unix User Network)
is a system of bulletin boards whereby messages and
points of view can be posted to be read and replied
to. Similar to IRC, all sorts of topics are discussed
and a wide range of groups take part.
ICANN - The Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers - is an international,
non-profit organization that has assumed responsibility
for Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation,
protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country
code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management
and root server system management functions.
Internet providers - Obviously
it would be impossible to connect each and every computer
directly with cables. This is where an Internet Access
Provider (IAP) comes in. This is a company which provides
access to the Internet and the actual hardware to connect
some type of dedicated data line from its network source
to your computer. It also provides and manages the send
& receive data stream. Most Internet providers generally
hire space on their server for web site storage.
Modems - In simple terms, a
modem is a device which allows your computer to communicate
with other computers via a communications link. A modem
converts computer data into the format used on the communications
connection and the remote modem converts that transmission
back into data. Modems vary in shape, size and type,
depending on the connection system. Some are integrated
into the computer, others have an external connection
to the computer. Connection to the Internet may be made
via a modem for a standard telephone, cable network,
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) or a wireless system.
Broadband is a term often heard regarding Internet access
and simply means high speed Internet access.
Routers - In order to cope with
the immense number of message transfers, the network
contains a substantial number of switching points called
routers. A router is a computer which communicates with
more than one network running software to allow it to
move data between networks Routers receive messages
and direct or “route” them along the correct
networks to the desired destinations. So-called routing
protocols have been devised in order for large networks
with many sub-networks to automatically recognize where
the various networks are and move data automatically
between them.
Web Hosting - To have a web
site on the Internet, you need a web server but owning
one is very expensive. This problem is solved by a web
host. Instead of you having to fathom out how all the
technology works, a web hosting company will do it for
you and rent you space for your web site on the company’s
web server. So effectively your web host provides Internet
space for your web site and also those of others. This
costs a great deal less buying a server and you still
retain control over the construction and configuration
of your individual web site.
Domain Name - A domain name
is your web address, allowing access to your web site.
It is often referred to as URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
which describes the address for any document on the
Internet. The name should be simple and easy to
remember to make it readily accessible to all wishing
to visit it. Domain names are usually coupled with e-mail
accounts and end with .com (commerce), .net (network),
.org (organization) or very often the official abbreviation
for a specific country
Cookies - When using a browser
to surf the Internet, a cookie is a small file set to
and from the browser so that the website can track your
movements on that site – perhaps as a registered
customer. In this way cookies are useful. However, they
can also be used to track your web movements to provide
information to others, such as details of websites you
visit, purchases made, where payments have been made
by credit card. Cookies can be disabled with the advantage
of preventing some websites from gaining information,
but the disadvantage is that many websites work better
using cookies.
Spam - In general spam can be
defined as any unsolicited e-mail, usually in the form
of advertising for a product or service. Spam wastes
an enormous amount of people’s time.
Malware - This is a general
term meaning malicious software such as viruses, worms,
Trojans, spyware, adware, etc.
Viruses - A virus is a programme
with the ability to reproduce and spread rapidly. It
is often difficult to eliminate. A virus infiltrates
a file and is spread as that file is copied and forwarded
to other computers.
Virushoaxes - Normally
spread through e-mails, a virus hoax is usually a false
warning of a non-existent computer virus.
Worms - Worms differ from viruses
in that they don’t reproduce by infiltrating files
but by infiltrating systems. For example, a network
worm spreads by reproducing itself throughout a network
system. An Internet worm sends copies of itself through
the Internet system via poorly protected computers.
An e-mail worm sends copies of itself via the e-mail
system.
Trojans - The name is derived
from the Trojan Horse of Helen of Troy fame. It is a
particular type of malware used to infiltrate a computer
without the user’s knowledge. Unlike viruses, Trojans
cannot reproduce.
AdwareandSpyware
-- Short for advertising-supported software, adware
is a software application in which advertising is displayed
while the programme is running. This may take the form
of pop-ups or banners which appear on the computer monitor.
Advertisers pay for the service and help to recover
some of the costs of software development, thus keeping
the price low or even free, whilst the programmer still
makes a profit. Adware may run on a computer without
the users knowledge, having been included in shareware
or freeware downloaded from the Internet.Some adware
programmes include codes used for tracking and collecting
information about users, their computers, websites visited
and so on. This is then called Spyware.Combating Adware
and Spyware is fairly easy with programmes such as Ad-Aware
or Spybot, which can be downloaded free of charge from
the Internet and regularly updated. There are also commercial
packages for sale.
Now some tips which can help you
to protect from threat :
è Treat all unsolicited e-mails with suspicion
and never click on links on these e-mails to enter unknown
websites. Never, ever answer unsolicited e-mails. You’ll
just end up with even more spam.
è Ensure that you are using the latest version
of anti-virus software. Most will automatically provide
updates. Download security updates or so-called patches
from the Windows Update site, depending on your system.
Install a firewall to help keep hackers at bay and make
you invisible on the Internet.
è Ignore all requests for personal details. Legitimate
companies never request personal information via the
Internet. Never forget that e-mail is not a secure
method of transmitting personal information.
è Thoroughly check all credit card and bank
statements to ensure that there are no unauthorized
charges. If a statement is not received on time, check
with the institution concerned to confirm your address.
è Be cautious about opening any e-mail attachment,
even from known sources. Before opening it, drag and
drop the attachment onto your desktop and scan it for
viruses.
è Make a spare copy of all credit card, investment
and bank details.
è Contact your credit card company if new cards
don’t arrive on time.
è Never use names, dates or consecutive numbers
or letters for passwords or PINs.
è Never give passwords or PINs to anyone. Either
by e-mail or personally.
è Check all credit card statements thoroughly.
è Shred your information before disposing of
it.
è Remove all data before disposing of a computer,
and at last but not least never think
“It can’t happen to me!” It can!
These are only ABC
of INTERNET. D –
Z are still pending.
Contributor: Dhirendra Kumar
is webmaster of Biharbrains and project manager in a
Delhi based IT Company.
