Web browsers are the software programs that enable you to use the Internet. The browsers I know the best are Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, AOL, Opera, and Netscape. I’m most familiar with Internet Explorer, Firefox, and AOL. I've heard that Netscape may cause some problems though.
Explorer is probably the most standard web browser, and is part of the essential programs you’ll get with a computer operated by Windows. It is also the most popular of the browsers, and works really well. You need Internet Explorer to operate some programs on the web. Mozilla Firefox is also a pretty good browser. My mom prefers it to others. You use to have to pay for AOL, but not anymore. I like the voice that says, “You’ve got mail!” When you have mail on AOL.
Each of these share similar features. Explorer and Firefox both have the tab feature, where you can have several sites available at the same time in the same window connected to tabs. You can make and organize bookmarks, go forward and backward in pages, change font size, set up various tool bars such as Google or Yahoo, make a homepage which will be the first page you come to when you sign on, view a history of pages you’ve visited, and refresh the page you’re on if it gets stuck. You can have more than one browser window up at the same time if you’d like. To go to a website you can type the URL in the web address box at the top of the screen.
My favorite browser is, of course, Internet Explorer, and I rarely use anything else. But it’s not the only good one. You can test the different types out yourself to find your own favorite.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Instant Messaging
Instant messaging is a way to chat in real time with people over the Internet. You can download chat client programs such as AOL, Yahoo, ICQ, and/or MSN Instant Messengers for free to use to talk to people. I’ve never known anyone who used ICQ or MSN Instant Messengers, so I can’t really say much about them. As far as I know they are fine programs. I have used Yahoo and AOL Instant Messaging with great success.
When using these programs you can adjust to font size, color, and formatting. One cool thing I found out about is the way you can make smileys, (or smiley faces). You can choose pre-made smileys, or make them manually. For example typing :, -, and ) makes the most basic smiley.
After downloading and signing up for a chat client you will have your own username and be able to chat with people. It’s easy to add friends and family to your list of contacts. Clicking on one of you contact’s usernames will bring up a chat window. It will show if that person is currently online or not. You can actually talk to more than one person at a time. People don’t always type out full words when chatting to save time. For instance, someone might write “omg” for “Oh, my gosh!” or “brb” for “Be right back.”
You can also send pictures, videos, or files through IM, (or Instant Messaging). A log of everything said between you and your contact is displayed above the box where you type. You can even save your chat if you want to. If you need to step away from your computer for a while you can put up an Away Message.
Instant Messaging certainly has its’ advantages over e-mail. You don’t have to wait forever for someone to get back to you. You can talk as fast as you can type. I know from personal experience that you can really get into a conversation with someone and not be able to type fast enough. Instant Messaging is one of the best fairly new communication inventions in the world, and usually it is pretty fun.
When using these programs you can adjust to font size, color, and formatting. One cool thing I found out about is the way you can make smileys, (or smiley faces). You can choose pre-made smileys, or make them manually. For example typing :, -, and ) makes the most basic smiley.
After downloading and signing up for a chat client you will have your own username and be able to chat with people. It’s easy to add friends and family to your list of contacts. Clicking on one of you contact’s usernames will bring up a chat window. It will show if that person is currently online or not. You can actually talk to more than one person at a time. People don’t always type out full words when chatting to save time. For instance, someone might write “omg” for “Oh, my gosh!” or “brb” for “Be right back.”
You can also send pictures, videos, or files through IM, (or Instant Messaging). A log of everything said between you and your contact is displayed above the box where you type. You can even save your chat if you want to. If you need to step away from your computer for a while you can put up an Away Message.
Instant Messaging certainly has its’ advantages over e-mail. You don’t have to wait forever for someone to get back to you. You can talk as fast as you can type. I know from personal experience that you can really get into a conversation with someone and not be able to type fast enough. Instant Messaging is one of the best fairly new communication inventions in the world, and usually it is pretty fun.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Fan Sites
Celebrities, movies, and popular TV shows usually have their own fan sites online. Fan sites are places on the web devoted to famous people, shows, and movies. They can be official or unofficial. Official fan sites are approved and/or put together by the celebrities, or people involved in the movie or TV show. Unofficial sites are usually put together by fans.
Fan sites can be really fun to go to and look around. They can have pictures, articles, celebrity information, and sometimes videos. There can be forums where fans can talk about different topics on the site. Sometimes there are fun games too. Also, there are usually news updates that keep people informed. For example, if the site is about a singer there might be a news update about concerts coming soon.
My favorite singer is Tori Amos. So I go to some of her fan sites. HEREINMYHEAD.COM is my favorite Tori site, even though it’s not her official fan site. Her official site is toriamos.com. At HEREINMYHEAD.COM there are lots of pictures, lyrics to all of her songs, discography, art, and videography. One of the best Tori Amos fan sites is A Dent In The Tori Amos Net Universe, even though they stopped updating it a year ago. Perhaps the coolest thing about this site is an extensive database of all of her tours, concerts, and songs performed up to 2006.
There are tons of different fan sites on the web. They’re easy to find if you look for them on search engines. MySpace has fan pages too. It’s a fun way to spend your time if you are bored.
Fan sites can be really fun to go to and look around. They can have pictures, articles, celebrity information, and sometimes videos. There can be forums where fans can talk about different topics on the site. Sometimes there are fun games too. Also, there are usually news updates that keep people informed. For example, if the site is about a singer there might be a news update about concerts coming soon.
My favorite singer is Tori Amos. So I go to some of her fan sites. HEREINMYHEAD.COM is my favorite Tori site, even though it’s not her official fan site. Her official site is toriamos.com. At HEREINMYHEAD.COM there are lots of pictures, lyrics to all of her songs, discography, art, and videography. One of the best Tori Amos fan sites is A Dent In The Tori Amos Net Universe, even though they stopped updating it a year ago. Perhaps the coolest thing about this site is an extensive database of all of her tours, concerts, and songs performed up to 2006.
There are tons of different fan sites on the web. They’re easy to find if you look for them on search engines. MySpace has fan pages too. It’s a fun way to spend your time if you are bored.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Social Networking Sites
I don’t have a lot of experience with social networking sites, but I’ll write about what I do know. Social networking sites are places on the Internet where people can set up a personal page and meet other people. This is much easier than trying to build your own personal web page from scratch, plus you usually meet more people. The two sites I know the most about are MySpace and Yahoo 360.
These sites usually have their own e-mail that you can use to reach other people on the site. You can post blogs, search for other users, and post comments. MySpace has other things you can do besides talking to people there. It has a video section, (kind of like YouTube), a music section, (where you can find music and even musical artist’s personal pages), forums, and classifieds. Pages can be very simple, or very sophisticated depending on how much work people put into them. People post pictures and videos sometimes, which can be cool. If you like someone it’s easy to add them to your favorites, and you can request for them to be added to your friends group. Several people I know are on MySpace.
I think you need to have an e-mail account with Yahoo to join Yahoo 360. You can find other people on Yahoo 360 by looking at featured sites. And you can invite friends from Yahoo e-mail. I don’t think you have as many options as with MySpace, but it’s still cool.
There are several other social networking sites out there such as Gather, Yuwie, Flixster, and WAYN. I know very little about them, but they are similar to Yahoo 360, and MySpace.
These sites usually have their own e-mail that you can use to reach other people on the site. You can post blogs, search for other users, and post comments. MySpace has other things you can do besides talking to people there. It has a video section, (kind of like YouTube), a music section, (where you can find music and even musical artist’s personal pages), forums, and classifieds. Pages can be very simple, or very sophisticated depending on how much work people put into them. People post pictures and videos sometimes, which can be cool. If you like someone it’s easy to add them to your favorites, and you can request for them to be added to your friends group. Several people I know are on MySpace.
I think you need to have an e-mail account with Yahoo to join Yahoo 360. You can find other people on Yahoo 360 by looking at featured sites. And you can invite friends from Yahoo e-mail. I don’t think you have as many options as with MySpace, but it’s still cool.
There are several other social networking sites out there such as Gather, Yuwie, Flixster, and WAYN. I know very little about them, but they are similar to Yahoo 360, and MySpace.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
When someone sends a letter through the post office to someone’s house it’s called snail mail. When someone sends someone a letter on the Internet it’s called e-mail, which means electronic mail. There are lots of different e-mail providers. The ones I’m most familiar with are Yahoo, Google, Myway, AOL, and Hotmail. I prefer Yahoo. There are several advantages sending e-mail rather than snail mail. For one, it’s instantaneous. It’s also very easy to change the style of lettering, background, size and color of font, and general formatting. You can usually include links to websites, pictures, and attachments. Attachments can be lots of different things, such as pictures, videos, games, software, or MP3s.
The amount of storage space you have varies between the different e-mail providers. If you want to e-mail more than one person at a time you can usually make a list of e-mail addresses separated by commas in the Send to box.
Yahoo is one e-mail provider that has calendars. You can set reminders for things like appointments or birthdays with the calendar. Addresses can also be stored with some e-mail providers. You can set up folders that can organize different e-mail subjects. With my Yahoo mail I have a Bulk folder that sorts out most of the spam I get. Spam is unwanted advertising e-mails. One good thing about online e-mail is even if your computer crashes, your e-mail will remain safe.
I’ve used e-mail now for about 7 years. I write my friends and family. I get lots of interesting e-mails from my mom. I’ve sent and received e-cards from friends and family too. E-cards are like greeting cards online, and can be funny or touching. They can also include sound and animation. It’s nice to have e-mail, because it gives me something to do, and a way to talk to people.
The amount of storage space you have varies between the different e-mail providers. If you want to e-mail more than one person at a time you can usually make a list of e-mail addresses separated by commas in the Send to box.
Yahoo is one e-mail provider that has calendars. You can set reminders for things like appointments or birthdays with the calendar. Addresses can also be stored with some e-mail providers. You can set up folders that can organize different e-mail subjects. With my Yahoo mail I have a Bulk folder that sorts out most of the spam I get. Spam is unwanted advertising e-mails. One good thing about online e-mail is even if your computer crashes, your e-mail will remain safe.
I’ve used e-mail now for about 7 years. I write my friends and family. I get lots of interesting e-mails from my mom. I’ve sent and received e-cards from friends and family too. E-cards are like greeting cards online, and can be funny or touching. They can also include sound and animation. It’s nice to have e-mail, because it gives me something to do, and a way to talk to people.
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