“I can recognize and recall information.”
_____
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2. A location on the internet is called a a. network.
b. user ID.
c. domain.
d. browser.
e. web.
3. In the email address [email protected], Kim_ Lee is the
a. domain.
b. URL.
c. site.
d. user ID.
e. location.
4. Which of the following is not one of the four compo- nents of a URL?
a. web protocol
b. name of the web server c. name of the browser
d. name of the directory on the web server e. name of the file within the directory
5. Which of the following is the fastest method of data transmission?
a. ISDN b. DSL c. modem d. T1 line e. cable modem
6. Which of the following is not a netiquette rule?
a. Consult FAQs.
b. Flame only when necessary.
c. Don’t shout.
d. Avoid huge file attachments.
e. Avoid sloppiness and errors.
7. Which protocol is used to retrieve email messages from the server to your computer?
a. HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) b. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) c. POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3) d. POP (point of presence)
8. Who owns the internet?
a. Microsoft b. IBM c. Apple
d. U.S. government
e. No one owns the internet; the components that make up the Internet are owned and shared by thousands of public and private entities.
9. Each time you connect to your ISP, it will assign your computer a new address called a(n)
a. domain.
b. IP address.
c. plug-in.
d. POP.
e. URL (Universal Resource Locator).
10. ISPs that don’t run their own backbones connect to an internet backbone through a
a. NAP network access point.
b. web portal.
c. web browser.
d. URL.
e. TCP/IP.
1 1. Which of the following is not a protocol?
a. TCP/IP b. IE c. HTTP d. SMTP
12. The sending of phony email that pretends to be from a credit-card company or bank, luring you to a website that attempts to obtain confidential information from you, is called
a. spoofing.
b. phishing.
c. spamming.
d. keylogging.
e. cookies.
True/False Questions
T F 1. POP3 is used for sending email, and SMTP is used for retrieving email.
T F 2. A dial-up modem is an ISP (internet service provider).
T F 3. Replying to spam email messages with the state- ment “remove” will always get spammers to stop sending you unsolicited email.
T F 4. All computer communications use the same bandwidth.
T F 5. A T1 line is the slowest but cheapest form of internet connection.
T F 6. A dynamic IP address gives you faster internet access than a static IP address does.
T F 7. A bookmark lets you return to a favorite website quickly.
T F 8. Radio buttons are used for listening to radio sta- tions on the internet.
T F 9. Spoofing means using fake email sender names.
T F 10. Hypertext refers to text presented with very large letters.
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Short-Answer Questions
1. Name three methods of data transmission that are faster than a regular modem connection.
2. What does log on mean?
3. What is netiquette, and why is it important?
4. Briefly define bandwidth.
5. Many web documents are “linked.” What does that mean?
6. Compare and contrast a cable modem service to a DSL service.
7. Explain the basics of how the internet works.
8. What expanded functions does IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) have?
9. Briefly explain what TCP/IP does.
10. Why was ICANN established?
1 1. What’s the difference between a dynamic IP address and a static IP address?
12. Explain what a blog is.
13. State your answer to a person who asks you the ques- tion “Who owns the internet?”
14. What is B2B commerce?
15. List and briefly describe three kinds of spyware.
st a g e
2
LEARNINGCOMPREHENSION
“I can recall information in my own terms and explain it to a friend.”
Knowledge in Action
1. Distance learning uses electronic links to extend col- lege campuses to people who otherwise would not be able to take college courses. Are you, or is someone you know, involved in distance learning? If so, research the system’s components and uses. What hardware and software do students need in order to communicate with the instructor and classmates? What courses are offered? Discuss the pros and cons of distance learning compared to classroom-based learning.
2. It’s difficult to conceive how much information is avail- able on the internet and the web. One method you can use to find information among the millions of docu- ments is to use a search engine, which helps you find web pages on the basis of typed keywords or phrases.
Use your browser to go to the Google home page, and click in the Search box. Type the keywords “personal computers”; then click on Google Search, or press the Enter key. How many results did you get?
3. As more and more homes get high-speed broadband internet connections, the flow of data will become exponentially faster and will open up many new possi- bilities for sharing large files such as video. What types of interactive services can you envision for the future?
4. Draw a diagram of what happens when you log onto your ISP; include all the connections you think possible for your situation.
5. How do the latest cellphones incorporate the internet into their functions? What functions could be improved?
Have any of these extra functions affected your daily life?
6. How has the internet affected your life? Start keeping a list.
7. Email and instant messaging (IM) are ways of sending text messages back and forth to other people on the internet. They seem very similar: in both, you compose a message, and when it’s ready, you send it; and when someone else sends something to you, you receive it on your device and can read it.
But in practice, email and IM can be surprisingly different; each has its own rhythm, its own strengths and weaknesses, its own sociology, its own etiquette.
Instant messaging is like using the telephone, whereas email is more like corresponding by letter.
As you use email and IM during the course of the term, watch for differences between them. Which medium is more appropriate for which kinds of rela- tionships and communications? Which medium is more stressful to use? Which takes more time? Which is more convenient for you? Which one is more useful for getting real work done? Which medium would you use if you knew that whatever you wrote was eventually going to be published in a book? If you were restricted to using only one of these communications methods, which would it be?
8. Internet service providers (ISPs) often place limits on upload speeds, thus making it take much longer to send (upload) a large file than it would take to receive (down- load) a file of the same size from someone else. Do a comparison between upload and download speeds on your internet connection, perhaps by emailing yourself a file large enough to allow you to notice the difference.
Why do you think there is a difference? (Consider both technological and economic factors.)
9. Imagine that an elderly relative wants to start using the internet for the first time. You want to help the person get started, but you need to be careful not to st a g e
3
LEARNINGAPPLYING, ANALYZING, SYNTHESIZING, EVALUATING
“I can apply what I’ve learned, relate these ideas to other concepts, build on other knowledge, and use all these thinking skills to form a judgment.”
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overwhelm your relative with more information than he or she can use. What three or four things would you tell and show your relative first? What things do you think will be hardest for him or her to master? How do you think using the internet is likely to change this person’s life? If possible, seek out such a relative or neighbor and actually introduce him or her to the internet.
10. As we have discussed in this chapter, the internet is both a goldmine and a minefield. There are vast riches of information, entertainment, education, and com- munication to be found, but there are also snoopers, spam, spoofing, phishing, spyware, adware, browser hijackers, and key loggers. What should you do to avoid these threats?
11. Some websites require you to register before you are allowed to use them. Others require that you have a paid membership. Others allow limited free access to everyone but require payment for further content. Why do you think different sites adopt these different atti- tudes toward use of their material?
Web Exercises
1. Some websites go overboard with multimedia effects, while others don’t include enough. Locate a website that you think makes effective use of multimedia. What is the purpose of the site? Why is the site’s use of multi- media effective? Take notes, and repeat the exercise for a site with too much multimedia and one with too little.
2. If you have never done a search before, try this: Find out how much car dealers pay for your favorite cars, what they charge consumers for them, and what you should know about buying a new car. A company called Edmunds publishes a magazine with all that information, but you can get the same information on its website for free.
Using the Google search engine ( www.google.com ), type “automobile buyer’s guide” and Edmunds in the search box, and hit the Google Search button.
How many entries did you get? Click on a link to the Edmunds website. Explore the site, and answer the questions at the beginning of this exercise.
3. Ever wanted your own dot-com in your name? Visit these sites to see if your name is still available:
www.register.com www.namezero.com www.domainname.com www.checkdomain.com/
www.domaindirect.com/
4. Interested in PC-to-phone calls through your internet connection? Visit these sites and check out their services:
http://voice.yahoo.com/
www.net2phonedirect.com www.iconnecthere.com www.skype.com www.voip.com/
5. HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) on the World Wide Web isn’t the only method of browsing and transfer- ring data. FTP is the original method and is still a useful
internet function. To use FTP, you’ll need an FTP client software program, just as you need a web browser to surf the web. Download one of these shareware clients and visit its default FTP sites, which come preloaded:
CuteFtp www.globalscape.com WS_FTP www.ipswitch.com FTP Voyager www.ftpvoyager.com SmartFTP www.smartftp.com FileZilla http://filezilla-project.org/
You will need an FTP client program to upload files to a server if you ever decide to build a website. Some online website builders have browser uploaders, but the conventional method has always been FTP.
On some Macintosh computers, an FTP function is built into the Mac OS Finder (for downloading only—you have to use an FTP client to upload).
6. Video chat extensions to chat software are now gener- ally available, and they really constitute at least two- party videoconferencing. These extensions are available through AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, and Apple’s iChat. All you need is a camera, a microphone, and an internet connection. Check out these sites and decide if this type of “video chat” interests you.
7. Visit these websites to learn more about creating web- sites with HTML:
www.lissaexplains.com www.make-a-web-site.com
www.htmlgoodies.com/primers/html/
www.htmlcodetutorial.com/
www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp
Or do an internet search for “html primer,” “learn html,” or “html tutorial.”
8. To learn more about internet conventions, go to:
http://members.tripod.com/~paandaa/smiley.htm http://research.microsoft.com/~mbj/Smiley/Smiley.html http://piology.org/smiley.txt
www.cygwin.com/acronyms/
9. Some hobbies have been dramatically changed by the advent of the World Wide Web. Particularly affected are the “collecting” hobbies, such as stamp collecting, coin collecting, antique collecting, memorabilia collecting, plate collecting, and so forth. Choose some such hobby that you know something about or have some interest in. Run a web search about the hobby and see if you can find:
a. a mailing list about the hobby.
b. an auction site that lists rare items and allows you to bid on them.
c. a chat room or other discussion forum allowing enthusiasts to gather and discuss the hobby.
d. a site on which someone’s formidable collection is beautifully and proudly displayed.
10. When the web first came into widespread use, the most popular search engine was AltaVista. For several years there were a variety of search engines available, but in recent years one search engine, Google, has become predominant and the word googling has entered the
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language as a term that means “to use a search engine to find information.”
Visit http://searchenginewatch.com/links/ for a list of many alternative search engines, as well as explana- tions about how they work and how to get your site listed on them.
11. E-commerce is booming. For any given product you may wish to buy on the web, there may be hundreds or thousands of possible suppliers, with different prices and terms—and not all of them will provide equally reputable and reliable service. The choices can be so numerous that it may sometimes seem difficult to know how to go about choosing a vendor.
Websites that do comparison shopping for you can be a great help. Such a service communicates with many individual vendors’ websites, gathering informa- tion as it proceeds; it then presents its findings to you in a convenient form. Often, ratings of the various ven- dors are provided as well, and sales tax and shipping charges are calculated for you.
Here are a few sites that can assist with comparison shopping:
www.epinions.com/
www.bizrate.com/
www.pricescan.com/
http://shopper.cnet.com/
Practice “catch-and-release e-commerce” by researching the best deals you can find for:
a rare or at least out-of-print book that you’d like to have.
a high-end DVD recorder.
a replacement ink or toner cartridge for your laser or inkjet printer.
a pair of athletic shoes exactly like the shoes you currently have.
Pursue each transaction right up to the last step before you would have to enter your credit-card number and actually buy the item, and then quit. (Don’t buy it. You can always do that another time.)
12. WebCams, or web cameras, are used by some websites to show pictures of their locations—either live video or still shots. To run your own WebCam site requires a suitable camera and a continuous internet connection.
But to look at other people’s WebCam sites requires only a web browser.
For example, try searching for “WebCam Antarctica.”
Or go to www.webcam-index.com.
Find and bookmark at least one interesting WebCam site in each of the following places: Africa, Asia, South America, Europe, Australia, Antarctica, Hawaii.
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