the computer continuum8-1 chapter 8: the internet and the web: world wide transformation the...

The Computer Continuum 8-1

Chapter 8: The Internet and the Web:World Wide Transformation

The Internet grew from a grass-roots society into a global community. Keeping this in mind, whose

rules will we need to follow when we make use of the World Wide Web?


The Internet and the Web:World Wide Transformation

In this chapter:

• How has the Internet and the WWW been used as a tool of influence and persuasion?

• How did the Internet evolve into what it is today?

• What are some popular services, past and present?

• Who owns the Web?

• How can you access the Internet from home?

• What can be downloaded for free, and what for a fee?

• How are web pages created?

• What kinds of search services are out there?


A Powerful Voice

The Internet and Web continue to emerge as powerful tools of influence and persuasion.• After the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, Chinese students in

the U.S. used email as a vehicle to lobby for support from Congress for protective legislation.

• Fall of 1993 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin suspended parliament. Three Russian labor leaders were arrested. Vassily Balog, the deputy head of Russia’s major labor confederation began an email campaign. After phone calls came in from around the world, the three were released.

• During the U.S. Primaries from 1999-2000, John S. McCain raised over $750,000 because of a letter he posted on his campaign’s WWW home site.


The Internet:Struggling to Maturity

Early 1960’s• Packet-switching envisioned (Baran and Davies)

• Provided the foundation for what became the Internet.

1966: ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects Agency NETwork)• Funded by ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency).

• Pooled computer scientists and resources from several universities.

• In 1969, linked 4 nodes at UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, SRI (Stanford Research Institute) and U of Utah.

• By mid-1970’s, linked several military sites and about 20 universities.



ARPA intended to sell off the ARPAnet to an academic or corporate consortium.• Before the sale, federal rules required the Defense Department

to determine if ARPAnet was needed for national defense.• ARPAnet was transferred to the Defense Communications

Agency in 1975.• Only about 15 universities were given access to the network.

1980: National Science Foundation started CSnet• Purpose: To provide a resource-sharing network opportunity to

computer science research at all universities.• Used TCP/IP protocol.



CSnet fueled interest in creating a more comprehensive network to link all scientific communities (not just CS)• NSF couldn’t fund such an expensive project.

– Backbone: NSF built a very fast connection between 5 supercomputing centers linking them all together.

– Each region surrounding each center would develop its own community network.

– NSF allowed the regional community networks exclusive use of the backbone.



1983: ARPAnet split.• Converted from Network protocol to TCP/IP protocol.• Part remained ARPAnet: universities, research institutes.• Part became Milnet: non-classified military information.• By 1989, ARPAnet was costing $14 million per year to keep

up and running. 1989: majority of ARPAnet switched to NSF’s

backbone.• ARPAnet sites were connected to the NSF backbone through

the regional community networks. NSFnet became what is known as the Internet. Early 1995: “Information Superhighway.”


Internet Services

Four examples of popular Internet functions illustrate the diversity of Internet use:• University sites provide class and faculty information, books,

and periodicals from the library, and lists of governmental documents.

• Employment offices provide vacancy notices and job descriptions.

• Various governmental agencies provide informational documents. (jobs, how-to documents, forms)

• Students and academic researchers could find bibliographies.


Internet Services

Internet owes its critical mass to the wide distribution of computers running the UNIX operating system.• Original access to the Internet had a UNIX “feel.”

• Exact addresses were needed to access information.

– Addresses were given as strings of numbers.

– Address for UCSD: 128.54.16.1

• In the early days of the Internet, people who could navigate the Internet were considered specialists and were well paid for the use of their skills.


Internet Services

Internet needed improvements in user-friendliness. Three early creations satisfied the need:• Gopher

• Veronica

• Archie

Gopher (University of Minnesota):• Land of the “Golden gophers.”

• Introduced first improvement to accessing the Internet.

• Menu-driven system gave access to databases of information.

• Were once over 5,000 gopher servers.


Internet Services

Internet Gopher Information Client v2.1.3

Home Gopher server: gopher.tc.umn.edu

1. Information About Gopher/2. Computer Information/3. Discussion Groups/4. Fun & Games/5. Internet file server (ftp) sites/6. Libraries/7. News/8. Other Gopher and Information Servers/9. Phone books/10. Search Gopher Titles at the University of Minnesota <?>11. Search lots of places at the university of Minnesota <?>12. University of Minnesota Campus Information/

Press ? For Help, q to Quit, u to go up a menu


Internet Services

Searching for information on the Internet from Gopher:• Veronica:

– Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Netwide Index to Computerized Archives.

– Finds only sites related specifically to the topic of interest.– Updated about twice weekly.

• Archie: One of the oldest search systems – Original purpose: Used to find data files on the Internet.– Designed to search ftp archive sites.– FTP files could then be downloaded using the Internet FTP

program.– Expanded to include resource listings and online directories.– Currently accessible through the WWW.


Using the Internet

Email (Electronic mail) • The most prevalent use of network applications.

• Not as private as regular mail.

– Partially because it hasn’t been around long enough to develop privacy laws or security systems.

– Computers make it easy to copy and snoop into unprotected files.


Using the Internet

Bulletin Board System (BBS)• Provides a messenger service.

• Used as a repository for software and documents that may be copied.

• Provides a place for people to converse.

• This type system is quickly being replaced by the World Wide Web.

– BBS’s are still in existence.


Using the Internet

Conferences Online• Computer conference (electronic conference): An electronic

meeting that can take place at the convenience of the participants.

– Conference participants can type in questions or comments so that other members can see them and respond.

• WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link)

» Has thousands of users accessing more than 100 public conferences (topics).

• Usenet (Users’ Network)

» Hundreds of conferences organized by topic.


Using the Internet

IRC (Internet Relay Chat)• Developed in 1988 by Jarkko Oikarinen in Finland.

– The original was a text-based Internet version.

• “Real-time” online chat facilities: chat rooms.

• Communication is accomplished via typing text over a “channel”

– Participants can occupy one of the many public chat rooms where everyone can read and respond, or go into “private rooms” or “celebrity” chat rooms.


And Then Came the Web

World Wide Web (WWW or the Web)

• A computer communications system that allows multimedia information to be accessed and transmitted via the Internet.

– Multimedia: Producing different types of information (text, sound, graphics, and/or video) simultaneously.

• The Web follows the Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

– 1989: Tim Berners-Lee created the HTTP.

– HTTP: A set of rules implemented in a program.

– Allows an individual computer to participate with other computers through the Internet.

– Converts text, visual and audio information into packets to traverse the Internet.


And Then Came the Web

Who owns the Web?• No one owns the web.

• Access is the key issue on the Web.– The Web is made up of a network of computers and other

networks.

– Each entry point to the Web is controlled by an organization that provides the service. They “own their own piece” of the Web.

– Mutually accepted protocols, TCP/IP and HTTP, are used by all who access the WWW.

– Organizations allow read-only access to certain files and documents on their computer’s storage device. (These are the pages one sees and the files that can be retrieved.)


Navigating the Web

The World Wide Web uses point and click navigation accomplished by the use of:• Hypertext - Refers to any word or phrase in an electronic

document, which can be used as a pointer to a related text passage.

• Hypertext link - Any text or image that has been designated as a means of accessing related material.


Navigating the Web

In hypertext, one follows the links to related information.

Columbus sailed west under the auspices of

Queen Isabella of Spain.She commissioned...

Queen Isabella’s husband was King

Ferdinand...

A biography ofKing Ferdinand,

he reigned from...


Navigating the Web

When setting up links, the creator of a Web page would follow these steps:• Identify the specific words that will be useful as links.

• Search for and locate the related text or additional information the hypertext will access. (Could be another web page.)

• Set pointers containing information on how to find the document containing the related information.

• Have the selected words printed in a special color and underlined so that the reader can recognize them as hypertext.


Navigating the Web

Hypermedia: Hypertext linking with other communications mediums, such as pictures, animations, and sound.

• Hypermedia links are often called hyperlinks.


Understanding Web Addresses (URLs)

Surfing the Web• The slang term used to

describe the free-form navigation from place to place on the Internet by following hyperlinks.



A Web Page• A document especially created for Web viewing.

• Contains at least some of the following: text, images, graphics, sound, animation, hyperlinks.

Links:• Appear in Web pages.

• Clicking on a link may send you to another Web page.

• Links need two types of information:

– The instruction to locate and display the second page.

– The location, or address, of where to find it.

• Technical name: Uniform Resource Locator (URL)



A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) has 3 parts:1) Type of connection (specifies protocol used at that location):

Name Definition DescriptionHTTP HyperText Transport Mode through which WWW uses the Internet.

ProtocolFTP File Transfer Protocol Used for transferring files between computers.SMTP Email Protocol Used to send/create an email link.FILE Local file access Used to view HTML files.Gopher Name of Internet Transfer type used by Gopher systems.

access systemWAIS Wide area info. Service Tool for searching information databases.Telnet Telephone Networking Service for logging on to remote computers.



2) The Internet address (domain name) of the computer you are trying to access: (Locates the specific computer on the Internet.)

http://www.eds.com/home/eds_home.html

Top-level Domain

Domain name: Identifies the Internet addressSub-domains: Includes the Server name and Top-level Domain which identifies the type of organization.

com Commercial siteedu Educational Institutiongov Government organizationmil Military organizationnet Networking organizationorg Nonprofit organization

1 Type of connection

2 Domain

3a Path or Directory

3b File name



3) The path and name of the file:• Identifies the location of the file and the name of the file to be

displayed on your screen.

• If the path (folder or subdirectory) or name of file have been changed:

– An error message will appear on your screen!


The Web and You

Accessing the Web (What you need to get connected!)• A computer:

– The faster and the bigger, the better.– Minimal setup recommended: 300 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 2

GB hard disk space.• A modem:

– Minimal setup: 28.8 Kbps; 56 Kbps will enhance performance.

• An Internet Service Provider: Your dial-up entry point to the web.

– Usually charge a fee to access their system.– They have servers linked to the Internet.


The Web and You

Web browser:• A program that allows you to access all of the multimedia

components of Web pages. (support HTTP protocol)• Two major products: Netscape Navigator and Microsoft

Internet Explorer.• With Web Browsers, you can:

– “Read” the contents of Web documents.– Print out a paper copy of the Web document.– Copy text into a word processing document.– Save and use pictures and animations.– Read email, Chat with others, Transfer files.– Keep an address book of favorite sites.


The Web and You

Downloading software:• The process of receiving a program, document, or file via a

network, from another computer. • Always comes electronically from an outside source to your

computer.


The Web and You

Free Downloads• Search the WWW for the free file you want.• Click on the name of the file to be downloaded.

– May require the use of FTP (File Transfer Protocol software).

– Provided with most browsers and is done “invisibly.”• Wait until the file is downloaded.• You may need to “de-compress” the file.

– Run WinZip on Windows, StuffIt Expander on Macintosh • Read the “Readme” file.• Read the limitations of use on the license.


The Web and You

Shareware:• Not all software found on the Internet is free, some request

that a fee be paid if the software is used.

• Sometimes, the fee includes:

– Documentation

– Phone support

– Notice of software updates

• Shareware comes with no guarantee of quality.

• Many viruses have been spread by shareware.


The Web and You

Creating a Web presence:• Web pages are normally created in any word processing

program using a special formatting language called HTML (Hypertext Markup Language).

– HTML: A series of codes, or tags, which are used to format materials used on Web pages.

• Once the coded version of the page is uploaded (sent to) the Internet Service Provider’s computer, it can be viewed by anyone with a browser and the address of your page.


The Web in Business:The Growth of E-Commerce

Potential benefits of having a “Web presence” for a business: an accessible, online place to do business.• Original main purpose: To give the company an electronic

presence.• Electronic Commerce is sweeping the country: Made up of

online advertising, buying, and selling of goods and services.• Three main drivers behind the power of E-commerce:

1. Lower transaction costs for both business and client.2. Larger purchases per transaction and more

transactions per client.3. Integration of Internet activities into the business

cycle: from the time it is ordered, to the time it reaches the consumer’s hands.



E-commerce encourages potential customers to visit their sites and return to buy additional items.• Web sites must be easy to find.

– Many companies include links on some of the more popular web sites.

• Web services like Excite and Yahoo sell add space.

• Adds take the form of an icon, banner, or border.



Paying for E-commerce Purchases• Credit card:

– Fears: Victim of electronic theft.– Losses: Credit card companies cover losses after the first

fifty dollars.– Credit rating: Although the loss is covered, delaying the

payment may result as a bad debt.– Secure channels: Prevent electronic theft.

• Charging to another account: Charging to your telephone bill.

• Electronic wallet: Allows prepayment to a service company.

• E-money: eCash™ service uses a special encrypted scheme that does not allow the seller to trace where an electronic payment originated.



Privacy and Consumer Profiling• Consumer profiling: The business practice of collecting

consumer information from online-based activities and using that information to create targeted marketing efforts.

• E-commerce business can collect very extensive information about their customers in attempt to closely define consumer needs and desires.

– Poll conducted in February 2000 of online customers:

• 93% - Profiling is a potential threat to privacy.

• 80% - Would like to specify how information about them is to be used.


Search Engines

Searching the Web:• Problem: How to find specific information from the

seemingly random mass of pages on the Internet?

• Search Engine: A program available through WWW browsers that enables the user to search the Internet for information on specific topics.

– Free search services provided on the Web.

– Many exist including; Lycos, HotBot, Excite, Yahoo, Webcrawler.

– Search engines search by subject, topic, keyword, concepts, text analysis, image content.


Search Engines

The underlying technology of the search engine: the spider.• Spider: A piece of Web software that constantly searches for

new Web pages and follows any links found on them.

– A spider searches from site to site, perpetually, looking for its intended object.

– Spiders search for titles of new web pages.


Search Engines

To perform a search, you simply type a query:• Query: A request specifying what information is to be sought

in a search operation.

• Most often made up of one or more keywords (Criteria selected to identify and narrow the specific information desired in a search.)

Refining a Web search query:Use more than one word to make your query more specific.

Use quotation marks to match an exact phrase.

Use a plus sign to indicate that one or more specific words must be in all items found.

Use a minus sign to indicate a word must not be in any items found.

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