Accessing the Internet
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Computers can access the Internet through web browsers and apps. Web browsers are used to display websites and their web pages to users and provide a means of inputting data where required on them. Apps can access the Internet for a number of tasks as described below. The scope of what apps can do using Internet connections can be more limited than others. A web browser can access web pages and enable them to function at the level they were designed to function at. An email client is limited to accessing email accounts. It is important to recognize that any access to the Internet has to be from an Internet Service Provider. For example, a home with Internet access in the Boston area in America can get Internet access through Comcast or another Internet Service Provider. The main physical connections to the Internet are coax cable lines and fiber lines which can connect directly to the home or to telephone lines.
Web Browsers
Web browsers are the primary access point to websites on the Internet. There are numerous brands of them. Some examples are Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge. A web browser consists of the URL box at the top underneath the menu bar and the web page viewing area. Extensions can also be added to web browsers, too. One example in Chrome is, PDF Viewer. This extension allows Chrome to display PDF documents in the browser instead of having to download them to view the contents. Browser extensions allow browsers to have additional functionality than what they have by default.
URL Box:
The URL box in a web browser allows users to enter website addresses to be accessed. Search terms which are entered into search engine boxes for search terms can also be entered into URL boxes. An example of a URL box is the following. For security reasons, https web pages are permitted to be freely accessed. However, for remaining http web pages, security exceptions on browsers can be made. Most http web pages are now https web pages, through protocol upgrades.
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Google Search
Note: The Lock symbol means that the web page is secure. A secure web page is a https web page.
Search Engines:
Search engines produce search results of indexed websites on the Internet based on keywords. The returned search results contain links with descriptions of the search result's searched websites' homepages. There is a link to the website's homepage and a description of it, below the link for each listed website in the search result. Some examples of search engines are listed below.
Yahoo
Bing
AOL
Google is the dominant search engine on the Internet. It also has a map search, too.
The common types of search results are for the following.
Websites
News
Images
Videos
Map searches can be done on numerous search engines, too. Map searches include the below types of searches.
Map directions
Specific address
Points of interest
road layouts
An example of a map search is, the National Arts Centre, Ottawa to the Museum of Nature, Ottawa. Detailed road directions will be produced by Google Maps. An address search will zoom in to the location of the address on a map. Numerous online maps also have the option to view satellite imagery of maps, too. Google Maps has the option available to users to view satellite imagery of map search results. Below, a link to Google Maps is on the left side.
Google Maps:
Regions of interest can be zoomed into from the map of Earth.
Below, is an example.
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Source: Google Maps
Extensions:
Web browsers can have add-ons which are extensions to them for additional functionality. They can be enabled or disabled. One example of a Chrome browser extension is, PDF Viewer. It allows users to view PDF documents in the Chrome browser instead of having to download PDF files to the computer in order to view the contents using a PDF file viewing app. Browser extensions have settings which can be modified. In Chrome, the settings of extensions can be accessed by clicking on the, 'Details', button. Third-party browser extensions are extensions for the given browser not developed by the developer of the browser but developed by external software developers. It is important to be cautious when installing and enabling a third-party extension to a browser. Third-party extensions can potentially cause harm. Safety of third-party extensions can be determined by the purpose of them along with the source. For example, a browser extension made by Adobe would be considered to be safe since Adobe is a software developer with a sound reputation. It is generally a good practice to not install questionable extensions to browsers. This will help you avoid compromising your computer.
Bookmarks:
Websites can be bookmarked by web browsers. Bookmarks are pointers to specific web pages to enable easier access to them. In the Microsoft Edge browser, bookmarks are known as Favorites. Bookmark names can be modified, too. Bookmarks can be put into sub-folders if desired. When a backup of a browser's bookmarks is needed, bookmarks can be exported to a file from which they can be imported from. They can be exported to an HTML file. However, it is possible to export bookmarks to files of different file formats like CSV files, too.
Security:
While accessing the Internet, security is important. Both for the computer and yourself, this is true. For more information regarding online security, please see the web page in the below link.
Email security is just as important, too. Viruses and malware can infect computers if they are downloaded. This could lead to file corruption and even damage to the computer's operating system. For this reason, files attached to small of large junk mail should never be downloaded or even opened. It is best to just delete these emails. Application files in spam pose the highest risk in terms of malware and viruses in attachments. Email providers have spam filtering systems to identify spam which could be dangerous to computer filesystems and isolate or delete them. SpamAssassin is one example of a spam filtering system for email servers. It filters out spam based on a spam score.
For more information, see the below link.
