How the Internet Works.

The connection/phone number of your computer calls an access number which enables your modem to send a message to connect to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Your ISP will then provide an internet connection for you.

To go to an internet address, type the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) into the address bar of your internet browser. The first part of the web address, http://, means that the browser will communicate to the web server using Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
The second part of the web address, www, shows that the World Wide Web is the resource the address is using. The third part of the web address, learnthenet.com, is the domain name, which finds the host computer site. The host computer is called a web server. The browser you are using sends a request to the web server for the files needed to assemble the web page you want to see. The web server then downloads the files and information to your computer and can then be viewed on your screen.

Write/compose a message using an e-mail program and then click on the 'Send' button. Once you click 'Send', your message is sent to your ISP's mail server, which checks where the e-mail needs to be sent. Your message is then electronically sent to the mail server of the intended recipient ISP. The e-mail is then stored in an electronic 'mailbox' until the recipient logs into the mail server and retrieves it. The message is then downloaded to the recipients computer.

'Spiders' are software that search the internet for documents and their related web addresses and then sends that information to a search engines indexing software. The indexing software then takes the information from the documents and stores it in a database.The information that is indexed depends on which search engine you use. Some search engines will only index the title of a document, whereas some will index every word. The database is searched for documents matching an entered keyword/s and will then assemble a web page displaying the results as a list of hypertext links.

Newsgroups and forums work just like a bulletin board, by attaching a message on it for everyone in that particular community to read. The only differnce is that your attaching the message electronically rather than physically pinning it on a board. On a newsgroup or forum, you can post your own message and also read and reply to other peoples. When you send your message it is posted by the news server and made available for everyone to read and respond to if they choose. A group of messages that are related in content is called a thread.
Streaming media is called so because when you click on a media clip link (and your web browser requests the clip from an internet media server), the server sends the data to your computer in a continuous stream. Your computers media player is then launched and the streaming data is stored in a buffer. When there is enough data has been stored in the buffer, the clip you requested begins to play.
I haven't subscribed to a newsgroup or forum before. Upon doing a Google search, I think these forums would be interesting to join:
- http://www.designtalkboard.com/springboard/talkmultimedia.shtml (Design Talk Board)
- http://www.cre8asiteforums.com/forums/index.php?showforum=9 (Cre8asite Forums)
- http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx (Microsoft Discussion Group)
- http://www.geekpedia.com/Newsgroup686_Microsoft-Expression-Design.html (Geekpedia Microsoft Expression Design Newsgroup)