If you're reading this, chances are you're pretty much up to speed on how to use that mysterious contraption known as the internet. However, you may know someone who would benefit from a crash course in internet basics - maybe you have a mother-in-law who is intimidated by technology. Maybe your child is getting old enough to be introduced to cyber space (though, in most cases, your child could probably teach you a thing or two about computers). Maybe you yourself need to bone up on the basics. Whatever the case, a guide to the internet can be a handy tool indeed.

Though it is an entity that is used by millions of people, no one actually owns the internet. It is comprised of a connection of networks that are monitored, updated, and generally maintained in many ways, by many individuals and organizations, but there is no one public organization tasked with regulating the content or the rules of the entire internet. Most countries have their own policies on the sort of material that is legal to upload, view, or download.

The first thing you need to know about the internet is that you won't be able to get to it unless your computer is hooked up to a modem or broadband connection that allows you to get online. With a modem, digital signals from your computer are translated to analog and transmitted through phone lines, on the other end of which is another modem that will translate the signals back to digital format. Modem speeds are measured in bits per second, and the faster the modem, the better the internet experience. However, modems are nowhere near as fast as a broadband connection, and are not often used by serious web surfers.

Broadband connections are available in several forms:

* Cable
* Satellite
* DSL
* Wireless

Cable and satellite are both available through your television subscription plan, and satellite is a good (but expensive) option for people who live in areas where other types of broadband aren't available. DSL, which stands for Digital Subscriber Line, uses the telephone line and a digital modem. Wireless internet, or WiFi, uses radio waves to access the internet via a wireless router and PC card in the computer. Though WiFi is becoming more popular in homes, it is mainly used to connect to the internet in public places using a laptop computer. Areas in a city that allow Wifi access are known as "hotspots."

The World Wide Web is the official name of the system of internet servers that allows users to access all the features of the internet, such as email and forums, on one interface by bringing the various features into a single system, so the user doesn't have to learn commands for each different protocol. The Web is the most-used component of the internet, and is often referred to just as "the internet." The internet is actually a separate entity, but is not utilized beyond basic Web use by most computer users.

The hypertext-based protocol used for the World Wide Web is HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HyperText is a document that has links to other documents. Links are usually seen on the Web as either a full web address or a linked word that is bold, underlined, or in some way highlighted. When the user clicks on the link, the browser takes them to that web page. Web hypertext is created with HyperText Markup Language, known as HTML. HTML "tags" are placed in the text to format the document for appearance (such as fonts, boldfacing, and italics) and to create links. Programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Cold Fusion and XML further extend the capabilities of the Web, which is ever-changing and constantly being developed.

So many people connect their computers to the internet every day that there is no way to gauge exactly how many computers are connected. The computers communicate with each other via Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). A user's computer, known as a local client, is given files and internet services via a remote server. Services provided include:

* Email
*
* Information resources
* Social interaction resources
* File transfer capability
* Interactive collaboration opportunities
* Real-time broadcasting
* News
* Shopping
* Games
* Video and audio downloads