2013-09-23

Internet - History of Web Browser, Why we need the Internet?


History of Web Browser

Hot Java

Netscape Navigator

Internet Explorer

Mozilla

Opera

Working with IE 6

Why we need the Internet?

What can we do on the Web

Safe e-shopping

Use of Internet for Children

Culture

Evaluating Web Resources

Benefits of Internet

History of Web Browser

 

Hot Java

 

There are many web browsers but you will find very interesting to get the information of Web Browsers and its development. A web browser is a software application that enables a user to display and interact with text, images, and other information typically located on a web page at a website on the World Wide Web or a local area network. Web browsers are used to navigate the information found on the Internet.



 

It allows you to retrieve the information spread across the Internet and display it by using the HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)

 

There are some Web Browsers given bellow with their brief history:

 

1) HotJava:

 

HotJava is the web browser from Sun Microsystems that enables the display of interactive content on the Web using Java language. HotJava is written entirely in Java and demonstrates the capabilities of the Java programming language.

 

The first time when Java was developed and ported to the Internet, no browser ware available that could run Java applets. Although we can view a web page that includes Java applets with a regular browser but we will not gain any of benefits of Java.

 

HotJava is currently available for the SPARC/ Solaris Platform as well as Windows 95 and Windows NT.

 

There is a complexity that being a browser, it is nothing special and does not offer anything special that most other Web browsers don’t offer. Its biggest draw is that it was the first web browser to provide support for the Java language, thus making the Web browser more dynamic and interactive.

 

 

 

Netscape Navigator

 

Netscape Navigator, from Netscape Communication Corporation, is browser that can run the Java applets.There is brief information about the versions of Netscape Navigator given bellow:
Netscape 8
Netscape 8.1.2 was released in September 2006.



 

Netscape 8 allows you to adjust the security level (Java, JavaScript, cookies settings, and also allows you to switch to use Internet Explorer's engine to render pages when necessary

 

New features in Netscape 8:

 

• Site Controls (dual rendering engine)
• Multi-Bar (dynamic toolbar)
• Form fill/passcard
• Live Content
• Improved tabbed browsing
• Adware & Spyware protection
• Dynamic Security Center

 

Note: Netscape 8 does not contain an e-mail client. For users who want an e-mail client, try Mozilla Thunderbird, Mozilla Suite 1.7.x or SeaMonkey, or keep your Netscape 7.2 for email purpose.

 

Netscape 7

 

Netscape 7 is based on open source engine (Gecko) and fine-tune of Netscape 6. Netscape 7 has been reported very stable and fast.

 

Netscape 6

 

Netscape 6 was released in November 2000. This version was the first Netscape browser with powerful support for CSS and XML. Netscape 6 is based on open source engine (Gecko), while Netscape Communicator 4.8 uses the engine that originally released in late 1994.

 

The Problems in Netscape:

 

Netscape's 4.x series of browsers have a poor support for CSS and no support for XML. It took Netscape nearly three and a half years after the release of 4.0, to produce its next generation browser. This delay has clearly hurt Netscape's possibilities to dominate the browser market.

 

Older Netscape Versions

 

Netscape 8.0- Released in May 2005

 

Netscape 7.0 - Released in September 2002.

 

Netscape 6.0 - Released in November 2000 (based on Mozillas Gecko engine

 

Netscape 5.0 - Netscape skipped the version number 5.

 

Netscape Communicator 4.0 (released in 1997) was the first Netscape browser with some support for CSS.

 

Netscape Navigator 3.0 was released in 1996

 

Netscape Navigator 2.0 was released in 1996.

 

Netscape 1.0 was released in 1994

 

 

 

Internet Explorer

 

Internet Explorer is one of the most popular browsers developed by Microsoft for Windows 95 and NT workstation. Explorer uses a just-in-time (JIT) compiler which greatly increases the speed of execution There are a few details about Internet Explorer versions:                          
Internet Explorer 7
Internet Explorer 7.0 was released in November 2006.
Internet Explorer 7 provides improved navigation through tabbed browsing, web search from the toolbar, advanced printing, easy discovery, reading and subscription to RSS feeds.

 

New features:

 

• Advanced printing (automatically scales a webpage for printing)
• Instant Search box
• Favorites Center
• RSS feeds (automatically detects RSS feeds)
• Tabbed browsing (view multiple sites in a single browser window)
• Quick Tabs • Tab Groups
• Page zoom

 

Internet Explorer 6
Internet Explorer 6.0 is the standard browser in Windows XP. It was released in August 2001. Windows XP is built on Windows 2000 and is the successor to Windows 98, Millennium, and Windows 2000.

 

Internet exporer
Internet Explorer 5 was the first major browser with XML support. Version 5.5 (July 2000) for Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, and Windows 2000. Support for XML/XSL, CSS, printing (print preview) and HTC behaviors.

 

Version 5.01 (November 1999) primarily a bug fix for 5.0.
Version 5.0 (March 1999) the first major browser with XML support.

 

Other older Internet Explorer Versions are:

 

The oldest versions of Internet Explorer are no longer in use by any majority of users. Web developers will ignore them. Their functionality is outdated.
Version 4.0 (released in 1997) is used by less than 1%. It has respectable CSS and DOM support, but no XML support. ;

 

Version 3.0 (released in 1996) is now used by less than 0.1%. Version 2.0 was released in 1995. Version 1.0 was released in 1995.

 

Internet Explorer for Macintosh

 

Version 5.1.70 is the latest version of Internet Explorer for Mac OS 8 and 9. It was released in July 2003. Version 5.2.3 is the latest version of Internet Explorer for Mac OS X. It was released in June 2003.

 

Note: version 5.2.3 requires special features in Mac OS X. Mac OS 8 and 9 users must download and install version 5.1.7.

 

 

 

Mozilla

 

Mozilla Firefox is a graphical web browser developed by the Mozilla. It is small and fast and offers many new features like popup blocking and tabbed browsing. Mozilla Firefox is a cross-platform browser, providing support for various versions of Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

 

Though, the source code has been unofficially ported to other operating systems, including FreeBSD, OS/2, Solaris, SkyOS, BeOS and more recently, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.

 

Firefox was previously called Mozilla Firebird (which was previously called Phoenix, which claimed to be a new version of Mozilla). Firefox is based on the Mozilla code, and is one of the most standards-compliant browsers available.

 

What is Mozilla?

 

Mozilla is an open-source web development project. The Mozilla Application Suite (also known as SeaMonkey) is a complete set of web applications; a browser, a mail client, a news client, a chat client and more. Firefox is just a browser. With Firefox you cannot chat or read emails or news. This makes it smaller, faster and easier to use (but makes chat, email and news harder to use?).

 

Firefox has following Features:

 

Firefox has automatic Popup Blocking. This if fine for stopping annoying popup ads, but not so good for sites using popup windows in a good way. Tabbed Browsing is a modern and time saving feature. It makes it possible to view many web pages in one browser window.

 

Google Search with auto complete is built into Firefox's tool bar. Keywords for bookmarks with quick searches (e.g., type "goo xml tutorial" into the location bar and get a Google search page on "xml tutorial" in one step). Dictionary Tool tip - double-click any word to see its definition.

 

Firefox has Improved Security. It is not integrated with the operating system and does not support ActiveX controls and VBScripts (features known to have security holes). A built-in modern Download Manager downloads files in the background to the desktop. Firefox has Customizable Toolbars, allowing users to add and remove items as well as create new toolbars.

 

With the Theme Manager, the users can change the look and feel of Firefox. Firefox keeps itself up-to-date. Smart Update searches for updates in the background and informs the user about available updates.

 

 

 

Opera

 

Opera started out as a research project in Norway's telecom company,Telenor, in 1994 , and branched out into an independent development company named Opera Software ASA in 1995. It runs on a variety of operating systems including many versions of Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris.

 

Opera started out as a research project in Norway's telecom company, Telenor, in 1994, and branched out into an independent development company named Opera Software ASA in 1995. It runs on a variety of operating systems including many versions of Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris.

 

We can see the use of Opera in mobile phones, smartphones, Personal Digital Assistants, game consoles and interactive televisions. The Opera browser (known as "the third browser", after Internet Explorer and Netscape) has received international acclaim from end-users and the industry press for being faster, smaller and more standards-compliant than other browsers.

 

It supports all main Web standards currently in use, including CSS 2.1, HTML 4.01, XHTML1.1, HTTP1.1, DOM 2, ECMAScript (JavaScript), PNG, WML 2.0, SVG 1.1 tiny, Unicode, and the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm.

 

There are following features in Opera:

 

Opera has automatic Popup Blocking. This if fine for stopping annoying popup ads, but not so good for sites using popup windows in a good way. Tabbed Browsing is a modern and time saving feature. It makes it possible to view many web pages in one browser window.

 

Transfers Panel is Opera's download manager, with quick access to ongoing and recently finished downloads. Opera's user interface is translated into multiple languages, and the language can be changed on the fly.

 

Opera has Customizable Toolbars, allowing the users to add and remove items as well as create new toolbars. By choosing between different Skins, the users can change the look and feel of Opera. Opera has direct access to Google's "related pages" feature, available from the "Navigation" menu.

 

Double clicking on a word on a page will pop up a menu that provides options related to the selected text, such as a Web, dictionary or encyclopedia search. Opera provides Web authors with immediate access to Page Validation, thus encouraging good practices on the Web.

 

Opera

 

 

On January 7, 2003, Steve Jobs announced that Apple had developed their own web browser called Safari based on the KHTML libraries that also power Konqueror is available as part of Mac OS X.

 

Safari is Apple's internet browser for Macintosh computers running OS X v. 10.2, 10.3, and 10.4. It is installed in all public labs as well as on all faculty and staff computers.

 

 

 

Working with IE 6

 

The Toolbars

 

 

IE 6 has two toolbars at the top of of the browser window:

 

Menu Bar: Contains menu items that open up dropdown lists for related options. Among the items are options for printing, customizing IE 6, copying and pasting text, managing Favorites, and accessing Help.

 

Navigation Toolbar: Contains icons for a variety of features including navigating among Web pages, searching the Web using a selection of search tools, accessing and managing Favorites, viewing a History of visited pages, printing, and accessing email and newsgroups.

 

How to Access Resources on the Web with IE 6

 

1. If you have the URL (address) of a Web page

 

Type the URL to go directly to the page. IE 6 gives you two ways of doing this. Type the URL in the Address bar at the top of the screen. To accomplish this, click on the Address bar to highlight the current URL. Then type in the new URL and press the Enter key.  

 

Click on File/Open at the top left of the screen. A pop-up window will appear with a text entry window. Within that window, type the URL of the file you wish to retrieve. Press the Enter key.

 

2. If you are on a Web page

 

Click on:

 

- words or images which change the shape of the mouse pointer from an arrow to a hand and display a URL on the bottom of the screen when the mouse pointer is placed over it

 

- the blue words on the display screen

 

- the purple words on the display screen (the purple color indicates that the resource has been recently accessed on your terminal)

 

Note: The color blue is generally the default color for text that contains a link, and purple is the default color for text representing a link that has been visited in the recent past. Nowadays, Web page creators are coloring their links in all sorts of ways.

 

The best way to figure out which text represents a link is to position your mouse over the words and see if the pointer shape changes from an arrow to a hand. The hand represents a link.

 

3. If you want to use pre-installed links

 

IE 6 offers a collection of Web sites in its Favorites collection. Click on Favorites on either the text bar or the tool bar at the top of the screen to access these resources.

 

Navigating the Web with IE 6

 

IE 6 allows you to move back and forth among the Web pages that you visit during a session.

 

To go back to previous sites:

 

Click on the small Back left arrow on the navigation bar near the top left corner of your screen. Each time you click on this arrow, you will return to the next previous site that you visited. If you hold your mouse over the Back arrow, the title of the upcoming page will briefly appear.

 

To skip farther back, click on the small black triangle to the right of the word Back. This will bring up a list of pages you have visited. Click on any one of these choices to return to the desired page. This is the equivalent of clicking on the Back arrow several times.

 

 

To move forward:

 

When you have returned to previous sites with the Back arrow, you can go forward again by clicking on the small right-pointing arrow next to the Back arrow. If you hold your mouse over this arrow, the title of the upcoming page will briefly appear.

 

To move farther ahead, click on the small black triangle to the right of the Forward arrow in the menu bar at the top of the screen. This presents a list of several sites you have visited. Click on any of the choices to return to the desired site. This is the equivalent of clicking on the Forward arrow several times.

 

 

Additional Toolbar Options

 

Stop: The circle containing the X will stop a page while it is in the process of loading. This is useful if a page is not successfully or speedily retrieving.

 

Refresh: The square containing the two curved arrows re-retrieves the page you are currently viewing. This is useful if the page does not load successfully or completely.

 

Home: The home icon takes you back to the page that was on the screen when you first started IE 6. You can customize your selection.

 

Search: The search button opens up a function that uses one or more Web search tools. You can choose the search tool(s) you want as your default.

 

You can also customize your search experience. After clicking on Search, choose the Customize option and make your selection. A pop-up window called "Customize Search Settings" will appear.

 

If you choose to "Use Search Assistant" broad search topics will be displayed and the appropriate search tool will be queried. You can also opt to have IE 6 remember your last 10 searches so that you can easily repeat them.

 

Also notice that you can click a button called "Autosearch settings." This allows you to choose the search tool you want when you use the Address bar as a search window. You can also customize this option on the "When searching" line.

 

. You can even choose to turn off the use of the Address bar as a search window. If you do this, all words you type into the Address bar will be interpreted as URLs.

 

Favorites: Favorites are Web sites you have visited that you would like to store for easy access. You can add, delete and organize your Favorites.

 

 

To add the current Web page as a favorite, click on Favorites and then Add. To choose the folder where you want to store this listing, click on Create in and choose the folder you want. At this point, you also have the option to create a new folder.

 

To delete a Favorite, simply right click on the item and choose Delete. Or, you can choose Organize Favorites select the desired item, and click on the Delete button.

 

To move a favorite to another folder, click on Organize Favorites, select the desired item, and click on Move to folder. In the pop-up window, select the folder where you would like to store this listing.

 

History: The history function allows you to view and select Web pages you have recently visited. You can sort your items by clicking on the black triangle to the right of the word View. You can sort by size, date, the number of times visited, and the order you have visited today.

 

Mail: You can read email from this window. Choose the email software you wish to use by going back to the Menu Bar and choosing Tools/Internet Options/Programs.

 

Print: Allows you to print the current page.
Edit: You may edit the current page in the HTML editor of your choice. Choose the editor by going back to the Menu Bar and choosing Tools/Internet Options/Programs.
Discuss: You may set a default Usenet newsgroup server.

 

Useful Options on the Menu Bar

 

 

File/New/Window: You can open up a second copy of IE 6 by using this feature. This allows you to visit more than one Web page at a time.

 

File/Edit with...:You can edit the current Web page using the editor of your choice. Select the editor by going back to the Menu Bar and choosing Tools/Internet Options/Programs. You choices will be determined by software installed on your computer.

 

Edit/Find (on This Page): IE 6 allows you to do a text search of the document on your screen. Choose this option and type in the word or phrase you wish to search.
Tools/Show Related Links: IE 6 will display pages that are related in content to the current page. This is a service of Alexa, a Web content and traffic analysis company. The Tools menu offers you many ways to customize IE 6.

 

Saving Web Documents for Later Use: How to Download, Email, and Print

 

You can download to disk, email, or print the Web page on the IE 6 screen.

 

To DOWNLOAD

 

Click on File/Save As (top left of screen). A pop-up window will appear.

 

 

Save in: Choose the desired drive.

 

Save as type: Make sure you save the page to the file type that will be useful to you. If you save the page as a Web page, you will need a Web browser or HTML editor to view it. A text file (txt) can be viewed in a word processing program such a Word or WordPerfect.

 

click on Save

 

To EMAIL

 

Click on File/Send (top left of screen).

 

You may send the current page as an email message, or you may insert the link to the current page within an email message. Once you make your selection, your email software will open.

 

You can change the default software by going to the Menu Bar and choosing Tools/Internet Options/Programs. You choices will be determined by software installed on your computer.

 

To PRINT THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT

 

Click on the Print icon on the Tool Bar

 

Click on OK

 

 

1. Click on File/Print Preview (top left of screen)
2. Click through the pages using the navigation arrows and make a note of which pages you want to print
3. Click on Print (top left of screen)
4. Click on the circle next to "Pages"

 

5. Type in the pages separate by commas, e.g., 1, 5-6, 7, 9 OR, to print the page displayed in the Print Preview window, choose Current Page
6. Click on OK.

 

To PRINT SELECTED PORTIONS OF A WEB PAGE

 

The Right Mouse Button

 

The right mouse button offers a number of useful features if you are using a PC. To view the possibilities, press down on the right mouse button and hold it. Options will display in a pop-up window.

 

The following is a selected list of right mouse button options.

 

1. WHEN THE MOUSE POINTER IS ON THE SCREEN (but not on a link or an image)

 

 

Selected options:

 

Back: Moves back to the previously visited page in your history list (same as Back icon) Forward: Moves forward to the next page in your history list (same as Forward icon)
Select All: Selects all the text on the page for copying and pasting
Create Shortcut: Creates a shortcut to the current Web page on your desktop

 

Add to Favorites: Adds the current Web page to your Favorites
View Source: Brings up the HTML source code of the current page
Encoding: Allows you to choose a language
Print: Prints the current document
Refresh: Reloads the current page from the server

 

2. WHEN THE MOUSE POINTER IS OVER A LINK

 

 

Selected options:

 

Open: Opens the page
Open in New Window: Opens the link in a new copy of IE 6
Save Target As: Saves the link as a file

 

Print Target: Prints the link
Copy Shortcut: Copies the URL to the Clipboard for pasting into a text editor or word processing program
Add to Favorites: Adds the selected page to your Favorites

 

3. WHEN THE MOUSE POINTER IS OVER AN IMAGE

 

 

Selected options:

 

Save Picture As: Saves the image to a disk drive of your choice
E-mail Picture: Opens your default email program and attaches the image to the message Print Picture: Prints the image on your default printer
Set as Background: Uses the image as your desktop wallpaper

 

Set as Desktop Item: Sets the image as an Active
Desktop item Copy: Copies the image to the Clipboard for pasting into a graphics editing program
Add to Favorites: Adds the selected images to your Favorites

 

Customizing Internet Explorer

 

IE 6 offers a number of customization options. This section will highlight some of the more useful features available under Tools/Internet Options on the Menu Bar.

 

Tools/Internet Options is divided into six tabs. Each one is explained below.

 

 

1. General

 

Home Page: Specify the URL of the page you want to appear whenever you open IE 6, or whenever you click on the Home icon

 

Temporary Internet Files: This option allows you to view the files in your browser's cache. The cache holds viewed Web pages for subsequent quick viewing. Retrieving a file from the cache is much faster than repeated trips to the remote Web server where the file originated.

 

You can customize the Settings to decide how often to check for newer pages, to specify how much disk space to reserve for your cache, and to view files in the cache.

 

History: This option customizes your access to pages you have visited with the History function. Here you can set the number of days to keep pages in your history.

 

Colors: Choose colors for links, visited links, and link hovers (the color appearing when your mouse is over a link). You can also set a default text and background color.
Fonts: Select the language script, the font displayed in Web pages, and the font displayed as plain text.

 

Languages: Select the language that will display Web pages accessed with IE 6.

 

Accessibility: Choose to ignore colors, font sizes and font styles on Web pages. You can also set a style sheet as the display template for all Web pages viewed with IE 6.

 

2. Security Here you can set levels of security for individual Web pages. See IE 6's Help menus for more information.

 

3. Content Content Advisor: You can enable ratings of objectional content to control the pages that may be viewed with this browser.

 

Certificates: This feature allows you to manage the identification certificates you may have. See the Help menus for more information.

 

Personal Information: This consists of two options. AutoComplete will store entered Web address, information entered into forms, and usernames and passwords needed to access sites you have visited. When you are using your browser, previous entries will come up as choices so that you don't have to retype the information.

 

This can make your work go much faster. You can customize these options, and delete your settings. My Profile offers a template for enteringr personal information. If a Web site requests this information, you can give permission for it to be used.

 

4. Connections Here you can store the information about your Internet Service Provider, configure your LAN settings, or send your browser requests through a proxy server.

 

5. Programs Here you can set the programs you want the browser to use for HTML editing, email, Usenet news, collaboration ("Internet Call"), your calendar and contact list.

 

6. Advanced This screen offers a number of options in the categories of accessibility, browsing, HTTP settings, Microsoft VM (Virtual Machine), multimedia access, printing, searching and security. Set these options if you are comfortable with them.

 

 

 

 

Why we need the Internet?

 

What can we do on the Web

 

• View and download high definition movies and animation

 

• listen to music or download it to your computer

 

• listen to radio programs worldwide

 

• make all your telephone calls

 

• do your banking -- review checking accounts, pay bills, and check your balance--over 40 million Americans now bank online.

 

• do your investing in stocks, bonds, funds, etc.

 

• shop (buy and sell) at the world's best discounted prices

 

• plan a vacation--buy plane tickets, make hotel reservations, etc.

 

• get reliable health/medical/drug information

 

• research your family history

 

• send and receive information via email (text, photos, music)

 

• collect news and information on just about any topic

 

• chat with friends in real time, e.g., "Instant messaging"

 

• view amazing images (from a microscopic cell to the latest global satellite image from the Hubble).

 

• meet new people, make new friends, find romantic dates

 

• start a business from your home computer

 

• play video and other games of every variety

 

• gamble

 

• publish your opinions, observations and information on the Internet to a wide audience using weblogs ("blogs").

 

• countless other activities

 

 

 

Safe e-shopping

 

When you hand your credit card to a waiter in a restaurant or give out your account number over the telephone, you are probably posing a greater security risk than charging items online—at least from trusted Web sites. Some sites use Secure Sockets Layer technology (SSL) to encrypt any financial information you send over the Internet to their site. If you're not sure, look for a site's certificate

 

Amazon, eBay, QVC, Target, and Wal-Mart are leading online retailers. Top shopping categories are travel, movie/event tickets, CDs/DVDs, videos, computer software and books.

 

1. Make Your Connection Secure

 

Before you submit any sensitive or private information about yourself—especially your credit-card number—make sure that the data will be encrypted and transmitted over a secure connection. Both your browser and the Web site's server should support industry standards, such as Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

 

Look for a “https://” at the beginning of the page’s URL to know if the page is secure or not. Also, a closed lock should be displayed, when viewing a secure page, at the bottom right corner (For Internet Explorer user.) or at the bottom left corner (For Netscape users.) of your browser’s window.

 

2. Protect Your Passwords

 

Don't create a password based on information that can be easily discovered, such as your birth date, telephone number, or Social Security number. Instead, use a unique combination of at least five letters, numbers, or symbols.

 

You'd be surprised at the number of people who write down their secret password, and tape it to the monitor or tuck it into a desk drawer next to their computer. Be sure you:

 

Keep it to yourself.
Do not write it down.
Do not share it with anyone.

 

Do not check the "remember my password" feature, without considering the value of the data the password protects.
Create different passwords for information that needs a high level of protection (like information on financial Web sites) and for information that needs only casual protection (like online magazines).

 

Change your password at least every six months.
If you had reason to tell someone your password, then create a new one at your earliest opportunityWhat makes a password strong?
The challenge, of course, is creating a password that you can remember, but is hard for anyone else to guess.

 

When you create a new password, make sure it:

 

Is at least seven characters in length, and the longer the better.
Includes upper and lower case letters, numerals, symbols.
Has at least one symbol character in the second through sixth position.
Has at least four different characters in your password (no repeats).
Looks like a sequence of random letters and numbers.

 

3. Protect Your Privacy

 

Take a moment to read the company's privacy policy, which should detail what information the site collects and how it will be used. Limit your exposure by filling out on-line forms carefully. Don't volunteer optional information. Instead, provide only the information required to complete a transaction.

 

Never divulge information, such as your mother's maiden name, that can be used to gain unauthorized access to your accounts. Various free and fee-based Web services will let you surf and shop anonymously. For example, Anonymizer or Privada will let you visit Web sites without revealing your name or e-mail address.

 

4. Use an Insured Payment Method

 

Paying for your on-line purchases with a credit or charge card isn't just convenient, it's smart. Your transaction is protected by the Fair Credit Billing Act, which gives you the right to dispute charges and to withhold payment until the dispute is settled.

 

In addition, if your credit or charge card is used fraudulently, you are normally liable for only $50 of the total amount. Cash payments are increasingly common on the Internet, thanks to on-line auction sites. For large sums, you should use a fee-based escrow service, such as Tradenable.

 

5. Check References

 

Look for the Better Business Bureau Online Reliability Seal , which guarantees that a company has been in business for a minimum of one year, has become a member of a local Better Business Bureau, and agrees to arbitration in case of a dispute.

 

Some sites provide a feedback section, where people who have previously bought goods can comment on the reliability of individual sellers (see our Forums and Chat section).

 

6. Check the Terms of the Sale

 

Reputable on-line retailers display the terms and conditions of the sale, including warranties on the merchandise, limitations of liability, and return and refund policies.

 

Some sites display this information prominently on a "click-wrap" screen that requires you to accept the terms before completing the purchase. Other sites provide links to the information.

 

7. Include Taxes and Shipping

 

Scrutinize the shipping and handling fees tacked onto your bill. Per-item fees and expedited shipping methods can bloat the total purchase price.

 

Look for sites that offer low-cost shipping methods or that deliver free of charge when you place a large order. Charging sales tax is required by law in many states.

 

8. Double-Check Order Forms

 

Before you finalize a purchase, proofread your order form. Typos, such as typing "22" instead of "2,2" can be costly mistakes. If your shipping address differs from your billing address, there is no way for the vendor to confirm its accuracy, so double-check it yourself.

 

You should also make sure that the pricing information you see on-screen is absolutely current and not an old price from a page that was cached on your system during a previous visit.

 

9. Estimate the Delivery Date

 

The seller should inform you of an approximate delivery date. Federal Trade Commission rules state that if the seller does not specify a time period in which the product will be shipped, the merchant must either ship the product within 30 days, or notify you of the delay and offer to cancel the order and refund your money.

 

The delivery time clock begins when the company receives enough information to process your order. If a company cannot meet the specified shipping date, you must be notified and given the option of canceling for a full refund.

 

If you do not respond to the first notice of a delay of 30 days or less, then the order is considered still in effect. If a company cannot meet the updated shipping date, a second notice must be given. The order is considered canceled unless you consent to the further delay.

 

10. Complain About Problems

 

If you do experience a problem with an on-line purchase, notify the company immediately. Check the Web site for a toll-free phone number, an e-mail address, or links to customer service.

 

If the company itself does not resolve the problem, contact the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, or your state attorney general's office.

 

What is on-line banking?

 

On-line banking is a service provided by many banks, thrifts, and credit unions that allows you to conduct banking transactions over the Internet using a personal computer, mobile telephone, or handheld computer (such as a "personal digital assistant"). You may be able to:

 

Access accounts round-the-clock, even on weekends.
See balances on-line and find out whether checks or deposits have cleared .
Transfer funds between accounts.
Download information directly into personal finance software.

 

Receive and pay bills on-line (without check writing, envelopes, or stamps) If you choose an "Internet-only" bank, you may no longer have access to a local "bricks-and-mortar" branch. Some Internet-only banks, however, offer higher interest rates and fewer fees than traditional banks.

 

How quickly are my on-line transactions processed?

 

You may discover that on-line transfers are similar to writing a check and mailing it-transactions may not be processed instantaneously. Be sure to find out from your bank exactly when on-line or telephone account transfers take place (immediately, end of day, etc.).

 

If you want to pay bills on-line, you should ask when electronic payments are deducted from your account, and when they are transferred to third-party billers. To find out more about on-line bill paying services, read the Electronic Payments on the Internet section of this Web site.

 

 

 

Use of Internet for Children

 

There are many different issues about the Internet what people say. In fact, Internet has many things to do with. But we can not ignore that there are a lots of indecent websites which are very dodgy for children. It can be cause for their bad thought and act.But apart from this, also it has its brighter side. With the help of Internet, we can find that things or information which is not available generally.
Children can get find many things on Internet which will be very helpful to enhance their knowledge and skills.

 

Fifteen years ago, most of Internet users were researchers and scientists but today, the Internet has been spreading in the entire world. People use Internet for socializing, planning, shopping, learning, playing games and listening music etc. Specially, we can observe that use of the Internet can play major role in children’s development.

 

 

 

Culture

 

Netiquette:

 

Netiquette is the protocol of the Internet. Netiquette can be summed up by "be courteous and tolerant", but there are many finer points that may escape newbies, resulting in wrath from the rest of the on-line community. For instance, it's very bad manners to type ALL IN CAPITALS (it is considered commotion).

 

A more important rule is that you should make an effort to find out the answer to a question yourself (by reading the FAQ on the subject for instance) before posting your question to a conversation forum.

 

Smiles:

 

 

It is also an important part of Internet. It is very useful to express your words in expression. Like this: :-). Turn your head to the right and you'll see a smiley face. They are also called emoticons. You can use a smiley to indicate that you're happy about something eg. "Today is Friday :-)", or to indicate that something you said should be taken as a joke eg. Smiles can also be sad :-(, evil >:-) and sly ;-).

 

Another commonly used way to indicate emotions is the<g>
(grin),<eg>
(evil

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