INTERNET AND E-MAIL

Definition of the Internet

Internet is a world-wide computer network linking countless thousands of computer networks,
through a mixture of private and public data and telephone lines
Internet is sometimes called the Information Superhighway because of its large size and great
volume of information that passes through it.
Importance of Internet
-Increased productivity- Staff in a company don’t waste time moving from one office to another
to pick a document hence promoting output.
-speedy and inexpensive communication
-Internet provides a speedy, inexpensive and convenient 24-hours world-wide service means of
communication via its electronic mail facility.
-Improved research tool: Internet is well-stocked research tool, which is able to provide any kind
of information.
-Sharing of resources and information
-business transaction
-leisure
-news and information dissemination
-Communication services: It attains three forms as follows; like E-mail, Chat and Conferencing
--Education like Virtual learning whereby students log on to the Internet to attend classes.
-Software downloading
-E-commerce like online shopping, online Banking, online travel, arrangements.
Internet Services
a). E-mail
This is the exchange of electronic letters, data and graphics on the Internet.
b). Electronic learning (E-Learning)
Is the use of technology to deliver learning and training programs using interactive medias such
as, Internet, wireless and mobile media to facilitate learning
c). Electronic Commerce (E- commerce)
Is the trading in the internet where goods and services are sold over the Internet.
Advantages of E-commerce
- Company can access customers all over the world and is not limited by space and time.
- It has allowed companies to create low cost distribution channel
- It has created opportunity to new companies to enter previously impenetrable markets.
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 - Small companies have established websites to auction / advertise their goods reducing
operation costs and increasing sales.
c). World wide web
WWW is a vast virtual space on the Internet where information is made available.
The World Wide Web is driven by two fundamental technologies:
HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol: - controls how Web servers and Web browsers
communicate with each other
HTML- Hypertext Markup Language: - defines the structure and contents of a Web page.
Web pages
A web page is a single screen of information, which may contain text, images, animation, sound
and video. You view a web page via the web Browser software.
A website
Is a collection of web pages, or other resources located on a web server. The first page on a
website is called a home page.
Web portals – offer specialized services such as searching, e-mail, sports updates, financial,
news and links to selected websites.
A blog – a website that contains personal information which can easily be updated.
Multimedia sites contain photos, movies, music, web TV and internet radio. They are meant
for entertainment.
Examples of WWW Client programs are:
(i). Internet Explorer
(ii). Netscape
(iii). Mosaic
(iv). Lynx
(v). Charlotte
Links
Hypertext - a system of storing images, text, and other computer files that allows direct links to
related text, images, sound, and other data
Hypermedia – (multi-media hypertext system): a hypertext system that supports the linking of
graphics, audio and video elements, and text.
d). Internet fax
Internet provides you with complete fax facilities from your computer. You can configure
fax settings, send and receive faxes, track and monitor fax activity and access archived faxes.

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d). Instant messaging - this a messaging service that allows two or more people to
communicate directly. To get the services, you must first register with an instant messenger
such as Yahoo! messenger.
e). Newsgroup
These are organized groups of Internet users who wish to share ideas and interests. Once you
join a newsgroup, you can participate in discussion forums and debates.
f). News media on the net
All major media houses post their daily news on the Internet for clientele to access.
g). Health information
Through Internet we can get latest medical news and research findings for practitioners and
scholars.
h). Music and entertainment on the net
You can listen to music on the web and watch video clips if the computer is multimedia.
i). Chatting on the net
People can sign into a chat room and exchange ideas freely through discussions.
Try accessing www.try.com to see listings of chat topics you can participate in on-line.
(l) Searching :Search engines
These are special programs that help the user easily search for information on the internet.
Common search engines include:
Google (http:// www.google.com )
Hotmail (http:// www.hotmail.com)
Yahoo (http:// www.yahoo.com)
Alta Vista (http:// www.altavista.com)
Excite (http:// www.excite.com/search)
hotBot (http:// hotbot.lycos.com )
Multi-threaded search engines are search engines that allow the user to search multiple
databases simultaneously via a single interface.
Accessing the Internet
Before accessing the Internet, a person must start the Browser software.
a) Log-in / Sign – in
Logging-in/signing-in: is the process of authenticating yourself to the computer so as to be
allowed to check the contents (mails) in a mail box.
b) Browsing / surfing

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Is the process of accessing Internet resources like web pages and websites, using URL address or
Hyperlinks.
c) Hyperlinks URLs and Search engine
Hyperlink - text or picture on an electronic document that is used to navigate from one web
page to another.
Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) – is the Internet address of a particular Web page, it
connects the user to a particular website.
The URL has two basic parts
 Protocol – standard used to connect to the resource e.g. Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(http://) and file transfer protocol (ftp://). E.g. http://www.google.co.ke display
Google home page is displayed.
 Domain name – name of the web server where the resource is located.

d) Downloading / saving / printing web content

Success of finding what you want online increases with experience.
Downloading
Is the transmission of data files or applications from the server on the Internet to your local
computer.
Free ware or shareware
Are software available on the web for free downloading. You do not have to pay to use
them.
Printing
To print a file, open it in the application in which it was created then send it to the printer for
printing. You can also print a web page directly from the browser window by clicking File then
Print.
Electronic Mail (E-mail)
E-mail refers to the sending and receiving of electronic letters and documents on the internet.
E-mail software
E-Mail software falls under special application packages communication software specifically
designed and developed to help a person to compose, send and receive (read) text documents on
the internet. Both the sender and the receiver MUST have an e-mail address.
The e-mails are usually stored in separate folders as described below:
Inbox – all incoming e-mails are stored here.
Outbox – contains e-mails that are waiting to be sent.
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Sent – contains the e-mails that have already been sent.
Drafts – contains e-mails that have being worked on, and are not yet ready been sent.
Deleted items – contains e-mails that have been deleted. You can recover a deleted e-mail as
long as you have not emptied this folder.
Spam – contains mails from suspected sites e.g. may contain computer viruses.
An e-mail address directs the computers on the Internet on where to deliver the e-mail messages.
A typical e-mail format is described below:
Format: Username@Internat_address
Example: [email protected]
[email protected]
Each user ID is made up of two components: Username and Internet domain separated by an @
sign.
1) fauzifa – is the User name/ personal identifier and is usually coined by the user during e-
mail account registration.
2) @ is the symbol for ‘at’ which separates the username from the rest of the address.
3) Yahoo.com – is the name of the Host computer in the network i.e. the computer on which
the e-mail account is hosted.
4) The period “.” Is read as dot and is used to separate different parts of the e-mail address.
5) Com identifies the type of institution offering a particular service(s) and is called the
domain name.
6) .ke - is the country indicator.
Other domain names are
.com – commercial institution .ke – for Kenya
.gov – government .ug – for Uganda
.net – network centre .tz – for Tanzania
.edu – educational institutions .jp – for Japan
.mil – military site .au – for Australia
.org – organizations .uk – for United Kingdom, etc.
Most network addresses end with a country
code, such as:
The two letter extension is added after the domain name to show the country where the cite is
located e.g. [email protected]
E-mail facilities
1). Mails
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a) Checking mails
In order to check mail the user has to open the e-mail account by providing the correct user
name and password.
b) Compose e-mail
Composing implies writing. To compose click the compose command. The command header
element in the new e-mail window are:
To: here, you enter the e-mail address of the recipient.
From: here, your e-mail software will enter your address automatically.
Subject: should contain a few words outlining the nature of your message. It is not
mandatory to enter something here, but it generally helps the recipient to know what is
contained in the e-mail.
Cc: stands for Carbon Copy, and is used to copy an e-mail to other recipients. The main
recipient is able to see who the e-mail has been copied to.
BCC: stands for blind Carbon Copy, meaning that a copy of your message is sent to an extra
address, without any indication of that action appearing in the main recipients copy of the
message.
Date: the date and time the message is sent are indicated automatically from e-mail
software.
Attachments – the name and location of any file you may be sending along with the e-mail
c) Sending e-mail
To send mail, type the correct e-mail address of the recipient in To: text box, type your letter
then click Send command.
d) Forward e-mail – a received mail can be forwarded to another recipient. After reading click
Forward command and then provide the address of the recipient.
2). File Attachment
E-mail software enables a person to attach other files like pictures, music, movie clips, etc. the
source of attachment files can be from the hard disk or other storage devices
3). On-line meeting
It’s possible to hold on-line meeting with people by sending mails to them. E.g. on-line
interviews may involve a person sending electronic mail composed of interview questions to a
recipient who can read and question back.
4). Telephone messages

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Because of integration between mobile telephony and the Internet technology, wireless Access
Protocol (WAP) makes it possible to send e-mail to a mobile handset and a mobile message to e-
mail account.
5). Contact management
Most mails programs allow the user to develop an address book which holds contact information
like e-mail address of different people.
Accessing Information on Emerging Issues
Internet is a storehouse of information, presented in the from of text, documents, pictures, sound
and even video. Emerging issues refers to things like HIV/Aids, drug Abuse, moral issues and
environmental issues.
Effect of internet on the society
Although internet is such an important resource, it has also brought with it some challenges.
These include;
 Accessibility of dirty sites such as pornography by the young hence affecting their
morals. The solution is to restrict the known offensive sites using filter programs such as
CyberPatrol, Cybersitter or net Nanny.
 Security and privacy – Internet has made it easy for criminals to illegally access
organizations private information hence posing security concerns. To improve on
security, install a Firewall and antispyware programs.
 Spread of malicious software – which includes Viruses, Trojan horse and worm. This
results in frustration and loss of data. Install Internet security program and update it
regularly.