This category and its several subcategories offers links to a wealth of resources representing a guide to the Internet.
There are people, grown to adulthood, who have never known life without the Internet. It might all seem pretty easy. We enter a web address into the address bar in our favorite browser, and a webpage pops up, almost like magic.
However, it requires a lot of very complex software and hardware in order to make the Internet seem so simple, and it took a long time for the technology to get to where we are now. The design behind some of the technologies that make the Internet work began in the 1940s and the direct work that led to today's Internet started in the 1960s. It took more than twenty years of research before the precursor to today's Internet was introduced in the late 1980s in a project known as NSFNet. You will find several histories of the Internet below, and you will also notice that not all of them agree.
The technology that helped to create the telegraph and the telephone contributed to the design of the Internet. However, when people talk on the telephone, they typically talk for a little while and then hang up. Of course, computers communicate differently than people do.
Sometimes computers send short messages to check to see if another computer is available. At other times, a computer will send a longer message, like a photo or an email. In recent years, computers have been sending a great deal of information, like movies or software. In fact, while we previously downloaded software to our computer, many of the programs we use today reside on an Internet cloud.
When we first started connecting computers together, we used wires. Computers in the same room could be connected to one another. In order to connect computers that were in another building or another town, we leased wires from the telephone company. However, when the computers were far away from one another, the phone company attached long distance charges that could be quite expensive.
In the 1970s and 1980s, universities around the world coordinated in setting up networks of computers, allowing university computers in Chicago to connect to those in London.
While developed in the 1960s, the idea of breaking messages into packets came into wide use in the 1980s when computer Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) used packets to route information from one BBS node to another, still sent through telephone lines.
Special-purpose computers were developed to move packets along the communication line, and these became known as routers, which are still in use today. Routers simplified the process of connecting computers from multiple vendors to the same network. When multiple computers at one location were connected in a Local Area Network (LAN), using physical wiring, a router could be connected to the LAN that would connect the network to a Wide Area Network (WAN).
Connecting these technologies together, we can understand the basic operation of today's Internet. We use routers to route packets along a path from a source to a destination. Each packet passes through multiple routers along the way. Different packets from the same message may take different routes from the same source to the same destination, and sometimes they arrive out of order, but each packet contains an offset from the beginning of the message that allows the destination computer to reassemble the packets in the right order.
The core of the Internet consists of a set of cooperating routers that move packets from many sources to many destinations at the same time. Each computer or LAN is connected to a router that forwards the data from its location to the various destinations on the Internet. One router might handle data from a single computer, from several computers in the same building, or from thousands of computers connected in a university or hospital complex.
The term "Internet" is a reference to the idea of many networks working together.
This, of course, is a simplified version of a lot of very complex technologies that work together to connect us to one another. You will find resources here that will offer you are a more complete description.
The purpose of this category, and its subcategories, is to offer resources relating to the Internet in general, as well as many of the ways in which we use the Internet. These include Internet-related associations and organizations, Internet service providers, domain registration, cloud computing and storage, Internet newsgroups, social media, blogs, web hosting, web design, and development, as well as other webmaster resources, Internet marketing, and advertising, and information related to searching the Internet.
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Recommended Resources
CNET publishes news, articles, reviews, blogs, podcasts, videos, and user comments on topics related to technology, consumer electronics, and software. Also included are downloadable software, mobile apps, and games. Created in 1994, it was acquired by CBS Interactive in 2008. Its editorial staff is introduced, along with the editorial process, awards, and company news. Licensing information and usage guidelines are controlled by the YGS Group, a CNET partner.
https://www.cnet.com/
The Internet Archive is a San Francisco-based non-profit digital library that seeks to become a digital repository of all knowledge, offering free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications, games, music, movies, videos, animated images, and public-domain books. Its collections may be accessed from its site, which also discusses its projects, volunteer and job opportunities, acknowledges its executive staff and includes a blog.
https://archive.org/
Established in 2012, the lifetime achievement award, recognizing individuals who have made a significant contribution to the development of the Internet, is administered by the Internet Society. Lists of inductees are presented by year, and may also be found alphabetically. The nomination process is described, and inductees who are interested in speaking on topics related to the Internet are acknowledged. Press information and Internet history are included.
https://www.internethalloffame.org/
The Internet Scout Research Group has had a focus on developing better tools and services for finding, filtering, and presenting online information and metadata since 1994. Based at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, its support organizations are acknowledged, contact information is included, and its projects are outlined, with links to project sites. Its publications, the Scout Report, the ATE Central Connection, and AMSER Science Reader Monthly, may be accessed through the site.
https://scout.wisc.edu/
The ITR monitors the flow of data around the world, displaying a value between zero and a hundred, the higher values indicating faster and more secure connections. A world graph is displayed on the index page, while more detailed information for each continent is available by clicking on the continent name. The global traffic index, response time, and packet loss are featured on the front page. Raw data is also available.
http://www.internettrafficreport.com/
Published in January of 2000, the site claims to be the first book published on the Internet, providing a detailed description of the human history of the Internet, gathered in the late 1990s before it disappeared from the net. Separated into chapters, it includes the history, design, use, advanced use, key features, security, a help section, and additional information on the Internet, the web, email, Usenet, IRC, Muds, and Lists. A separate section highlights software and people.
https://www.livinginternet.com/
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https://www.localseo.com.au/
Created in 2003, this site serves as a general reference on the history of the Internet. Ian Peter traces the various theories regarding the origins of the Internet, disputing the much believed theory that it began as a project of the Pentagon in 1969, and discusses competing histories, as well as the early development of computers, networks, and modems, the World Wide Web, early PC networks, and the spread of the Internet, Internet protocols, and a discussion of its future history.
http://www.nethistory.info/
Set up in August of 1995, and maintained for posterity, this site is a history of the Internet and what led up to it. As a collaborative project, it is a comprehensive look that begins long before the Internet began, but to the precursors of the Internet, beginning with the laying of the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean, and including a wealth of Internet trivia. Also discussed it a history of the Silicon Valley, a Bay Area guide, and the top 100 IT companies and magazines.
http://www.netvalley.com/
Pew Research Center: Internet & Technology
The Pew Research Center describes itself as an American fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes, and trends that shape the world, gathering its information through opinion polls, demographic research, analysis of content, and other modes of research. Its topics page includes all of its reports published since 1983 and is accessible by topic or keyword search. Other resources include publications, presentations, datasets, interactives, and fact sheets.st trends.
https://www.pewinternet.org/
Sponsored by the Internet Society, the RFC Series began in April of 1969, predating the Internet Engineering Task Force by eighteen years, although today the IETF is the largest source of RFC material. Originally funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the RFC Editor was under contract with the Internet Society from 1998 to 2018 and is currently functioning under Association Management Solutions. Its history, format, and available information are outlined.
https://www.rfc-editor.org/
With a concentration on technology, business, and social media news and updates, the site offers news reports, commentary, and reviews on a variety of related subjects, such as business, small business, and startups, software and apps, mobile, social media, technology, development and design, cars, gadgets, marketing, media, jobs, advertising, gardening, home and family, health, lifestyle, and opinion. Press released and other topics are included.
https://thealmostdone.com/
Like any other map, The Internet Map displays an object’s relative position. Unlike geographical or virtual maps, the objects shown on The Internet Map are not aligned on a surface. The Internet Map is a bi-dimensional presentation of links between websites on the Internet, with every site represented as a circle on the map, its size determined by the amount of web traffic receives. Links between sites are represented by the nearness of one site to another.
https://internet-map.net/
Presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, two winners are selected in each category, one by members of the Academy, and one by the public, the categories being websites, advertising and media, online film and video, mobile sites and apps, and social. Often referred to as the Oscars of the Internet, the most recent winners are highlighted, and the categories, eligibility and guidelines, judging process, criteria, and awarding process are described.
https://www.webbyawards.com/
Online since 1999, the site focuses on technology and online gaming. Featuring industry news, product reviews, informational articles and guides, gaming topics, sales, an Ask the Expert column, and Tweakipedia, which is a computer and tech guide, as well as an interactive forum, the products and services covered on the site include cases, cooling, and PSU, CPUs, chipsets, and SoCs, IT and data, laptops, mobile devices, motherboards, peripherals, RAM, storage, and video cards.
https://www.tweaktown.com/
Founded by Jaime Halscott, the Orlando, Florida Information Technology (IT) firm offers four standard services: a Professional IT package, Enterprise IT package, Infrastructure IT package, and a Cloud IT package, each of which is highlighted here, including its features and details. The company’s history, certifications, packages, and process are outlined, and its partnerships are acknowledged. The site also includes a selection of informational articles on various IT topics.
http://www.unbreakableit.com/
VPN Choice is a trusted resource for choosing the best VPN providers. We want to help the general consumers have a better understanding of the product prior to their purchase. Our reviewers produce transparent and impartial reviews of the various VPN products that are available all over the world. Every detail in our review is based on our strategic testing and extensive research methods. We are not in any way influenced by any sponsorships or advertisements.
http://www.vpnchoice.com.au/
Launched in 2001 by the Internet Archive, the Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web. Using software to crawl the web, collecting publicly accessible World Wide Web pages, the Wayback Machine includes information that is not restricted by the publisher or stored in databases that are inaccessible, and the frequency of its crawls varies per website. A subscription service also allows users to capture a webpage as it appears now for use as a trusted citation later.
https://web.archive.org/
