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Computer Tips - For Seniors
Basic Computer Words : Network , Internet , & URL ' s
A " network " is two or more computers hooked together . When two computers are " networked ," information can be moved from one computer to the other . Companies have many computers on their network , so employees can share information with each other .
The " Internet " is an " international network of networks ," or a whole bunch of computers all over the world , connected together .
Your Internet Supplier ( sometimes called your Internet Service Provider , or ISP ), keeps their computers turned on all the time , 24 hours a day , 7 days a week . They are a permanent part of the Internet . This way , whenever someone sends you an e-mail , it goes to their computer , where it is stored until you are ready for it . When you turn your computer on , and your computer connects to their computer , when you check your e-mail , the e-mail message goes the last part of its journey , to your computer .
Those " www . whatever . com " thingy ' s are called " Universal Resource Locators " or " URL ' s " for short .
When you use a " browser " program ( like Microsoft Internet Explorer or Firefox ), and you type in one of those " www . whatever . com " thingy ' s , your computer sends a request to the other computer , somewhere on the Internet ( somewhere in the world ). The other computer sends the " webpage " at that URL back to your computer , and you see it on your screen .
Every time your click on another link ( which is actually another URL ), it requests another " page " of information from that new URL . That new page may be located on the same computer , or it may be located on a computer on the other side of the world .
Because all these computers on the Internet are connected together , when information is being sent from one place to another , it gets passed from computer to computer , till it gets where it is going . If one computer is not working , the information is " automatically " sent by another route . This is what makes the Internet so robust . If some computers are not working , it doesn ' t block the communication . The communication is just re-routed automatically .
" Default " is what the computer is programmed to assume .
For example , in a word processing program , it may assume you want 1 inch ( or 2.5 cm ) margins . If you don ' t tell the computer otherwise , it uses the " default " margins , for every new document .
Or in the Microsoft Solitaire program , it may assume you want it to draw 3 cards , every time you click on the deck ( it can be changed to draw 1 card , each time you click on the deck ). This setting is a default .
The defaults include any settings in a program , that are already set when you first start using a program .
Defaults make it much easier to use a new program , when you first get it . Otherwise , you would have to learn how to adjust and set all the settings , before you could type a single page in a word processor .
Defaults also save time , because most of the time , most users use the same standard settings all the time . This way you don ' t have to tell the computer every time that you want the same margins you had last time .
You can also " change " many of the defaults in most programs , so every time you start that program , it will use the settings you chose , instead of the defaults that the program came with .