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A new electronic revolution influencing the lives of
people all round the globe today is the Internet. The
number of subscribers to the Internet is still growing
at a phenomenal rate around the world. In this modern
era known as 'the information age', huge amounts of
information can be stored in a computer and retrieved in
spilt seconds. Due to the ability of the computers to
interconnect with each other, through the Internet, one
can have access to information and also communicate to
the rest of the world in a very cost effective way. The Internet started as a project for the United States
military command in 1969. It was known as the ARPANET
(Advance Research Projects Agency Network), a network
connecting university, military and defense contractors.
It was established to aid researchers in the process of
sharing information and also to ensure that the US
military command would not be crippled if its main
command center was destroyed. As new breakthroughs in
technology came, the network evolved rapidly into a
publicly accessible network which first became known as
the Internet. With advanced telecommunication
technologies, supercomputers in different countries have
become linked to one another thereby creating a
worldwide network.
The Internet has since come a long way from its
beginnings in the early sixties. No one knew that it
would grow to what it is today. By mid-eighties, the
much reduced cost of computers allowed many to join the
Internet easily for the first time. Corporations began
to use the Internet to communicate with one another and
with their customers in different countries. Basically,
there are three Internet applications that make it an
useful resource tool. They are the electronic mail
(e-mail), the worldwide web (WWW) and the usenet
newsgroup.
Electronic mail is the most commonly used service on the
Internet. You can send messages to one or more people
anywhere in the world. There is no need to paste stamps
or wait a few days for the note to reach the recipient.
It is real time like a phone call but at a fraction of
the cost. Some people have grown so dependent on the
e-mail such that being without it is like being
handicapped. It is redefining communications in the
working world as well as a person's private world.
The World Wide Web is increasingly becoming the
Internet's most popular resource feature. It allows
users to access information in a logical and systematic
environment. Business and commercial World Wide Web
sites have sprung up with abundance, joining the
academic and research oriented sites. As more people
learn to create their own personal web sites, more
homepages are being added thus making the web
a huge
hunting ground for information and resources. Programs
known as search engines help the subscriber to search or
'surf' the net for information.
In Usenet, topics are organized into many newsgroups or
discussion areas. A subscriber can choose a topic of his
interest and engage in discussion on the tropic with
strangers in a non-threatening way. You can post a
message on-line and read the responses to it that build
up over time. There are literally thousands of
newsgroups
on all kinds of topics. |
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1. |
(a) Why is our era known as 'the information age'
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(b) How has the ability of the computers to
'interconnect with each other' contributed to
'the information age' ? |
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2. |
When did the Internet first come into existence ? |
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3. |
What was the purpose of the network then ? |
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4. |
How would the US military command be
'crippled' if its main command center was
destroyed ? |
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5. |
What made it possible for supercomputers in
different countries to link up ? |
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6. |
What caused the quick growth of the Internet during the mid-eighties ? |
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7. |
What is e-mail ? |
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8. |
What are the advantages of the e-mail ? |
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9. |
What makes people feel
'handicapped' without the e-mail ? |
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10. |
What are the latest additions to the World Wide Web ? |
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11. |
How has the web become 'a huge hunting round for
information and resources'. |
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12. |
What are search engines ? |
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13. |
How does a person engage in discussion in Usenet ? |
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| Answers |
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1. |
(a) We live in the age of the computer
which can store huge amounts of information and that can be retrieved
very quickly. (b) The users can have access to information and also
communicate with other countries at a very cheap rate. |
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2. |
In 1969, it was started as a project for
the United States military command. |
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3. |
The network was to help researchers in the process of sharing
information and to ensure that the military command would not be
crippled if the main command center was destroyed. |
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4. |
Information and orders would not able to be transmitted to other command
centers. This may threaten the defense and security of the country. |
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5. |
Advanced telecommunication technologies made it possible for the
supercomputers in different countries to link up. |
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6. |
In the mid-eighties, many could join the
network because the computer became very much cheaper. |
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7. |
E-mail means electronic mail which is sending mail on the Internet. |
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8. |
It is cheaper and faster. |
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9. |
People's dependence on it. |
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10. |
Personal homepages are the latest addtions. |
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11. |
The increasing numbe rof homepages makes it possible for users to search
one another's homepages for information. |
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12. |
Search engines are programs that help the subscriber search for
information on the internet. |
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13. |
He can post a message online and then wait for the responses to it. |
