The Internet is the world network of computer networks. The image to the left is a visualization of Internet communication in the United States.

Here at Cabrillo, Internet messages go out on a T-1 line (a high speed telecommunications line) to San Francisco, where messages pass through BARRnet (Bay Area Regional Research Network). Most of the traffic on the Internet is carried on about 500 communication satellites around the world. NASA maintains a Web page that shows you the satellites (when you are asked, click "grant permission" to load the data).

The image below provides a picture of how an email message you create on your computer at home might get delivered to a friend of yours living in Florida.

The Internet is huge, and growing every day. You can get an idea of its size and growth by exploring these Web sites:

As you might expect, not everything on the Internet works perfectly all the time. The Internet was created during the Cold War. The goal was to create a network that could function even if a bomb destroyed one part of it. Thus, on the Internet, if one part of the network is having problems, messages are just routed in another direction.

Various Web sites collect and publish information about the Internet in real time. They let you see whether there are particular problems in "your neck of the woods." One such Web site is

Internet Traffic Report A score of 100 would indicate that everything is functioning perfect. Usually, the numbers shown are in the 70s and 80s, meaning that there are some tie-ups along the way. Internet messages are redirected on the Internet by "routers." Click to go to North America. Scroll down. Can you see any routers that are having problems (if there are problems, the current index column, kinda towards the middle, would be red or 0).

The lesson here is that when the Internet seems slow -- it probably is! We often think that the problem has *got* to have something to do with our own computer. But, often the problem is "upstream" -- somewhere further up the line.

You have probably heard people remark that it is "amazing" how much is available on the Internet. There *is* a lot! Here are some of the categories of information resources you can find:

  • music
  • short videos
  • fulltext magazine and journal articles
  • fulltext newspaper articles
  • forms and documents (e.g., tax forms; legal documents)
  • stock reports
  • Web pages about almost any topic
  • Web pages that let you transact business, e.g., buy something; make a reservation; book a flight
  • consumer information (before you buy something, see how it's rated!)
  • and a whole lot more!

A big part of learning to use the Internet is learning how to search for and find what you want. With the least hassle. With searches that are precise.

As you take these workshops, that's what you're going to learn how to do.

Before you leave this introduction to the Internet, click to bring up a picture of the World at Night. This is a composite of a number of satellite pictures of the world, taken at night. Use the scroll bar* along the bottom of the screen to pan over to Europe and then Asia. Use the scroll bar along the righthand side of the screen to see both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Can you spot the Nile River? Is Japan lit up? Where's North Korea?

*Unsure about what a scroll bar is? Click on Using the Scroll Bar.

How to get to this page on the Internet

  1. Go to the Cabrillo College Library homepage <http://libwww.cabrillo.edu>
  2. Click on Library & Internet Instruction (3rd icon from the bottom, on left)
  3. Click on 1. Web Workshops for Fall 2003

 

Topsy N. Smalley last rev. 10/03/03