"I'm cruising down the Information Superhighway in high gear...
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                    _    ,
   __   __   __   __   __   --  -,_/\\_~0_\ ___    __   __   __
                          --    /  ___ \-  `___`"-,
                        ---    `"-( @ )----( @ )---`
  jgs                              '-'      '-'
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Surfing the waves of the Digital Ocean..
                       .        .           -     _
                   .       .  ~   . ~  -  ~  . = .  ~
               ~        ~  __.---~~_~~_~~_~~_~ ~ ~~_~~~
             .    .     .-'  ` . ~_ = ~ _ =  . ~ .    ~
                      .'  `. ~  -   =      ~  -  _ ~ `
             ~    .  }` =  - _ ~  -  . ~  ` =  ~  _ . ~
                   }`   . ~   =    ~  =  ~   -  ~    - _
         .        }   ~ .__,~O     ` ~ _   ~  ^  ~  -
                `}` - =    /#/`-'     -   ~   =   ~  _ ~
           ~ .   }   ~ -   |^\   _ ~ _  - ~ -_  =  _
                }`  _____ /_  /____ - ~ _   ~ _
        jgs   }`   `~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`_ = _ ~ -
      _ _ _ }` `. ~ . - _ = ~. ~ = .   -   =


Exploring the uncharted regions of Cyberspace!"
                        .   *        .       .
         *      -0-
            .                .  *       - )-
         .      *       o       .       *
   o                |
             .     -O-
  .                 |        *      .     -0-
         *  o     .    '       *      .        o
                .         .        |      *
     *             *              -O-          .
           .             *         |     ,
                  .           o
          .---.
    =   _/__~0_\_     .  *            o       '
   = = (_________)             .
                   .                        *
         *               - ) -       *
                .               .

"Actually, I'm sitting on my butt staring at a computer screen." - TT
                                  _
                             ~0  (_|
                            |(_~|^~~|
                            TT/_ T"T
                   jgs^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



-joan







From: Veronica Karlsson

The "Internet" consists of many computers, all over the world, connected
to each other:


  ___   _      ___   _      ___   _      ___   _      ___   _
 [(_)] |=|    [(_)] |=|    [(_)] |=|    [(_)] |=|    [(_)] |=|
  '-`  |_|     '-`  |_|     '-`  |_|     '-`  |_|     '-`  |_|
 /mmm/  /     /mmm/  /     /mmm/  /     /mmm/  /     /mmm/  /
       |____________|____________|____________|____________|
                             |            |            |
                         ___  \_      ___  \_      ___  \_
                        [(_)] |=|    [(_)] |=|    [(_)] |=|
                         '-`  |_|     '-`  |_|     '-`  |_|
                        /mmm/        /mmm/        /mmm/


These computers can then be used to communicate with each other in many
different ways. Three of the most common ones are "The Web", "Email" and
"Discussion groups" (also called "Newsgroups").

-----------------------------------

The "Web" consists of html documents, with links to each other as well
as to other types of data:



              .------.
      ___   .'  ___   \   ___       ___
     |===|-'   |===|   `>|===|     |===|
     |===|     |===|     |===|---->|===||          _/|
     |==_|---->|==_|     |==_|   .-|==_|||        // o\
                | ^            .'   |___||        || ._)
                |  `----------'      |___|------> //__\
                |                      |          )___(
                |                      V
                |
          M     |                   |||||
         /'\    V  )               ||. .||
         `  \_____/               |||\=/|||
            (_____) o             |.-- --.|
            /|   /|  o            /(.) (.)\
           / |   \|   8o          \ ) . ( /
                                  '(  v  )`
                                    \ | /
                                    ( | )
                                    '- -`

On the web you find things using a kind of address called a "URL", which
often begins with "http://". The programs used to access these things
are called "browsers".

-----------------------------------

"Email" consists of messages sent between a limited number of people
(often just two people):


        __________
       |Hi Jane :)|
       |          |
       |Are you   |
       |coming to |
       |see me on |
       |Tuesday?  |
       |__________|


        __________
       |Hi John :(|
       |          |
       |Sorry but |
       |I have to |
       |do some   |
       |homework. |
       |__________|


In email you use email addresses to send messages to specific people.
They usually look something like this:  jane@somefunnyplace.something
To send email one uses "email programs".

-----------------------------------

"Usenet" consists of "Discussion groups", which are basically "big
containers" where one can send messages that anybody can read. To make
communication more efficient the content of these containers is sent
around the world to "news servers" and it is to such a news server you
connect to read and post messages. The actual messages look a lot like
email, but with the difference that they are intended for anybody to
read. The messages get "flushed out" after a while to leave room for new
messages.

On Usenet you use the group names (e.g. alt-ascii-art) as a kind of
address and the software used to read and send messages is called a
"news reader" or "news program".