John R. Levine

Over the last 20 years, surfing the internet, browsing the web, emailing, and online chat have become part of everyday life. Here are pointers for browsing the web, signing up for email, and understanding what people are saying once you are online.Web browsing basicsThe web is the public face of the internet, with billions of web pages you can read about everything from comics to news to medical information to TV shows.

There are multiple ways you can post things on the internet. But what if you need a little more? What if you need a website with a bunch of pages, with titles you choose, about topics you choose, and maybe even with your own domain name? Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Maximkostenko Page creators abound You have (as usual) several ways to create a website, beyond using Facebook, photo sharing sites, and blogs.

The internet and the web were originally designed for educational and governmental purposes, not for selling stuff, although that’s hard to believe now. Even in this era of ecommerce, lots of free stuff is available. You can watch tons of video for free on YouTube and other video-sharing sites. You can also try TED talks – short, informative lectures on technology, education, and design.

You can download and install software directly over the internet, which is a useful feature. However, other people can also install programs on your computer without your permission, and this isn’t good for you or your computer. How viruses get to your computer Computer viruses can spread in a number of ways, including, networks, email and text message attachments, internet file downloads, and social media scam links.

When you're out and about, you can use an internet connection to chat with people thousands of miles away. The magic of Wi-Fi makes this possible, as many coffee shops and other businesses offer Wi-Fi hotspots for customers to use.The amount of effort needed to get online using Wi-Fi varies from none to way too much.

Podcasts are audio magazines that deliver MP3 files of talk or music directly to your computer via the internet. The word podcast is a combination of iPod and broadcast, but you don’t need an iPod to listen to them — any computer, smartphone or MP3 player will do. Radio programs, companies, musicians, comedians, and just plain people produce podcasts about a huge variety of different subjects, everything from the latest movies and TV series to the stock market.

The installer configures your computer to communicate with DSL or cable internet. Follow the instructions to connect to your account the first time; some DSL and cable modems come with a software CD you may need to use. Don’t let the installer leave until you’ve gotten online and you know the connection works.

The web is the public face of the Internet, with billions of web pages you can read with everything from comics to news to medical information to TV shows. Here are the basic moves to make when you browse the web: Go directly to a website: Type an address into the Address box and press Enter. (You can leave off the http://.

Plug-ins are small software programs that you install on your computer to view or play some applications on the Web. Here are the most common browser plug-ins you'll probably need: Flash: Plays both audio and video files as well as other types of animations QuickTime: Plays video files as you download the