Table of contents

Seniors Guide to the Internet

Web Hot list - Websites to check out

Senior’s Guide to the Internet
By Mike Bianchini, Network Technician Bardissi Enterprises
 

So maybe your kids or grandkids have talked you into buying a computer. You might have held out this long without one but you finally decided to take the plunge. You might even have a computer already but have not accessed the internet yet or you might have just started to explorer the vast land of the internet. Whatever position you are currently in the chances are you are overwhelmed by this whole “Internet thing”.  Relax… Take a breath and picture yourself as Christopher Columbus exploring new lands. The internet can be an exciting new adventure. Before you start your journey here are a few tips to help make your travels easier.

You’ll need the following things before you start exploring:

• A computer with a network adapter or modem – Most if not all computers come with both of these. These connections allow your computer to communicate with other computers.

• An Internet Service Provider (ISP) – Chances are you have seen commercials on television for services like Comcast cable internet, Verizon DSL, AOL Broadband or Dialup and Netzero Dial up. These services make it easy for you to connect to the internet. Most people have bought into the Broadband (DSL, Cable, Fiber Optic) Bandwagon which allows you to keep your internet connection active 24/7 and gives you faster website page load times than Dial Up. Dial UP is much cheaper then Broadband. However, it is very slow and you can’t use your phone and internet connection at the same time if you have one phone line.

• A Web Browser - Web browsers are software that allows you to visually see the places on the internet. There are several browsers out there including; Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.  Internet Explorer comes preloaded on all Microsoft Windows based computers and MSN is by far the most popular web browser. Firefox is gaining popularity with its ability to effectively block pop-ups (websites that come up that you didn’t request). Safari only comes on Apple computers.

Ok you have your computer and service provider so you are all set to get going. The first thing we are going to do is set up your email. Email allows you to contact other people with email addresses. Much like typing a letter, email instantly sends your message for free. You can even add pictures to your messages to make them more personable. There are tons of email service providers on the internet. Most people use the email client their ISP provides when they first set up service with them.  Since you might change providers over the years due to either cost or you might move somewhere that doesn’t get your provider, it is wise to set up an account with a free email service.   There are many free email services to choose from. These include; Gmail which is run by Google, Yahoo mail which is run by Yahoo, Hotmail which is run by Microsoft, plus many more. These services allow you to access your email from any computer that has an internet connection. All you need to do is set up your email account and then log in with your user name and password. Your email address will be your username@youremailprovider.com  i.e. hanksalot@gmail.com. Note that not all services are the same.  Some offer you a ton of space to store your messages, while others are easier to use but offer less features. You might want to do some research on which one works best for you.

            You have your email now you can send messages to your friends and family. Now let’s get going to explore the internet. First here is some quick information on the internet. The internet is not a place. It is a thing. The internet represents billions of computers all inter-connected to each other through a connection. When you visit a website, you are actually visiting a computer that hosts the information that you want. When you go search for this information, you send a connection request to this computer and the computer allows you to access the information. The website might have links on it which sends you to another computer. All of these computers connect to each other in what would look like a huge spider web. Hence the name you might have heard “World Wide Web”.

With your understanding of what the internet is, let’s see how we can best utilize this great resource. When you use the internet chances are you are looking for something. You might be looking for movie times, a new car, a house, sports scores, or many other things. With billions of websites out there it might seem like finding a needle in a haystack. But the web has great tools to help you. These are called search portals. The major search portals are; google.com, yahoo.com, msn.com, and aol.com. These portals go out and search for the websites that match the information you are looking for. You can search for information by typing what you are searching for in the search bar of the site. For example if you were to search for a specific cookie recipe you might put “oatmeal raisin cookie recipe” into the search bar. You might get thousands of results with this search. Usually the best sites for the results are listed as the first 10 or so sites. You can also search for specific phrases or even questions. Search result accuracy has vastly improved over the years and is a great way to start exploring the internet.

As you find sites you like on the web you will no doubt have many favorites that you check every day for updated information. The internet can be a fun place to explore. There is no doubt you can find many websites on information you find interesting. Go out have fun and unleash your inner explorer.

Web Hot list - Websites to check out

By Mike Bianchini - Network Technician Bardissi Enterprises

This week we are going to visit some review websites. One of the great things about the web is that you can find reviews of almost any product before you buy it. Here are a few of my favorites.

http://wize.com/ - Wize Rank combines the massive amounts of rich consumer opinion, reviews, and ratings on the Internet to create a single score between 1 and 100 that is easy to understand. Because it's based on user and expert reviews and rankings from thousands of independent sources, Wize Rank is completely impartial, and cannot be manipulated. Wize ranks many different products including computers, electronics, kids and family products, lawn and garden, and many more.

http://www.metacritic.com/ - Metacritic combines reviews from critics from many different media sources and gives it a score from 1-100. Metacritic reviews movies, music, books, and tv. It's a great source to see if the movie you might want to watch is any good. It's also great to find some hidden gems.

http://www.buzzshout.com/ - BuzzShout tracks the hottest web technology companies through listings, social reviews, and editorials.