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Tuesday, October 1, 1996
Ever since I got hooked on computers 15 years ago, I have wanted to
write a regular column on computers and related technology. Other
concerns have pulled my attention in various directions, and I never
have had time to focus in on one subject. That has changed with the
addition to our staff of another reporter, freeing me to work on our
Internet pages.
So here is the first in a series of columns dealing with computers and
their fascinating uses. Let's start with the Internet and work backward.
I will include help for newbies as well as some tips for techies that I
have gleaned from knowledgeable sources.
What is the Internet? Is it like the World Wide Web? Do you have to
have Internet access to send and receive E-mail? What is E-mail, anyway?
Techies invented the Internet as a means to link computers in
government, education and scientific fields. At first, all they could
send over telephone wires was text. That is words. Then graphics were
added, and that is where the web comes in. You can still access
computers on the Internet that have only text, and it doesn't take
sophisticated software to read and/or download it.
To view graphics (drawings, photos), and jump from one site to another
via hypertext links, you have to have software called a browser. The
fashion nowadays is to sell computers with all the software you will
need already loaded. And that is what I would recommend for newbies. You
don't want to wrestle with an old machine and try to make it work with
today's sophisticated stuff.
Now you probably want to know what a hypertext link is. If this page
were on your computer screen and you had a browser hooked up to the
World Wide Web, you could position the mouse pointer on
http://www.pecos.net/news, click once and watch the Pecos Enterprise
home page appear on your screen.
On that home page are more links: News/Sports/Opinion/Living off the
Land/Archives/Classified/Advertising/Monahans/Other Sites|. Click on
News and almost immediately the Enterprise front page appears. You can
read the top story of the day, then scroll to the next headline. If you
decide you don't want to read any more, just click on Return to Menu and
the cursor will go back to the top of the page where the above links are
located. Or you can go to the bottom of the file and find links to other
newspapers where you can read regional, state and national news.
A click on Classified will take you to the WesTex Advantage section.
There you will see seven hypertext links to various types of
advertising. At the bottom of the page are the usual links. Archives
takes you to all the stories we have posted on the web since July 26.
Other Sites provides a list of links to places associated with Pecos,
and a couple link you up to state government.
Next week: Search for back issues or for other sites by topic.
"Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge
are a rare jewel." Proverbs 20:15, NIV.
Peggy McCracken is an Enterprise writer and editor whose column appears
each Tuesday.
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Copyright 1996 by Pecos Enterprise
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
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