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The internet is an excellent source for finding many types of information and for keeping up with new developments in the world. Today, an ever-increasing number of people are using the Internet to dig up related information, conduct business or personal activities, access electronic data basis, send email and network with relatives, colleagues or friends. Frequently referred to as the information superhighway, the Internet is actually a network of computer networks. You may think of the Internet as analogies to the Interstate highway system. Just as the Interstate system connects to you different cities via many different routes, the Internet connects computers around the world via a number of different electronic pathways. At the most basic level, a computer, a modem and the right type of software can a person onto the Internet. Through the Internet, you can access massive amounts of information by accessing computers that are linked together. Generally speaking, two types of information available on the Internet are the most useful for people. That is conversational resources and reference resources. Conversational resources allow users to have conversations with individuals anywhere in the world.

Mailing lists and news groups are the primary types of conversational resources. Mailing lists include electronic mail whereby the user can read messages, send to any other individual or group of individuals who have subscribed by having their names and electronic mail address placed on the sender’s list of addresses. News groups are essentially electronic bulletin boards. Anyone with Internet access can post an article to the board, and anyone with Internet access can read the board. The reference resources you most frequently encounter are the worldwide web---www, or the web for short. The web uses HTML---hyper texted markup language to transfer text, sound, graphics and video. Of course, you need browsers to view documents, and navigate through the intricate link structure. The most popular and well known browser is Microsoft Internet Explorer.