Back to Basics

Driving a car, flying a plane, sailing in a boat, riding on a motor-bike or cyclying to explore places and using these modes of transportation is very similar to surfing the Net on your personal computer.

They are all machines which we have to learn to control and navigate on the road, in the air or on water. You can also use your personal speed-boat, yacht or private jet for travelling if you own one.

To surf on the Internet, you need only your PC, notebook, PDA or other Internet-enabled wireless devices which are now commonplace and affordable. You can also have time-sharing with other members of the family or with friends.

Going back to basics, the following pictorial guides are for the benefit of novice computer users. Once the user becomes familiar with the use of the computer, surfing the Internet is a breeze.

For computer "newbies", you can also go here , here ,and here to learn more. Computer lessons (most of these sites are created by other users to share the webcontent with beginners) are found all over the Internet.

"Introduction to Internet"

Group picture of participants at the Basic Course on "Introduction to
Internet" at Paya Lebar Kovan Community Club on 27 April 2008.

This is a new session to introduce the participants to web-based email and how to surf the Internet safely and responsibly.

Surfing the Internet on the computer (or notebook, PDA, etc) whether via cable, dial-up lines or wirelessly is similar to driving on the highway in a car.

As an analogy, the car is just like the computer. We need to learn about the car to know how to drive...mainly the steering wheel, the brake, the gears and other essential functions. Not necessarily the technical and mechanical aspects of the car.

For the computer, we need to learn how to use it to get connected to the Internet.

Almost all computers these days are Internet-ready; meaning the ethernet cards, modems and other accessories are already built-in and bundled.

As for software, both the Mac and the PCs with all versions of Microsoft Windows Operating Systems are bundled with the default web-browsers; Safari for the Mac and Internet Explorer with Windows. Other third-party web-browsers such as Firefox are also available but have to be installed separately by the users. This is optional.

People who take up driving lessons do not attend these classes to learn about the car, technically speaking. They will need to have a car to drive though.

Just as in surfing the Internet, it is important for those who want to drive on the highway to learn about safety driving, observation of traffic rules, respect the right of way of other road users, practice courtesy and "When you drink, don't drive. When you drive, don't drink" (applicable to alcoholic drinks or stuff which gets one drunk or tipsy. Mineral drink, distilled water is ok :)

The difference between driving and surfing on the Net is that you must have a licence to drive. You don't need to take a driving test to get a licence to surf the Internet!

The message is: "Drive safely! Surf safely!" Lets travel on the roads and the "Internet superhighways" safely for everyone's mutual benefit and enjoyment.

By all means, hook up to high-speed connection on the Internet if you can afford it. But please do not speed or drive recklessly in your cars to save innocent lives.

Sent from my Treo 650