Home » Working Women » Computer savvy » What is the Internet? It's not a place, it's not a thing and it's not even an office. So, what is it? When you connect two or more computers together, it's called a network. When you connect all the networks in the world, it's called the Internet. These networks and computers use telephone cables to connect to each other. So just as you can call anyplace if you have the telephone number, you can connect to any network or site if you have the web address.

Can I be on the Internet forever?

Not if you don't want to give lots and lots of money for the phone bill. Your PC uses your telephone line to connect to the Internet. So your parents will have a fat bill to pay if you are always on the Internet. They wouldn't like that, would they?

What if the Internet stops working?

It's hard to believe that life existed before the advent of Internet, isn't it? If the internet stops working again, you won't get to see all those lovely, colourful Websites and you'll lose all the useful information and fun stuff, too. You won't be able to get in touch with all your friends and relatives located around the world so easily. But rest assured, the Internet is not about to stop working.

Who keeps the Net neat?

Well, no one, and that's why the net is not neat. In fact, it's a mess. There are zillions of Websites on it and several new ones keep coming up every hour. This is why we need search engines - to give us all the information on the Net in a neat and organised way.

Does the Internet have an office?

Not at all. The Internet is actually millions and millions of computers connected together. These computers could be anywhere - USA, India, Japan, even Fiji islands. So it's not possible for any one or any office to keep track of all these computers.

What is a link?

Links are those lovely underlined (usually in blue) words that connect hypertext pages. Every time you pass your mouse cursor over an image or highlighted text and if the arrow turns into a hand, it means you've found a link. If you click on and follow the link, it may take you somewhere else on the same page or to another page on the same site, or to an entirely different site.

A word of caution thoughNever believe everything you read on the Net. Remember that anyone can put up any anything they want, irrespective of whether the information is right or wrong. So, always check out the source of the information for its accuracy.