• About the Internet - Introduction
• Internet history
  • the C programming language and the UNIX operating system
  • birth of the Internet
  • birth of the open source movement
  • the commercial Internet
  • Linux
• the structure of the Internet
  • The Open Systems Interconnection Model
  • Internet protocol
    • IPV4
    • Internet packets
    • IPV6
    • routing
  • domains and the domain name system
• DNS (Domain naming service) and BIND
• Internet tools
• Email
• How email works
• Why don't I have to dial long distance
• email spamming
• World Wide Web - www
  • web sites and web hosting
  • SSL encryption and ecommerce
  • how to build a great website
  • search engines
    • getting found
    • don't spam the search engines
• Other Internet services

In 2004, the Internet is about 35 years old, and yet it holds many mysteries to most people.

According to www.statmarket.com (Feb 25 2003), "In terms of broadband, approximately 29.6 percent of Internet users connect to the Net via a high-speed connection.", and "Over half a billion people worldwide now have Internet access, according to new research from Nielsen-Netratings."

Out of those, (Aug 01 2002) "China has the second largest Internet population in the world.

"For the month of July 2002, China accounted for 6.63 percent of all global Internet traffic.

"Japan, which has the third largest online population in the world, accounted for 5.24 percent of global web traffic, while the UK and Canada accounted for 3.9 percent each, and Germany, 3.64 percent.

"The US still has the largest online population with 42.65 percent of all global Internet traffic."

As the Internet gains explosive popularity around the world, its rich tools are bursting at the seam, but what is it, and how does it work?

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