Catching up with the internet

Contents

The Net and the Web
What's on-line?
What is the Internet and what can you do with it?
The Web, e-mail, newsgroups, other ways of working
The Background
brief history, 'how it works' overview
Getting connected
Hardware - minimum, optional
Software
Choosing an ISP
Set up and running costs
2 Tools for the job
Internet Explorer
screen, tools, setting up, using, Favorites, History
Navigator
briefer coverage
E-mail software
Focus on Outlook Express, brief coverage of other common software
3 Browsing the Web
Starting points
Directories and portals - Hairnet, Yahoo, MSN, etc
URLs
understanding, using, finding
Navigation
Hyperlinks, Back button, History
Favorite places
Creating, using, organising links
4 Searching for stuff
Search engines
Google, AltaVista, Infoseek
Directories
Excite, Yahoo, UK directory
Metasearches
Ask Jeeves
Searching from your PC
Internet Explorer search bar, add-ons/active links to search sites
5 Internet communities
Meeting places
myhairnet.com and other communities, Chat rooms, Bulleting boards
Making your home
Setting up a site at a community, becoming active on-line
Finding people
E-mail addresses, phone numbers, tracking down lost friends
6 The Internet Mall
Shopping on-line
E-mail order - Amazon, other book/ CD/gifts
Bargain hunting
Price searchers, auctions, cooperatives
Getting the groceries
Tesco, Iceland, specialist suppliers
On-line services
Banking, shares, mortgages, insurance, etc.
7 Siteseeing
The world of knowledge
Encyclopedias, papers, magazines, TV, other reference, news feeds
The armchair tourist
Tourist sites, guides, web cams, galleries and museums
Games and hobbies
On-line games, enthusiasts' sites
8 E-mail
E-mail addresses
Address book
Sending messages
Formatted and plain text, working on and off-line, e-mail etiquette
You've got mail!
Receiving, replying, forwarding
Organising old mail
Folders, deleting, archives
Web mail
Hotmail - why and how
9 Newsgroups
The amazing range
What's covered, how to find them
Lurking, FAQs
Active group work
Subscribing, posting, threads
Mailing lists
How they work, what's available
10 Mining the Internet
Files from the Net
Downloading, viruses, times
Shareware
Key sites, downloading, costs
Making the most of multimedia
Sound & video, getting RealPlayer, what is Flash?
Software updates
New tools, updates and drivers from manufacturers
Saving from the page
Text and graphics from Web pages
11 Where to go from here
Online learning
myhairnet.com tutorials, "tech talk" forums
Offline learning
Hairnet one-to-one training
Advanced learning?
other web tecchie resources - webmonkey.com, javascript.com, etc
CD will include links to various web sites, and an ISP