Using the Internet and Email
In a Secure and Safe Way
There are so many advantages of using the internet and email but there are also a huge amount of disadvantages. It is up to you how you use it and with the right information you can be well on your way to joining the internet and email community and also not having to worry or fear the potential threats that are out there.
There are many internet browsers out there to choose from and it is really up to you which one you pick. Some people prefer some browsers to others and other people are not really that fussed about what they use as long as it provides the service that it promises. Some of the most popular browsers are Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Safari. Most Windows based computers come already equipped with Internet Explorer and Apple computers have Safari installed into them.
Email can be used through many different websites or a program can be installed on to a users computer called Outlook. Some of the most popular email websites are Hotmail, Yahoo and Google Mail. I would recommend using the website based email services because for a start they are completely free and Outlook isn't free and is usually used by companies or organisations.
Firstly to use an email service go to either Google Mail, Yahoo or Hotmail (entirely upto you which one you choose) and then look for a sign up option or create an account option to begin creating your email address. After this you will be able to recieve and send emails whenever you like. I will give you an example of exactly what to do on Yahoo and how you can use the services that it provides. Below is a screenshot of the Yahoo Mail page.
As you can see there is a compose message section where you can write the email that you want to send and add the email address of the person that you want to recieve it. Below that there is section that has Inbox, Conversations, Drafts, Sent, Spam and Trash. The Inbox section is where you will recieve all emails that have been sent to you, the Drafts section is where emails that you have composed but not yet sent are saved, Sent is of course the emails that you have sent, Spam is where emails are received that may be junk mail like unwanted advertisements and Trash is where recently deleted emails are stored for a short time.
Using the internet is very easy once you get to terms with it. If you are using a Windows based computer then you will already have Internet Explorer intalled on it and maybe even Google Chrome. The most popular way to use the internet is going on the website Google. Google is a search engine and is the most popular of its kind. Below is a screenshot of google and an explanation of how to use this search engine.
Below the Google title there is a search bar where you can type what ever it is you are looking for then below that there is an option that says Google Search. When you have typed in the search bar what you are looking for you should click on Google Search and it will display results from different websites and these results will be related to your search. At the top of the page there is a bar that has Search, Images, Maps, YouTube, News, Gmail etc. I have not named all of the options on the search bar because these are not essential in learning how to use the internet.
The images option allows you to search for an image that you have typed in the search bar, the maps option is where you can get a map of anywhere that you desire and get directions from one location to another, the YouTube option is a link to a video website which is now owned by Google where you can search for videos or music that you might want to watch or listen to, the news option lets you search for the latest news on a certain subject that you might be interested in and the Gmail option is for people with email accounts with Google. At the top of the page in the screenshot there is a search bar which lets you search for a website that you might know the address of.
Now I am going to explain some of the measures that are needed to stay safe when using Email and the Internet. When it comes to emails you should always be aware of who you are talking to because they may not be who they say they and could very well have an ulterior motive for example finding out your bank details. Also a lot of spam can be sent to your inbox and some of this spam can contain links which could contain a virus or spyware. This is where it is important to purchase anti-virus software. There are numerous anti-virus software programs out there and some of them are even free but in my opinion it would probably be best to pay yearly for it because there is more of a guarantee that the computer will be safe from viruses and spyware. Some websites are also very unsafe to use and it is recommended that you make sure that these sites don't have viruses.
I use Norton Anti-Virus as I believe it is fairly priced and keeps my computer safe and secure.
Below is a picture of the Norton Anti-Virus package.
