Home > Articles

Internet Addresses, Email Addresses, Acronyms and Emoticons: The Language of the Internet for Beginners

The Internet has a language of its own that is used in Internet addresses. Understanding the components of Internet and email addresses such as domain names and extensions is not difficult, and it is sure to make your web surfing easier. Once you have that down pat, you can move on to more fun online things such as acronyms and emoticons. This chapter briefly covers the lexicon of the internet for the web novice.
This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood."

—Marie Curie

In This Chapter

  • Understanding Internet Addresses

  • Email Addresses

  • Acronymns and Emoticons

You might have heard that HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the language of the Internet. It sounds ominous, doesn't it? Well, don't worry. HTML is the computer language that most of the web pages are written in, but you don't have to worry about learning it unless you want to. I'll tell you more about HTML in Chapter 9, "Putting Your Stuff on the Web." In the meantime, let's get into some easier stuff. In this chapter, I'll give you the basics about the everyday language of the Internet that you need to know. These are basics that are easy to learn and fun to work with: Internet address, acronyms, and emoticons.

Understanding Internet Addresses

In today’s world, we are inundated with web addresses. These addresses, commonly known as URLs, show up everywhere. You see and hear WWW addresses on television, in newspapers, on the radio, in magazines, on roadside billboards, and even in fortune cookies! Your bank has a website, and so does your alma mater. Many of the stores in which you shop have a Web address, as do most hotels, health organizations, sports teams, museums, newspapers, and magazines.

Much of the trepidation regarding the computer world comes from the fact that many people don’t understand the highly technical terminology associated with computers. In most cases, a person doesn’t have to understand complex jargon to work with a computer, but every now and then some necessary geek-speak creeps in. This is the case with Internet addresses, which are also called uniform resource locators, or URLs for short. The Internet is a treasure chest of information. As a -user, you must have a key to unlock this high-tech chest. URLs are one of the keys. The sooner you understand URLs, the faster you can open that treasure chest and begin enjoying the riches of the Internet.

A typical URL looks like this: http://www.cocacola.com

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This is the protocol, or set of rules and standards, that enable computers to exchange information. It defines how web pages are formatted and transmitted. Although most Internet address have www after the http://, a few do not. Always type in the address exactly as it was given.

The colon and the two slashes are special separators that your computer understands. They are UNIX codes. Many of the servers and other main computers on the Internet use the UNIX operating system. Just in case you’re interested, UNIX stands for UNIpleX information and computer services and is pronounced yoo-niks.

After the slashes, you usually see http://www. This stands for World Wide Web and will usually be part of the Web address. The World Wide Web, which is more commonly called the Web, is the popular multimedia branch of the Internet that consists of huge collections of documents stored on hundreds of thousands of computers around the world. Not all web pages are part of the World Wide Web, and www is not part of every web address or URL. A web page can reside on a part of the Internet that is not found on the World Wide Web. Such a URL would not contain http://www. An example of such a web address is: http://office.microsoft.com.

The next part of a URL is the name of the computer where the information is located.

Geek-speaks call this the domain name. The domain name in http://www.greatage.com is greatage.

Following the domain name is the extension, which is the category of the domain. The domain name is followed by a period, and then the extension. Some websites are commercial; some are educational; others might be nonprofit organizations or governmental websites. Some common extensions are

  • .com—commercial

  • .edu—educational institution

  • .gov—government

  • .int—international

  • .mil—military

  • .net—network

  • .org—organization

You might also see a country code as the extension of the address, such as

  • .au—Australia

  • .ca—Canada

  • .fr—France

  • .it—Italy

  • .us—United States of America

As with extensions such as .com and .edu, the country code is always preceded by a period.

With the popularity of cell phones and the additional numbers of phone lines being installed in homes, many new area codes have been added to accommodate the growing number of telephone numbers. The same thing is happening to Internet addresses. New extensions are being added to support all the new Internet users. Some of the newest ones are

  • .tv—entertainment or media

  • .info—credible resource information

  • .biz—small business

  • .name—your name

When you are looking for a web page and you aren’t sure of the address, many times you can figure it out based on the following formula. Most URLs begin with http://www. All URLs contain a domain name and an extension. If you can figure out the web page and its type, you can usually figure out the entire web address. Remember, the URL is generally in the following format:

  • http://www.its domain name.its three-letter extension
Figure 3.1

Figure 3.1 This is a typical Address Bar in a browser, showing the URL of the current page.

For example, if you wanted to find the Coca-Cola Company on the Web, a good guess at the address would be http://www.cocacola.com. If you enter that address into your browser’s Address Bar, it will take you to the Coca-Cola website. Because most URLs begin with http://, you do not have to enter the http://. You simply type http://www.cocacola.com. If you don’t type in http://, your browser assumes that it is part of the address -and fills it in for you. You might also try entering http://www.coke.com. Sometimes a company, organization, or individual will register more than one web address for the same website. When typing in web addresses, it’s important to type them correctly and place the periods—called dots—in the correct places.

What if you wanted to visit the website for the New York Times or the University of California at Los Angeles? If you guessed http://www.nytimes.com or http://www.newyorktimes.com for the New York Times or http://www.ucla.edu for the University of California at Los Angeles, you would be correct. You won’t always be successful when trying to figure out URLs. Sometimes you might get a surprise. Because you see and hear so much about dot-coms, don’t assume that all web addresses end in .com. Because the White House is owned by the government, the address for the official White House in Washington, D.C. is http://www.whitehouse.gov. For many years, http://www.whitehouse.com went to a pornographic website, resulting in quite a surprise for Web surfers who guessed the address incorrectly.

One important thing to remember about URLs is that there are no spaces in the addresses. Sometimes there will be an underscore (_) or a dash (–) in the address, but never a space.

There was a time when computers and Internet browsers could not properly translate uppercase letters in Internet addresses. So traditionally, all URLs are written in lowercase. Improvements in the software that runs the Internet now enable uppercase letters to be recognized. So typing in http://www.coke.com or http://www.Coke.com will take you to the same website.

Once you understand URLs, you will be able to find all of the information on the Internet more easily.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020