Chapter 9

Stairway to the Internet

In This Chapter

arrow Deciding how to connect

arrow Comparing features from ISPs

arrow Browsing with Safari

arrow Finding Top Sites

arrow Discovering a web of online riches

Remember what life was like before the middle half of the 1990s? Before this nebulous thing called the Internet changed only everything?

Way back in the Dark Ages, people routinely set foot in record stores to buy music. Students went to the library to do research. Folks paid bills with checks and read newspapers on, gosh, paper. They even picked up the telephone to gab with friends.

How passé.

Nowadays, such transactions and exchanges take place gazillions of times a second on the Internet. Cyberspace has become the place to shop, meet your soul mate, and conduct business. It is also a virtual playground for the kids.

You can fetch, or download, computer software, movies, and all kinds of other goodies. You may even get the stuff for free. Let your guard down, however, and you can also lose your shirt. (You ...

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