Thursday, 16 June 2011

Week Three, Treasure Hunt

HTML


What does it stand for?


According to the Oxford Dictonary HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. This is a standardized system for tagging text files to achieve font, colour, graphic and hyperlink effect on webpages. In common terms HTML is is the code recognised by web browsers to generate websites.
Reference:
Oxford Dictionary
W3




Where is it used?


HTML is used in website design. It is the code the internet reads to display a page. HTML can be simple or complex depending on the intended use and audience.




When was the first HTML language widely used?


HTML was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in the early 1990s as a way for researchers to use the internet to calaborate and share information. The very first version of HTML was published in June of 1993. Below is a screen shot of Berners-Lee browser editor which was developed in 1991-1992.




Reference:
About.com
Catalogs.com




What type of HTML does Wordpress use?


Wordpress uses XHTML 1.0.




Write the code to insert a picture.


<img src="dog.jpg" width="200" height="150"
alt="My Dog">




Write the HTML code for Arial font, size 12, dark grey.


<p style="font:12pt Arial; color=454242">


BLOG


What is the term 'blog' short for?


The term 'blog' is short for 'weblog' created by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997.
The Oxford English Dictionary states a weblog is "a frequently updated web site consisting of personal observations, excerpts from other sources, etc., typically rub by a single persons, and usually with hyperlinks to other sites; an online journal or diary."
Reference:
Oxford English Dictionary




The term 'blog' - where did this originate from?


The first origins of the term 'blog' came from Peter Merholz who combined the word 'weblog' into 'we blog' in April or May of 1999. From there Evan Williams used the term 'blog' as both a noun and a verb.
blog, n. (see above definition of 'weblog')
blog, v. "to write or maintain a weblog. Also: to read or browse through weblogs, esp. habitually."
Reference:
Oxford English Dictionary




When/where/why were the first blogs used? How did they originate?


One of the first known moderated blogs was published in late 1983 by Brian Redman. His blog was called mod.ber which was a newsgroup that found threads on the internet a posted summaries, the first link blog. The blog Rec.humor.funny is one of the oldest blogs that is still running and frequently updated. Rec.humor.funny was created on August 7 1987. There is a large debate over the first blog ever published or the oldest blog.  Other blogs that circulated the internet at the time include 'Risks Digest' (forum), 'Telecom Digest' (mailing list) and 'Interesting People' (mailing list/forum). Until 1998 blogs were few and far in between and the editors of the blogs that did exist frequently traded links between one another. In 1999 blogging became popular in the general public as the internet itself was accessible to a wider audience and software packages and programs such as Blogger became available.
Reference:
Articlesbase
Rec.humor.funny




Who was the first company/organisation to make 'free blogs' for users?


The first free blogs included:


  •  Open Diary (1998, Bruce Ableson) - In 2001 a paid version called Open Diary plus was introduced
  • LiveJournal (1999, Brad Fitzpatrick) - Currently remains a free service and is owned by SUP Russia
  • blogger.com (August 1999, Evan Williams and Meg Horihan) - Bought by Google in 2003 and is still a free service




URL & DOMAINS


What does the term 'URL' mean? What does 'domain' mean?


According to the Oxford English Dictionary:


URL, n. "Uniform Resource Locator, a format for the address of an internet document that is accessible using one of variety of protocols; (chiefly as a count noun) a specific address in this format, used by a browser in locating the relevant document."




A URL contains three parts:


  1. The protocol - http, ftp, telnet, etc. 
  2. the server location separated by full stops
  3. the path name or identifier on the server
DOMAIN, n. computing. "A subset of locations on the internet or other network which share a common element of their IP address, or which are under the control of a particular organisation or individual; freq. in domain name, n. the part of a network address which identifies it as belonging to a particular domain.




When did the standardised URLs come into function?

URL was first created in 1994.
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1738.txt




Have a look at the 'doctcom' crash. When did this happen, why?

The dot-com crash, known as the dot-com bubble, was a market recession that began in 2000. Companies saw the rise of the internet and frantically began to add an e- prefix or .com after their name. A frenzy ensued in which buyers began investing blindly in these fantastic new companies. Up to 50% or more of the companies did not survive as the American stock market plummeted over the months to follow.
http://www.domainmonster.com/editorials/dot_com_bubble/




What are the following used for - are there restrictions to setting up a domain that ends in one of the following: .com, .com.au, .net, .gov, .mil, .org, .biz, .tv


.com is the general domain used for internet sites and is readily available to users.
http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/c/f/What-Does-Dot-Com-Stand-For.htm


A .com.au domain name may only be purchased by an organisation if it is a trading name, product or service you offer, or if it is the same as your business name or company name, or an abbreviation of that name. A Registered Business Number or Australian Company Number must be submitted at the point of purchase.
http://www.eps.com.au/related-links/domain-name.php


Originally, .com extensions were intended for commercial ventures, while .net's were intended for use by Internet Service Providers and .org's by non-profit organizations or groups. Truth is, this orignal classification is no longer accurate, and anybody can register a domain name with those extensions. 
http://www.discountdomainsuk.com/articles/5/585/0/1


.mil
The .mil registration is exclusively meant for the United States Department of Defense and its subsidiary organizations.
http://domaininfo.buydomains.com/ec/domain-name-basics/mil-domain-information/


.gov
The United States is the only country with a government-specific top level Internet domain. As this code is restricted to US governmental entities, no one else is permitted to hold .gov as their top level domain. Often countries use it as their second-level domain; for example: .gov.au, .gc.ca, or guv.ro, where au is the assigned country code for Australia, .ca is the country code for Canada, and so on.


.tv
The .tv domain is the official web address of Tuvalu, as well as an online identity for TV and video channel sites on the Internet. ICANN assigned the .tv extension as the ccTLD for the Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu in 1996. The .tv Corporation (a VeriSign company) is the official authority which manages the registration process of .tv domain. The registration service is sponsored by the Government of Tuvalu
Any entity, including individuals, as well as foreign companies and organizations, can register .tv domain names.
http://domaininfo.buydomains.com/ec/domain-name-basics/tv-domain-registration/




WWW& THE 'NET'


What do these terms stand for?


From the Oxford Dictionary:


WWW stands for World Wide Web.
WORLD WIDE WEB, n. "A widely used multimedia information system on the internet, whereby documents stored at numerous locations worldwide are cross-referenced using hypertext links, which allow users to search for and access information by moving form on document to another."


The net refers to the internet. It is an abbreviation that still maintains the same meaning. 




When did the internet first become widely available to the general public?


The internet first became widely available to the general public in the second half of the 1990s.


What is the first documented use of the internet?
the first documented use of the interned was in 1969 at the universty of california where Bolt and Newman Installed the first interface message processor.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/36003145/IT-Sustainability




SEARCH ENGINES




What is the most used/ most popular search engine in the world right now? What are the statistics?


The most used search engine in the world is Google which holds 90.58% of the world's internet searches.

In Australia Google also leads the way accounting for 94.93% of Australia's internet searches.




Reference:
StatCounter




What was the first GUI search engine?
The first GUI search engine, Archie, was developed  in 1990 by Alan Emtage, a student at McGill University in Montreal.
http://www.webreference.com/authoring/search_history/




DEFINITIONS:


http: HyperText Transfer Protocol. The language of the web browser.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/H/HTTP.html


GUI: Graphical User Interface. Replaced having to learn code to tell a computer what to do. Enables point and click operation on your computer.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/G/GUI.html



CSS: Cascading Style Sheets. Chunks of code that assinged attributes to shorten the time it takes to write html.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/CSS.html


RSS: a way of syndicating information from a website.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RSS.html
TrackBack: A way to notify one website that another website has made a reference to it. 
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/T/TrackBack.html


Podcast: audio presentation of information. like a aural RSS.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/podcasting.html


Preloader: annoying circle or hourlass that comes up whilst something is loading.


IP address: a unique number assigned to every computer using the internet. 
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2002/IPaddressing.asp


Cookies:  bundles of information that allow your web browser and the web server to synchronise info.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/cookie.html 


Phishing: scam emails that offer something but are actually fishing for personal details.. 
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/phishing.html


404 Error: Happens when the link selected is no longer in use, you are retireceted to a 404 error page, if this has been set up by the website it can cotain a link to the home page or another relevant page.
http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/error.asp

No comments:

Post a Comment