Downloading

**Downloading is the ability to get something from the internet and put it in your computer. By default, downloading means that you decide when to get that thing. Unfortunately, some things get into your computer while using the internet. Some of these things don't bother your computer; some others do. This is why you should be restrictive with the sites you visit.
By default, sites of big corporations, government agencies, and schools are less harmful, almost not harmful because they are more accountable or more responsible. In fact, most responsible or accountable businesses run sites that are not harmful at all (you are extremely unlikely to get a disease, I mean a virus, from the web site of a big corporation or a government agency).
* Like everything else in life, the internet was abused and is now the source of some bad behaviors. There is no strict list of things you should do or sites you should not visit. So, welcome to this world of the Internet.
Because of bad behaviors some people and corporations have witnessed on the internet, if you work for some corporations or government agencies, or if you are accessing the internet using a public or school's computer, you may not be able to just download anything you want, and these decisions are right (if you want to download harmful things, do it at home or using your own computer; create your own bad experience, be your own victim, learn from your own mistakes; don't do it on someone else's computer. This means that, if a school, an agency, a business, or a corporation prevents you from using the Internet any way you want, it is a valid decision they make and you should live with it).
* Many big corporations offer free and safe things you can download (big corporations are more responsible and accountable; they can't take the risk of having their name dragged to the mud). For example, if you plan to get into programming, you can check offerings from http://www.sun.com, http://www.borland.com, or Dev-C++. I didn't cite Microsoft, not because I hate the company (I don't) but because most of its free offerings I can remember may be installed in your computer already, such as Internet Explorer, Microsoft Works (which is not really free, it is just that if you buy your computer in a store, it may have Microsoft Works already but if you don't have Microsoft Works and you nee it, you would have to purchase it) or the .NET Framework (the .NET Framework is not really free and it is not a program by itself anyway, it is a library whose job is to complete the operating system; fortunately, while doing that, it comes with free programs for programmers, not for casual users).

Practical Learning: Downloading

1- If you can, one of the things I suggest you download is OpenOffice. To get it, change the content of the address box to http://www.openoffice.org and press Enter (OpenOffice is extremely unlikely to do any harm to your computer)
2- Find a link that displays Download and click it
3- Follow the steps to download and install it. If possible, I also encourage you to make a financial contribution (I don't work for OpenOffice.org or Sun Microsystems; I don't even know who runs OpenOffice.org. I just know that, as a programmer, this kind of free program is extremely hard to develop and while you can get free things, it is not a bad idea to help financially)

Electronic Mail

* Electronic mail, simply called email, allows you to send messages
that would traditionally require a trip to the post office. With email, you don't need a stamp or somebody to carry it.
* In order to use email, you must first have an email address. Normally, your ISP should have given you at least one email address. If you are not sure, contact your ISP. If you work for a corporation or a government agency, the management (or the IT department) also makes sure that you have an email address. If you are a student, the administration of your school usually gives you an email address. This shows you that an email address is usually easy to get. Some restrictions may be imposed on you when you get one of the above mentioned email addresses. For example, you may not be able to check your messages from anywhere such as the public library.
* If you don't like the restrictions that come with such an email address, you can create what is referred to as a universal email address. Although everything has some restrictions, universal email addresses are more flexible.
* There are various companies or web sites that provide free email addresses that you can use at your convenience and that allow you to access your messages from any computer connected to the internet. Some of these companies are Yahoo, Netscape, Hotmail.

Practical Learning: Using Email

1- If you don't have an email address, delete the contents of the address box and change it to

http://mail.yaoo.com/
2- Find a link that displays something like Sign Up Now or something like that. Then click it
3- Follow the steps to create an email address
4- Once you have an email address, get familiar with how to send and receive email (because the steps are

different, we cannot review all of them)