Proper Internet Etiquette

As people continue to expand their use of the internet for all aspects of their lives, from emailing pals
and doing social networking to scheduling job interviews and doctor appointments, many of them have
become complacent, formed bad habits, and tossed proper etiquette aside.

This is unfortunate and may create problems if we don’t learn a few basic rules. Internet etiquette, also
known as “Netiquette,” is essential in a civilized work environment or personal relationship. Even
though you aren't with others in person, you should remember that they're still there, on the other end
of your communication.

1. The first rule of internet etiquette is to be kind and courteous. Remember that whatever you
send from your keyboard or your phone is still an extension of you, even though you're not with
others in person. Being nice includes avoiding cyber bullying. Think about how you would feel if
someone said whatever you just typed about you. If you find it the least bit disturbing, delete it.
Cyber bullying may lead to disaster if a despondent person perceives he or she is being
threatened.
Never flame or rant in a public forum. Show respect for the opinions of others, even if you don’t
agree, and refrain from name-calling. Avoid gossiping or saying anything negative about others.
2. Learn Internet Acronyms
As communication on the Internet explodes, so does the use of acronyms. Learn what they
mean so you won’t misunderstand messages and comments.
BTW - By the way
TTYL – Talk to you later
TYT - Take your time
LOL – Laughing out loud
ROTFL – Rolling on the floor laughing
FWIW – For what it’s worth
POV - Point of view
B/C – Because
AYOR – At your own risk
B4N – Bye for now
DH – Dear husband
DF – Dear friend
EML – Email me later
JK – Just kidding
SFW – Safe for work
OIC - Oh I see
AAMOF - As a matter of fact
TYVM - Thank you very much
AFAIK - As far as I know
IIRC - If I recall correctly
EOD - End of day
 EOM - End of message
C&P - Copy and paste
HTH - Hope this helps
NNTR - No need to reply
YAM - Yet another meeting
ICYMI - In case you missed it
SMH - Shaking my head
TBA - To be announced
B2K/BTK - Back to keyboard
WFM - Works for me
3. Keep Messages and Posts Brief
Most people use the internet to save time, so honor that and keep all messages as brief as
possible. If you have more to say, try breaking it up into smaller topics. This will force you to be
more organized and enable the reader to digest the information in a more orderly manner.
4. Don’t Shout
Avoid using all caps in any email or post. Some people think that keeping the caps lock button on
for the entire message will make it easier to read, while it actually does the opposite. It is not
only difficult to read, it comes across as shouting, which is rude.

5. Use Discretion
Whether you are sending email, instant messaging, commenting on Facebook, adding images to
Snapchat, or posting a message to your blog, you need to remember that anything you put on
the internet can be there forever. Even if you remove the material, someone may have made a
screen shot, copied, or saved it. One rule of thumb many people use is to never post anything
you wouldn’t want your parents or boss to see.
6. Protect Personal Information
Since anything you post on the Internet is out there for all to see, avoid adding anything
personal. This includes your address, phone number, social security number, and driver’s license
information. You don’t want to make things easy for identity thieves, burglars, and predators.
7. Obey Copyright Laws
Never copy someone else’s work and post it as your own. It is against copyright law because it is
considered stealing. It is always a good idea to ask permission before quoting anyone, but that
isn’t always possible. If you want to quote someone, keep the quote short, cite the source, and
put a link to the complete written work.
8. Think before you click
It is always a good idea to reread anything you type before clicking the “send” button. If you
have time, step away for a few minutes and come back to it with fresh eyes. For those times
when you need to post quickly, at least check your spelling, grammar, and tone of the message.
If it is late at night, and you are extremely tired, it’s probably best to wait until the next morning.
You can save most messages and posts in draft mode.
9. Help Others
 If someone appears to be new to the internet, offer your assistance. Share information on
proper etiquette, send them a link to a list of the most common acronyms and emoticons, and
offer to answer any questions until they get the hang of it. After you see that someone has
posted something inappropriate, let him or her know privately. Never do anything to publicly
embarrass anyone you know online.
10. Internet Trolls
Keep in mind that there are internet trolls out there, looking for their next victim. If you become
the subject of their bad behavior, don't respond. Most of the time, these people like to stir
things up while hiding behind their keyboards. When they don't get a reaction, they move on to
someone else.
However, if it continues and you feel as though you are being threatened, contact the
authorities. You need to make sure you protect yourself and your family.

The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the
Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a network of
networks that consists of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to
global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The
Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext
documents and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, telephony, and file
sharing.

The World Wide Web is a global collection of documents, images, multimedia, applications, and other
resources, logically interrelated by hyperlinks and referenced with Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs),
which provide a global system of named references. URIs symbolically identify services, web servers,
databases, and the documents and resources that they can provide. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
is the main access protocol of the World Wide Web. Web services also use HTTP for communication
between software systems for information transfer, sharing and exchanging business data and logistic
and is one of many languages or protocols that can be used for communication on the Internet.

History

Main articles: History of the Internet and History of the World Wide Web

In the 1960s, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the United States Department of
Defense funded research into time-sharing of computers.[13][14][15] Research into packet switching,
one of the fundamental Internet technologies, started in the work of Paul Baran in the early 1960s and,
independently, Donald Davies in 1965.[1][16] After the Symposium on Operating Systems Principles in
1967, packet switching from the proposed NPL network was incorporated into the design for the
ARPANET and other resource sharing networks such as the Merit Network and CYCLADES, which were
developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s.[17]

ARPANET development began with two network nodes which were interconnected between the
Network Measurement Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Henry Samueli School
of Engineering and Applied Science directed by Leonard Kleinrock, and the NLS system at SRI
International (SRI) by Douglas Engelbart in Menlo Park, California, on 29 October 1969.[18] The third site
was the Culler-Fried Interactive Mathematics Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara,
followed by the University of Utah Graphics Department. In a sign of future growth, 15 sites were
connected to the young ARPANET by the end of 1971.[19][20] These early years were documented in
the 1972 film Computer Networks: The Heralds of Resource Sharing.

Access

Common methods of Internet access by users include dial-up with a computer modem via telephone
circuits, broadband over coaxial cable, fiber optics or copper wires, Wi-Fi, satellite, and cellular
telephone technology (e.g. 3G, 4G). The Internet may often be accessed from computers in libraries and
Internet cafes. Internet access points exist in many public places such as airport halls and coffee shops.
Various terms are used, such as public Internet kiosk, public access terminal, and Web payphone. Many
hotels also have public terminals that are usually fee-based. These terminals are widely accessed for
various usages, such as ticket booking, bank deposit, or online payment. Wi-Fi provides wireless access
to the Internet via local computer networks. Hotspots providing such access include Wi-Fi cafes, where
users need to bring their own wireless devices such as a laptop or PDA. These services may be free to all,
free to customers only, or fee-based.

IP Addresses

A DNS resolver consults three name servers to resolve the domain name user-visible
"www.wikipedia.org" to determine the IPV4 Address 207.142.131.234

For locating individual computers on the network, the Internet provides IP addresses. IP addresses are
used by the Internet infrastructure to direct internet packets to their destinations. They consist of fixed-
length numbers, which are found within the packet. IP addresses are generally assigned to equipment
either automatically via DHCP, or are configured.

Usage:

The Internet allows greater flexibility in working hours and location, especially with the spread of
unmetered high-speed connections. The Internet can be accessed almost anywhere by numerous
means, including through mobile Internet devices. Mobile phones, datacards, handheld game consoles
and cellular routers allow users to connect to the Internet wirelessly. Within the limitations imposed by
small screens and other limited facilities of such pocket-sized devices, the services of the Internet,
including email and the web, may be available. Service providers may restrict the services offered and
mobile data charges may be significantly higher than other access methods.

Educational material at all levels from pre-school to post-doctoral is available from websites. Examples
range from CBeebies, through school and high-school revision guides and virtual universities, to access
to top-end scholarly literature through the likes of Google Scholar. For distance education, help with
homework and other assignments, self-guided learning, whiling away spare time, or just looking up
more detail on an interesting fact, it has never been easier for people to access educational information
at any level from anywhere. The Internet in general and the World Wide Web in particular are important
enablers of both formal and informal education. Further, the Internet allows universities, in particular,
researchers from the social and behavioral sciences, to conduct research remotely via virtual
laboratories, with profound changes in reach and generalizability of findings as well as in communication
between scientists and in the publication of results.
Malware

Malware is malicious software used and distributed via the Internet. It includes computer viruses which
are copied with the help of humans, computer worms which copy themselves automatically, software
for denial of service attacks, ransomware, botnets, and spyware that reports on the activity and typing
of users. Usually, these activities constitute cybercrime. Defense theorists have also speculated about
the possibilities of hackers using cyber warfare using similar methods on a large scale.

You’re probably familiar with computer viruses and the unpleasant consequences they can have for
users, but are you aware of the serious implications that an infection could have for your company?

Computer viruses are extremely prevalent and can compromise sensitive information, destroy data,
harm hardware and waste copious amounts of time, resources and energy. User-downloaded viruses
are responsible for 2,000,000 to 5,000,000 attacks per day. Some notorious viruses have resulted in
billions of dollars worth of damages. The most expensive computer virus of all time, dubbed MyDoom,
caused $38 billion in damages and was estimated to impact 25% of all emails in 2004.

What are Computer Viruses and How Do They Work?

A computer virus is a specific type of malware designed to replicate and spread by modifying other
computer programs and inserting its own code. When this replication succeeds, the affected programs
are referred to as “infected” with a computer virus. The sole purpose of any virus is to replicate and
spread itself, and damage to the host system is often a consequence of infection.

Types of Computer Viruses

There are many different forms of computer viruses that infect systems in different ways. To make
things even more complex, the modern threat landscape is anything but stagnant and zero-day viruses
are rapidly emerging. Some types of viruses are more dangerous than others. A few of the most
threatening types of computer viruses include:

1. Boot sector viruses: For the majority of users, this type of virus is one of the most dangerous
types that exist. These viruses spread on the master boot record, making them very difficult to
remove and frequently resulting in a full system reformat.
2. Direct action viruses: This type of virus is one of the two main types that infect files. These
viruses work through files that they attach to, rather than hiding in a computer’s memory or
installing themselves. When a user clicks on an infected file, the attached virus is activated and
continues to spread. Although direct action viruses make files inaccessible, they don’t affect a
system’s performance.
3. Resident viruses: Like direct action viruses, resident viruses infect files. However, this type of
virus installs itself on a PC. These viruses are especially dangerous because they can persist even
after the primary source of the virus is removed.
4. Multipartite viruses: This type of virus can spread in various ways and can behave in a different
manner depending on factors such as a PC’s operating system. These viruses can infect the boot
 sector as well as files on a computer and can spread extremely rapidly and be very difficult to
remove as a result.
5. Polymorphic viruses: This type of virus changes its signature when it reproduces, masquerading
as a different and seemingly harmless file. These viruses are especially threatening because
antivirus programs have a very hard time detecting them. Because traditional antivirus software
can only blacklist a single virus variant, many programs take months to identify a single
polymorphic virus.

Best Practices for Recognizing Virus email and Preventing Them from Infecting Devices and Networks

Knowing how to recognize an email virus, as well as implementing basic email security best practices, is
imperative in protecting yourself and your company from infection. Here are some tips for identifying
viruses and preventing infection:

1. Refrain from clicking through links embedded in email messages

2. Avoid opening potentially dangerous attachments that are included in emails from unknown
senders
3. Scan all attachments for malware
4. Keep an eye out for phishing emails
5. Keep your mail client, operating system and web browser updated and patched
6. Do not open any executable files included as email attachments - attackers often name these
files with two extensions in an effort to disguise them
7. Ensure that your mail program is set to not automatically download and open attachments or
display HTML content
8. Verify the source of any suspicious email that you receive
9. Avoid forwarding emails unless you have verified that they are legitimate
10. Be cautious when sharing your email address - if it gets in the wrong hands, it can be used to
send a convincing email containing a virus your way
11. Close pop-up ads by right-clicking on them in your taskbar - not by clicking the “X” in the corner
12. Implement a comprehensive, fully-managed cloud email security solution that provides
complete end-to-end control of your email
13. Always remember: act smart, not fast!

How to Protect Against Computer Viruses

Antivirus software plays an important role in protecting against email viruses; however, this technology
must be implemented as an element of a comprehensive, multi-layered cloud email security solution to
effectively combat advanced attacks.
Gmail – (pronounced Gee-mail) is a free Web-based e-mail service currently being tested at Google that
provides users with a gigabyte of storage for messages and provides the ability to search for specific
messages. The Gmail program also automatically organizes successively related messages into a
conversational thread.

How to log into your Gmail account on a mobile device

1. Open the Gmail app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device.

2. Tap the "Sign in" button at the bottom of your screen. (If you already have an email account
linked in the app and want to add another account, simply tap your profile icon in the top-right
and then tap "Add another account.")
3. On the next page, tap "Google."
4. Tap "Continue" to allow Google to sign into your account.
5. Beside on your picture, click the 9 dot and choose Gmail.

How to log into your Gmail account on a computer.

1. To log into Gmail on your Mac or PC, simply go to Gmail.com and enter your account email (or
associated phone number) when prompted and your password. Check the box next to
"Remember me" if you'd like to stay logged in automatically.
2. And if you're logging in on a public or shared device, don't forget to log out of Gmail when
you're done for the day.
3. Beside on your picture, click the 9 dot and choose Gmail.

Attaching files in a/an message/mail.

1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Gmail app .

2. Tap Compose .
3. Tap Attach .
4. Tap Attach file or Insert from Drive.
5. Choose the file you want to attach.

Google Docs is a free Web-based application in which documents and spreadsheets can be created,
edited and stored online.

Google Sheets is a spreadsheet program included as part of a free, web-based software office suite
offered by Google within its Google Drive service.

How to Make a Graph or Chart in Google Docs

1. On your computer, open a document or presentation in Google Docs or Google Slides.

 2. Click Insert Chart. From Sheets.
3. Click the spreadsheet with the chart you want to add, then click Select.
4. Click the chart you want to add. If you don't want the chart linked to the spreadsheet, uncheck
"Link to spreadsheet."
5. Click Import.

How to Make a Graph or Chart in Google Sheets

1. Select cells. ...

2. Click Insert.
3. Select Chart.
4. Select a kind of chart. ...
5. Click Chart Types for options including switching what appears in the rows and columns or other
kinds of graphs.
6. Click Customization for additional formatting options.
7. Click Insert.