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Sunday, January 23, 2011
addressing the internet Chapter 1: Introduction to the Internet  Hi! Welcome to the very first entry for my COM125 blog! :D From what I've learnt this week, I would like to focus on the point about how anyone can find out a website or user's numerical address through the Internet. That is, the "online address" your computer or the computer of the website's creator. Thus the title: Addressing The Internet. This hits close to home for me because I do blog on a personal basis, and the thing about the convenience of accessing the Internet is, we never do know who is viewing our information. However, while technology is advancing at an alarming rate, so are people's knowledge of working through it. Therefore today, there are plenty of websites out there given to help average, moderately tech-savvy users to cope and work around the Internet. So, how does this "online address" part learnt in class relate to everyday users, helpful websites and personal blogging? It all revolves around a characteristic all humans are blessed/cursed with: Curiosity.  Since this quote is from Albert Einstein himself, curiosity might actually be a blessing. However, on a random note, there are its downsides as well...  Haha! :) Okay, back on topic! Curiosity is a characteristic in everyone. For me, as a blogger, I write my personal thoughts and feelings into a webpage. Yet, despite it being a personal blog, because the Internet is a public place on its own, anyone can access your blog. This is honestly quite creepy, however, that's a fact. And a human's curiosity is aroused in the want to know who exactly visits your personal site. This is where helpful websites and "online addresses" comes in. There are websites that allow you, and anyone with an email address, to create a link that can be placed in webpages such as blogs. With this link placed safely into a HTML ( HTML!! this is so CSE111! :D ), whenever an Internet user steps into your website, it would automatically be logged into an online logbook for you to access. The thing is, what is logged are numerals and dots. This is what we learnt as an IP Address. From here, most people are stuck on what to do with these digits and how they are to understand them. However, as seen in class, there are websites that allows anyone to know and comprehend what is behind those digits and dots. These allows more transparency in the Internet and makes users feel safer in knowing that they are still able to know and control what is going on in their own webpages. It works for students like us too! :D For example, now we will know when our blogs are marked when we see Mr. Choy's IP address entering the blogpages! :P (Just kidding, I suck at reading IP addresses!) With technology advancing, we even have satellites that shows the exact location on Google Maps when the page was accessed. That's how accurate the Internet can be, going from your "online address" to your actual Home Address. On the other hand, there are more and more ways to disguise one's IP addresses too.  To me, the Internet is like a person. When you're introduced to a stranger, you never know if the person is a hard-to-read or completely open being. Similarly, while we're being introduced to the Internet in this module, do we really know how transparent the Internet is? And how because of the fact that is it transparent, it's harder to protect ourselves while we're on it, hence it's (ironically) even more dangerous? I might not know the answers to these, but at least I do know of a small part of the Internet works, and this is through the addresses in our Internet.  The Internet surely raises many questions. Thankfully, we've got a module to know everything about it. :) ♥, Grace 0 COMMENTS graciebaby♥
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