• How do I start surfing the Internet?
• How do I find the site that I want to visit?
• How do I download programs from the internet?
• How do I send e-mails?
• How do I chat online?

How do I start surfing the Internet?
When you open your Browser program (Netscape Navigator or MS Internet Explorer), the page that will first appear is your default home page. You can use this home page as your starting point to surf the net. The home page normally shows "hyperlinks".  A hyperlink can be a colored text (usually underlined), a button, or a picture. You can tell if an item on a page is a hyperlink by moving the mouse pointer over the item. If the pointer changes to a hand symbol, then the item is a hyperlink. Click on the hyperlink to go to that web page. You have then started to surf the net.

If you know the exact internet address (also called Uniform Resource Locator or URL) of the site that you want to visit, you can jump there directly by typing the internet address in the Address Box of your Browser program. For example, type www.disney.com (you may omit the http://) in the Address Box, then press enter to go to the web site of Walt Disney.

How do I find the site that I want to visit?
Look up any topic that you are interested in with the help of any of the following popular "search engines":

Just type the topic and then click the Search button and the search engine will show you the "search results." This is a list of sites related to your topic that you can visit.

Tips for better searching:

• Append an asterisk (*) to a word search for wildcard matches. This will only work however if you know the first part of the word or phrase. Example: Massachus*
• Use double quotes (") around words that are part of a phrase. Example: "great barrier reef"
• Use plus sign (+) between words which should both appear in the search result, but which are not necessarily next to each other. Example: sting+police. Make sure that there are no spaces between the words and the plus sign.

How do I download programs from the internet?

Before you start downloading programs and files from the Internet be sure to create a file folder in your hard drive where you will place all the programs that you will be downloading (you can name that folder "download"). This will make your life a lot easier because, after you download the file, you will have to locate that file or program so you can install it in your computer.

When you find a file/program that you want to download, click on the link to that file. Your browser will ask you if you want to run the program or save it to disk. Choose "save program to disk" and save it in the "download" folder that you created.

Programs are always stored in compressed format so it can be downloaded fast. Some are executable files (".exe" file extension) that will automatically decompress and explode into several files (and sometimes start the installation process automatically). Others are zipped (".zip" file extension) and you'll need a program that will unzip the file before you can install it. If you don't have one yet, we recommend that you first download WinZip program. This program is available at Surf Shop's Download Zone.

How do I send e-mails?

1. Open your e-mail program. Your web browser normally has an e-mail program attached to it. MS Internet Explorer 3.0 has "Internet Mail", and MS Internet Explorer 4.0 has "Outlook Express". If you haven't configured your e-mail program, go to our Technical Support page to get detailed configuration instructions.
2. Click the New Mail Message icon (or click "Mail" on the menu bar, then choose "New Message").
3. In the To: box, type the e-mail address of the recipient. You can send the same mail to other people, but be sure to separate each address with a semicolon (;).
4. If you wish to send other people a copy of your message, type their e-mail addresses in the Cc: box, separating each address with a semicolon.
5. In the Subject: box, type the subject of your message.
6. Type your message. If you also want to attach a file with your e-mail, click Insert on the menu bar, then select File Attachment. Choose the file that you want to attach.
7. When you're done with your message, click the Send Message icon (or click "File" on the menu bar, then choose "Send Message"). Your e-mail is now in your Outbox and ready to be sent (you can also go to the "Outbox" folder to review and edit the e-mail that you just created).
8. When you are ready to send your e-mails in the Outbox, click the Send and Receive icon. All your e-mails will now be sent, reaching their destinations in a few seconds. At the same time, you will receive all messages sent to you since the last time you checked your mailbox.

How do I chat online?

1. You must first install a Chat program (also called Chat Client) in your computer. If you still don't have one, we suggest that you download a Chat program from Surf Shop's Download Zone and install it.
2. Launch the Chat Client. If this is the first time that you are running it, your Chat Client will ask you to enter your nickname, your email address, and your real name. Don't be afraid to enter a bogus email address and/or name to preserve your anonymity.
3. Pick a server, then click the Connect button (each Chat Client offers ready-to-click links to a number of Internet Relay Chat servers).
4. To be able to join the chat room whose topic interests you, you have to download the current channel list by clicking the appropriate button on the toolbar. Double-click a channel in the list to join. A channel window will pop up and the conversation should start scrolling up the screen. At the bottom of the window is a text entry field. Type what you want to say in this box (like hello) and press enter.  You will see your words appear beside your nickname.

You can get more Chat Tips and Chat Etiquette by visiting our Guide to Chat page.