The Internet: What is It?

INTERNET: WHAT IS IT AND HOW CAN I FIND IT?

by Marilyn Ellis

Indigo Sun has a web site at www.indigosun.com. If you own a computer and have a modem, you probably have visited this web site and many others.

But what if you DON'T? You are curious, because you have heard so much about Internet, some good, some not so good. You have seen web addresses in newspapers and on television, but you do not know how to visit an Internet site.

Good news! It is easier than you think. Access to Internet is as close as your nearest public library, or consumer computer service store, user groups, and also large universities and community colleges.

Houston Public Library has Internet sites at all branches. People are available to help you get started, so it is a great place to try first. You can print out information from Internet. Call 713-236-1313, web site http://sparc.hpl.lib.tx.us, for more information on this and other services.

Dallas Public Library's "Internet Star Sundays" is a free hands-on introduction to the Internet on Sundays from 2-4 pm. Call the Central Library at (214) 670-1400 to register.

One user group with Internet access is HAL-PC in Houston. On Saturdays, HAL-PC offers Internet 101, every other Saturday at 1:00p.m., for an introduction and hands-on experience, free of charge. Call 713-993-3300, or www.hal-pc.org, for more information.

In Austin, contact the Central Texas PC Users' Group, Inc.at 512-452-7667; in Beaumont, Golden Triangle PC Club, and in Dallas, Association of Personal Computer User Groups at 214-233-9107. To find user groups in your area, contact www.apcug.org.

University of Houston's M.D. Anderson Library has computers with Internet access that is open to the general public. Anyone can download to floppy disks or print out information for free. Call 713-743-1050, info.lib.uh.edu (library web site), or www.uh.edu, for more information. Houston Community College System has public Internet access at all full campuses. However, students come first. Call 713-718-7050 for more information.

Kinko's offers Internet service worldwide where self-service computers are available. The charge is $10 per hour prorated per minutes on computer. Here you can access Internet, download, print in color or black and white, for a small fee. Kinko's also has Hot-Mail, an email account, for the cost of online time. You may visit their website at www.kinkos.com, or call 1-800-2KINKOS.

Some local spiritual sites to visit are: www.carmeltemple.com, and http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/6509/. Some indexes that list many spiritual sites are www.newageinfo.com, and www.healnet.com. To search on your own, ask "search engines." Just type in a key word, such as "spiritual," to get lists of many web sites.

Above all, be daring! Explore! Internet is a whole new world that has always been waiting for you.

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