Internet Help and Internet History Getting started: Internet 101 - Newbie.org - RefDesk: Internet Help Links Internet Valley History Is an online book covering the history of the Internet and the WWW. Living Internet History Internet history, including the famous 1945 article on Memex, by Vannevar Bush. Internet Society's Histories of the Internet is a list of good links, including Hobbes' Internet Timeline, which presents the history of the Internet in a timeline. The ARPANET Archive contains "memoranda, interview notes, periodicals, papers, and other materials documenting the development of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (Arpanet) of the US Department of Defense." ARPANET was the ancestor of the Internet.   Internet Statistics The Nature of Markets on the World Wide Web, a study from Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center indicates that 0.1% of web sites receive 32% of website visits. The study must be downloaded (free), in postscript or Adobe .pdf format. Netcraft Secure Server Stats allows you to find out what server platform any public web site is using, and get overall server popularity ratings. Also, you can get email notice whenever a URL you specify is changed. Skitter is a semi-geographical Internet routing tree map, from the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis. Bell Labs' Non-geographical Map of the Internet shows the links between over 61,000 routers, replotted daily.   Internet Service Providers: wireless internet Verizon Wireless Internet offers wireless Internet access plans that start as low as $29.99/month, working with a variety of digital phones to choose from. Node DB is a database of free 802.11 wireless Internet access "hotspots" around the world.   Internet Services Providers: broadband DSL & cable modem services NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband provides 1GB of data transfer for only $19.95 per month. Hardware? The NetZero 4G HotSpot ($99.95) simultaneously supports up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices, including iPads and other tablets, within a 150-foot range. The NetZero 4G Stick ($49.95) supports a single laptop or netbook via a USB port. NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband data plans start at just $9.95 per month (for 500MB transfer). Customers are not required to sign a contract, and can upgrade their data plan at any time. Each plan delivers 4G service with download speeds of up to 10Mbps and upload speeds of up to 1.5Mbps.

Top Internet News Stories

Verizon Online DSL provides an affordable, high-speed Internet connection. Check here to see if Verizon Online DSL is available in your area, and get your local price. As of this writing, Verizon provides 768K Consumer High Speed Internet for $14.99 per month with a 1 year commitment. The offer includes unlimited Internet Access, a free DSL modem, shipping & activation for $19.99, a 30-day money back guarantee, and 24/7 technical support.

Cable Modem Help gives help with your cable modem, and compares DSL and cable modem performance.

Speed Guide gives optimum Windows registry settings for cable modem and DSL.

  Internet Services: dial up ISPs

NetZero Platinum and Juno Platinum both give you fast, reliable, unlimited Internet access for $9.95/month (about 1/2 the price of AOL). Juno also offers free internet access, with ads, for limited to 10 hours access per month.

  Internet Security, Internet Information, and Internet Privacy

Shields UP! will (for free) quickly check the security of your computer's connection to the Internet, and let you know if your computer is susceptible to invasion by "crackers". It will also tell you your IP number.

My IP will instantly display your "IP number" (your Internet Protocol address), a series of 3 or 4 groups of numbers constituting your address for routers on the Internet. This is of particular importance if you are using a cable modem.

If you are concerned about protecting your privacy, and not being "tracked" while you surf the Internet, you need Anonymizer. For a small fee, they will provide you with several aliases to use on the Internet. Then your surfing is laundered through Anonymizer's site, and no one can tell who you are, or where you're coming from. You can try some anonymous links free to check it out. Anonymizer also offers anti-spyware and online data encryption solutions.

ZoneAlarm offers the # 1 free firewall to protect your PC from Internet intruders, as well as "Pro" solutions including ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite, ZoneAlarm Pro, ZoneAlarm AntiVirus and ZoneAlarm Anti-Spyware.