plain English web surfing - introduction

Are we having fun yet ?

The  "World Wide Web"  has suffered from a LOT of negative publicity (read mostly sensationalised scare mongering). A degree of caution should indeed be exercised and you'll find an introduction to some necessary safety measures on subsequent pages.
OK, enough gloom and doom - recently I did a global search (using g00gle) for "fun" which netted (pun intended) 1,350,000,000 results !!!.
"Surfing the net" is an infectious, sometimes addictive and often highly rewarding pastime and a generally fun thing to do.
If (like me) you're an advocate for the concept of a social (NOT economic) global village then you will find the Web VERY much to your liking.
(Note: in plain English the terms "internet" and  "World Wide Web" are interchangeable so any references to "the Web" or "the net" are one and the same). You have the ability to interact with people from all walks of life and just about anywhere in the world.
A good example of this interaction is a discussion forum like the  statcounter forum   which I'm sure started out a bit on the geekish side intended for website managers to discuss website related issues. With nearly 2000 active members it has developed into a friendly, often light hearted discussion group. One of the members has even produced statmap  showing the locations of the regular contributors which quite graphically displays the truly global nature of the  World Wide Web.

You can also find sites devoted to (clean) humour like Arcamax through to in depth articles like Art Ludwig's Sound Page.
There are literally millions of web sites so chances are you'll find at least a few that you like.

Talk the Talk

Spy ware (includes key loggers) , spam , adware , cookies , hacking , malware (dialers, trojans, viruses, worms), pharming (domain spoofing) phishing , spoofing (e-mail).
Some of the more common buzz words relating to the modern day world wide web. You will be confronted with these and many others quite frequently. A good 1st step is to familiarise yourself with their meaning(s) and significance.
Note these buzz words (and many others) are not simply fashionable jargon but definitive and important terms. Webopedia is an excellent (and Free) source of computer and internet terminology information.

For example, in plain English, most Advertising Software is essentially a nuisance, cookies are intrinsically harmless so neither of these pose any real threat. On the other hand spyware and more particularly Malicious Software can be both invasive and destructive.

If you've read through the  bends in the road,  security and  cybercrime pages you probably deserve some sort of award for persistence and probably should have come here 1st ☺

Hopefully all that didn't instil a sense of dread regarding the WWW into anyone.
If you're now a bit more informed, aware and cautious then at least part of the purpose of these pages has been achieved.

A few of my suggestions

Angel Flight Australia is a charity that coordinates non emergency flights for financially & medically needy people who need to travel long distances for treatment.
All flights are free for patients and carers travelling to or from anywhere in Australia.