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Your Home Page

By now, you know that your "browser" is the program that lets you see what is written on the World Wide Web, (mistakenly called the Internet). The page that you see when you open it (by clicking on the Internet icon) is called the "home" page. This is originally set by your provider, if you have AOL, Verizon, Comcast. etc..

THE BIG THREE

The large Search Engines also provide home pages that give you a lot of information, which you can customize to give you the weather in various cities, local news, a brief look at what's in your email inbox, or the local TV schedules, whatever YOU want to see there. (of course, a lot of ads as well... someone has to pay for all this convenience!)

This technology changes faster than you can find out about it, almost.. so here's another term: the boxes that you can add, where this custom information is displayed, are called "widgets".. cute, huh? You can re-arrange and delete them, too.

The main ones are MSN, Google, and Yahoo.
They each offer email addresses,your own customization of the Home Page, and a Toolbar, and other stuff, too.. (You have to be careful, you can get carried away!)
Each of the big three (or four) want you to install their Tool Bar, so you can get places with one click. Be careful, do not install more than one. They don't play well together.
In fact, there are so many links you really don't need an extra Toolbar.. it just takes up screen "real estate".
They each have their own "ambiance"... the way they look, but also the feeling of what audience they are catering to. I feel that Yahoo attracts the younger crowd, MSN is a bit more mature.. and Google seems to be for fellow "geeks".

MSN
I like the quieter (than Yahoo), orderly look.. They also focus a lot on shopping and news, but all the rest of it is right there for you to choose. When you set up your MSN account, that gives you a new email account as well, either with "hotmail.com" or "MSN.com".
This is a standard Home Page, but if you want to customize it to show the things that you are most interested in.. such as stock prices, and news, you need to click the link to "MY MSN".

Google
Type in www.google.com to the address box in your browser, and the main Search page opens.. BUT there's a link that invites you to make iGoogle your home page.. which changes everything, putting the information you want to see first, right there for you.
Their email is Gmail (of course)..and it takes a little learning but is really, really good. I like to change the picture across the top, which is a nice touch.

Yahoo!
If you type www.yahoo.com, the Yahoo Home page opens.. and it's BRIGHT!, full of flash, and videos.
Up at the top on the left, there's a link to click if you'd like to keep it as your home page. There's a big Search box across the top.. and over on the right are several services like email, but you must sign in with your Yahoo account name and password first. When you set that up, you have a Yahoo.com mail account.

Each of the pages keep offering more and more.. but I find my choice is made by which email I preferred.
You know, co-ordinated outfits are much more stylish.

Individualist?

What you may not know is that you can choose any page on the Web that you like to be your "home" page (unless you are with AOL). You just can't customize a regular web page. There are several simple steps.

Let's say that your hobby is collecting antique jewelry. It's your passion, and it's what you want to know about, even before you check your email.

• Go to the page you want, (which you probably have on your Favorites).. ex: http://www.morninggloryantiques.com/
• In IE, there's a small icon of a gear,
  (In Firefox,it's on the window Menu at the top,) click on "Tools".
• At the bottom of that list, click on "Internet Options"
• In the box that pops up, look for the button marked 'Current' to click.
• Then click on Apply, then OK.

The next time you open your browser, that is the page that will come up first. You could do this with your Stock account, or CNN.com for news.

Now, while you're "surfing the Web" ... (Isn't that cool?.. I always wanted to be able to surf! after all, I'm a California girl!)...
While you are surfing the Web, you will see small orange buttons that might say RSS.. or you may see a icon in the Address bar, that looks like an orange radio speaker.
This stands for Really Simple Syndication. (Explains everything, doesn't it!!)
Well, this works with your Home Page and those "Widgets"! If you see a site that you like and want to know when it has something new .. you can click on the button or speaker icon, and a widget will be automagically added to your home page, and it shows you the latest few items on that site.

I have a RSS button over on the left, right under all the page links. There is a blue and white Question Mark button to press to learn more about it. Then IF you have a MSN, Yahoo or Google Home Page, Just select the right one for you. I would be proud to be one of your "feeds"!

Is the world moving too fast for you?? Well, take a deep breath and learn. There's just so much more to see!




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