This Programmed Instruction Course is targeted at the technically literate reader, who lacks a good understanding of how the Internet works, but wants to learn. This is not a end user course, but rather an engineering course. If you complete the course, you'll not get a CNE certificate, but perhaps a congragulatory email from me, and more importantly a decent understanding of how this amazing technology works.
This course is the newest component in the encyclopedia. If the rest of my work has shortcommings and oversights (it has many), then this course has even more. There are few problems and exercises, graphics are sparse, and nobody has really tested it. It may very confuse more people than it enlightens - if so, send me your honest criticism and suggestions for improvement.
The format is fairly simple. Each Web page in the course has a link to somewhere else in the encyclopedia. You should read the instructions, then follow the link and complete the assignment, which is usually simply to read the other page. Then, press the Back button on your Web browser, and continue on in the course. Most of the linked-to pages will have hyperlinks leading elsewhere. In general, I suggest that you do not follow them, simply because there are so many. Of course, let your own interest and curiosity be the final guide.
If you come across something that you don't understand, please click on one of the email links and send me your question. I will try to answer by email, and also post some of the questions and answers for other readers.
At any point, you can bookmark your location, take a break, and come back later. There is no time limit, no standardized test, and FreeSoft.org isn't going away anytime soon.
Now, click here to begin.