MAKING SENSE OF THE INTERNET : DON'T BE THROWN BY ALPHABET SOUP FLOWING THROUGH OUR WIRED WORLD.

If you are one of those people who thinks the Internet is a huge, complicated thing, you are correct. Sort of.

Actually, the Internet in its basic form isn't so complicated. Essentially, it is a network, albeit a very large one, of computers that communicate using a common language.

The World Wide Web is the most popular way to access the Internet, providing graphics and documents, pictures and words. If you think of the Web as an enormous book, then think of Web pages as the pages of this big book.

The rest can - and does - get very complicated, so we've provided a glossary of sorts to help the newbie navigate the Web.

Web pages/home pages - these are the pages of the ``book'' called the World Wide Web. They can literally contain anything from photos to intricate graphics to multipage manifestos. A home page is the main or start-up site of a Web page that contains information on who created the page and what can be done there.

URL - This means Universal Resource Locator, and every Web page has one. It is a way of locating a specific page on the Web and works much like a phone number or postal address. That funny, long-winded bunch of letters at the top of the page that usually begins with ``http://'' is the URL. This differs from an e-mail address, which is the address for sending or receiving electronic mail. A typical e-mail address will have a name followed by an sign, which is followed by the service provider. My e-mail address is emcosinaol.com. AOL stands for America Online. The .com stands for ``commercial'' and is one of the six basic Internet ``domains.'' The others are .edu (education), .gov (government), .org (organization) .mil (military) and .net (network).

Surfing the Web - This term generally refers to ``jumping'' from one Web page to another. Because there is no specific order to the Internet, it can be difficult to make sure your Web page gets ``hits'' or electronic visits from other Web surfers. Most pages have ``links'' to other similar pages; the more pages your page is linked to, the more visits you will get, which is a desirable thing on the Net. Pages also have ``hyperlinks,'' a feature that allows you to jump to another page or a specific graphic or document. For example, you might build a Web page modeled after your house, making the doors and windows hyperlinks. Clicking on the door would bring up a photo or layout of the inside of the house. Words can also be hyperlinks. You know you are on a hyperlink when the arrow-pointer of your mouse turns into a pointing hand.

Internet Browser - Browsers can get very complicated, but they are also very important if you want to get the most out of the graphics and colors on the World Wide Web. The leading browser of the moment is called Netscape Navigator. There are others, however, including Mosaic, which is one of the oldest Browsers, and MacWeb. Browsers are essential to managing, searching and viewing Web pages that feature creative graphics and other images. The World Wide Web also offers several search engines with names like Yahoo, Excite and Magellan that let you search for specific information on the Internet.

Newsgroups - Interactive ``bulletin boards'' where users can send and receive information on a variety of topics. Unlike chats, messages are ``posted'' and therefore do not happen in real time. Newsgroups are among the most popular features of the Internet. These are not private discussions, but often people with similar interests use the same newsgroups and get to know each other.

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Photo: (Color) The best way to learn how the Internet works is to sit down in front of the computer and jump right in.

Bob Halvorsen/Daily News