By Jonathan Black
Since the article was called “20 Things I learned About Browsers and the Web,” it seemed only applicable that I make a list of 20 things I thought about the article.
1) I knew that emails were broken up when sent across the internet but I had no idea they were known as packets.
2) I knew that bandwidth had something to do with streaming videos, because it is always popping up to delay my Netflix-watching experience, but the comparison to a stream made it clear.
3) As a PC user, I think of cloud computing that is something out of my reach. I don’t have the convenient access to drives that Mac users have so I am forced to rely on other systems I didn’t really think of as clouds, like Google docs.
4) I thought the section about web apps seemed obvious and unnecessary since so many of use smartphones.
5) Javascript, CSS and HTML I knew about, but I had never heard of XHR. It goes to show how many components it takes just to load a single web page.
6) Usually I’m against 3D in movies and in other forms of entertainment. However, I’m interested to see how 3D plays it out on the web because from an academic stand point in seeing how it will help with visualizing information.
7) I’m really starting to enjoy the images at the beginning of each chapter. It’s nice to know computer people have a sense of humor.
8) Number 7 considers Internet Explorer an updated browser. I completely disagree.
9) It’s nice to know what updating my browser actually does, since the majority of changes are always internal rather than cosmetic.
10) I hardly knew what a plug in was so the explanation about it picture-in-a-picture helped clarify that it’s basically its own entity.
11) I now realize that the majority of viruses my parents’ laptop is getting is due to the fact that they are unwilling to update their browsers and overrun their computer with a plethora of outdated plug-ins.
12) After checking out Google Chrome’s browser extensions I realize I’ve been missing out on some great shortcuts and tools.
13) Synchronization is my savoir since I don’t have the same access to Mac servers on campus as a PC user.
14) I admit I never knew what a cookie was until I read this article. It’s nice to now know what allowing cookies will do for my online experience.
15) It has become so important, but tedious, to maintain my privacy online. Especially as a communications student because I know employers will be looking at the way I represent myself on social media.
16) By the 14th reason of this article, I feel like they’re beating a dead horse telling us to update our browsers.
17) I had heard of host and a path before, but never knew that HTTP was called a scheme.
18) I had never known what the extended validation certificate or that it even had a name. I thought its only purpose was to give me the name of the website I was going to.
19) It doesn’t surprise me that 65% of the information on the web is photo and video because we have moved to a society that moved to a much more visualized society. We have become spoiled with the amount of visualization on the web and in publications.
20) I really need to send this book to my parents.