Go to the FAQ for Chapter    1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 Where can I find a local Internet Service Provider? I've heard about some "free" ISPs. What are the facts? What can I try with URLs that don't seem to work? How can I find someone's email address?   Where can I find a local Internet Service Provider? First, consult the business pages of your local telephone directory, under the heading "Internet Services." You can also search for ISPs and read reviews of their services through links from one of Yahoo!'s menus.   I've heard about some "free" ISPs. What are the facts? A constantly growing number of Web sites are advertising free dialup Internet access. Their offers typically require you to download some specialized software or to make you configure your browser in a particular way. Their services are free because they sell advertising space to other businesses, whose commercials then appear in "banners" or extra windows inside your browser. Email services may be limited, but are generally cost-free; Web space may also be provided at little or no cost. If you do not mind the advertising, and if there is a local telephone number your modem can dial, such a service may be of great use to you. You can find a list of these services through the Free ISP Internet Access Network.   What can I try with URLs that don't seem to work? When you see a "File not found" or "Host not found" error message, you don't have to give up! You can try the following tricks to adjust the URL in your browser's location box: If you typed the URL, check every letter and character for accuracy. If you copied a hyphen from the end of a printed line, try deleting it. Delete any spaces, quotation marks, or angle brackets, and change any comma to a period. Make sure all periods are single (.), never multiple (..). Make sure there is no period at the end of the URL. Use only forward slashes (/). Look for simple mistakes in URLs or file names, such as misspelled words or abbreviations. For example, the expression <http://wwww.uhawaii.edy> contains two errors and can easily be changed to <http://www.uhawaii.edu>, which will work. Errors frequently appear at the ends of URLs; most Web file names end with these letters: .asp, .htm, .html, .gif, .jpg, .txt, .wav, .mov. Change uppercase letters to lowercase ones; change the numerals 1 and 0 to the letters l and o. At the end of the URL, try substituting ".htm" for ".html" and vice versa. Try backstepping: Delete the last element in the URL (up to a slash), and then press Enter. If you succeed this time, inspect the file carefully to see whether it contains a link to the information you were seeking. (The file you want might have been moved.) You can continue backstepping all the way to the host name if you want to (and you might find a "search" function along the way that will help you find the document!). Example of a backstepping sequence: <http://www.exam.com/~home/people/welcome.html> <http://www.exam.com/~home/people> <http://www.exam.com/~home> <http://www.exam.com> On the pages you see while backstepping, look for the email addresses of people you might contact about the missing file.   How can I find someone's email address? Several popular search tools such as Yahoo!, Netcenter and AltaVista have onscreen links to help you conduct searches for email addresses, street addresses and telephone numbers for individuals or businesses. They collect email addresses from the people who use their services, and build their searching databases by matching names with the records in public telephone directories, etc. Because these email indexes are so incomplete, it usually works best to ask people for their email addresses--in person, through a mutual acquaintance, by telephone or snail mail.   Last revised April 17,  2000 Copyright © 2000 by Bedford / St. Martin's