Surfing the web

Except for email, perhaps the most common activity on the web is surfing. And if you ask people what they want to do most, it's surf. And even though email is actually the most common and important activity, most people will tell you that they have more fun surfing.

There is actually an art to cruising around the web. It has not yet become a science due to the tremendous number of ways to find things and in the incredible variety of information that exists.

On the web you have everything from the most amateur of home pages to incredibly well thought-out university and business sites. You can find anything if you look hard enough - everything from the correct way to create chain mail to hardcore (and occasionally illegal) sexual activities.

Since time is limited, how does one surf the web to maximum advantage? First and foremost, you must find the search engines and directories that work best for you. That is really the key to finding useful and entertaining content - properly searching. Naturally there are different search engines and directories for each need.

Learning how to use the web for research is an even more advanced art form. There is an incredible amount of data available, especially since most of the universities and large colleges have come online in recent years. Sometimes the real problem is more than just finding the data, it's in finding the correct data.

While surfing you will find many things that you can do. You can purchase just about anything - be careful here so you don't get burned. You can send electronic greeting cards to your friends, loved ones and even your enemies.

Always keep in mind that the best communication is two-way communication. So please sign guestbooks, fill out surveys and give feedback where appropriate. If you really want to enjoy the web, use it as a medium not just to be a lookie-loo but to find friends and meet people. Remember that you have almost instantaneous access to literally hundreds of millions of people - it's almost certain that someone out there will find you interesting.

It's important to "mind your manners" while surfing. Sometimes we all tend to think that we are just typing on a computer and computer's don't have feelings, right? Well, when you are actually communicating with other people on the net you should not be rude.

So get out there and have fun. Make some money, find some friends, and learn about everything that you can.