I'm sure all of you here today have heard of the Internet, and many of you probably access it on a regular basis. I would like to take a little time today and give a short background on the Internet, explain the Internet to those of you not as familiar with it, and give you an opinion of how to design a website so it's attractive and easy to navigate.

Most of us didn't hear about the Internet until a few years ago, and some people think it's a recent development. But it has actually been around in one form or another for quite a few years. The Internet started as ARPANET, named after its Pentagon sponsor the Advanced Research Projects Agency. It was developed in the late 60's and early 70's by the US Department of Defense as an experiment in wide-area-networking that would survive a nuclear war. In fall 1969, the first "node", or supercomputer, was installed in UCLA. By December 1969, there were four nodes on the infant network. The four computers could transfer data on dedicated high-speed transmission lines. They could even be programmed remotely from the other nodes. Thanks to ARPANET, scientists and researchers could share each others computer facilities by long-distance. This was a very handy service, for computer-time was precious in the early '70s. In 1971 there were fifteen nodes in ARPANET; by 1972, thirty-seven.

Throughout the '70s, ARPA's network grew. Its decentralized structure made expansion easy. Unlike standard corporate computer networks, the ARPA network could accommodate many different kinds of machine. As long as individual machines could speak the packet-switching language of the new network, their brand-names, content, and even their ownership were irrelevant.

ARPANET itself formally expired in 1989, a victim of its own overwhelming success. Its users scarcely noticed, for ARPANET's functions not only continued but steadily improved. The use of TCP/IP standards for computer networking is now global. In 1971, a mere twenty-seven years ago, there were only four nodes in the ARPANET network. Today there are tens of thousands of nodes in the Internet, scattered over forty-two countries, with more coming on-line every day. Millions of people use this gigantic mother-of-all-computer-networks.¹

Boiled down to a basic fundamental, the Internet is a vast network of computers. This allows a computer user at home to connect to institutional servers such as the Smithsonian Museum, governmental sites such as the White House, university servers and networks, and now with an online services such as America Online®, to another individual user. A modem is the hardware used by the computer to dial into an Internet Service Provider through phone lines, fiber-optic cable or coaxial cable at various speeds, from painfully slow to blazing fast.

The Internet is a client-server system. The web pages are stored on computers called servers. Your computer is the client. When you activate a hyperlink, often outlined in blue or another color to differentiate it from the rest of the text, your PC requests the data stored on that server, and it is uploaded onto your computer via the Internet. The browser you're using, probably Netscape® or Microsoft Internet Explorer®, interprets the data and displays it on your screen. This is the glory of the Internet: the availability of all kinds of information, from scientific texts, stock quotes, to sports scores…..the latest pictures from NASA…almost anything you require. You may access information as easily as the major media outlets can, and apply this knowledge for your own use hours before these outlets get them out to the public at large.

How you get this information is a capability you will need to learn. Once you find a site, you can save, or bookmark it to be accessed whenever you require. Finding that site however can be a bit of a chore at times. Search engines are websites which allow you to enter a phrase or keyword, and it lists the available sites it has indexed in its database that it deems relevant to your search. What it deems relevant may not necessarily be anywhere close to what you're looking for, but most search engines today have a more precise listing in their database.

A good website designer writes what are called META tags in the source code which the search engines use to specifically index your site. If the META tags are written well, that site will only show up in relevant searches. Many older sites do not contain this code, and are indexed according to repeated words, or keywords, in the website itself. Many search engines today do not index site using keywords; some web site designers in the past abused this technique to have their sites listed by the search engine as more relevant to a users search.

There are certain techniques to be learned which will reduce the irrelevant hits registered in a search, but most well known search engines today are very user friendly. Some will even accept questions in plain English, one example is Alta-Vista®.

Good website design is attractive, easy to read, and information is readily available. One shouldn't have to hunt all over the site to find the information desired. Many larger site have their own search engine to help you search their site. This can be a big advantage. There are graphics and color, but not too much as to overwhelm your senses. Most people do not want to view a text-only page; pictures and clip art help to keep interest and maintain attention. The background is light, and does not make the text hard to read. A site that has a lot of information should avoid excessive "scroll down". This is the need to read further down the page. Some pages use this to excess. Recent studies have shown that many people do not scroll very far past the information first presented to them. A good home page will present as much information on the 'Net surfer's computer screen right away. If a user desires to link to more information on the site, more detail can be shown there.

This is one reason hyperlinks were created. They can be listed, either numbered or bulleted, in tables, or a popular way now is to create a bar to show the links in one area, typically near the top. Many sites has a text-only version for people on slow connections, or who may wish to avoid the graphics altogether. If graphics are used for hyperlinks, text-based links should also be included for this reason. Most browsers will allow you to choose to turn off pictures, sounds and videos to allow you to access websites much faster, although this is not as much as an issue today with the faster access allowed by the new modems.

Some suggestions to avoid when contemplating website design: 3 or more different font styles, busy backgrounds and multiple color schemes, as well as dark backgrounds with light text; this really has to be done well to be legible.

One has to consider what the website looks like on both the major browsers; what looks good on one may not look good on the other. Sometimes a compromise in necessary to accommodate users of both Netscape® and Internet Explorer®.

Now I'm sure there are a few of you out there that scoff at the perceived benefits of the Internet. What do I need that for, you might say, I don't desire to spend hours "online" chatting with people I don't even know. What about the prevalence of pornography, the preying of young minds from degenerates, etc.… There's no place for that in my life, you think. To you I say; you're right. There is no place in modern society for many of the aspects to be found on the Internet, but arguments on First Amendment rights are not my forte. Our society is filled with unhealthy and dangerous aspects we all should avoid. While these types of site are there, there are thousands of other sites that may benefit you. Just in our small world of mosquitoes, there is a plethora of sites relating to biology and control of this pest. Do you have a question on a species of mosquito unfamiliar you? Search the Internet. Want to consider a different control strategy? Search the Internet. Need answers on the latest weapon being developed in the fight for control? Search the Internet. The possibilities are endless.

On the subject of "online chatting" consider this: with the global aspect of mosquito control, how costly would it be to spend an hour or two on a conference call, or trying to play phone tag with your colleagues in different time zones. With the Internet, you can schedule a time via e-mail, and set up a "room" where you and your colleagues can discuss the issues relevant to you for hours at a time if needed, all for the price of your monthly service, usually around $20.00. Speaking of e-mail, this is also included in the monthly fee, and could reduce the cost of your phone bills. There is even free e-mail available for those of you unable to access the Internet for various reasons. All you need is a modem and a phone line.

Where can I find these helpful sites in my quest for mosquito control, you may ask yourself. One way is to use the search engines I mentioned before. I can recommend a few sites I find to be extremely helpful: the folks involved with the Entomology Department at Rutgers University have assembled a website that answers many of the questions one might have. I often point people to this site first when I'm asked about mosquitoes and their biology and/or control. This site could be called the "Wal-Mart®" of mosquito websites as it were, one-stop shopping. If anyone involved with this site is here today, I applaud you. This site has set the standard many other sites will strive to. The Norfolk County Mosquito Control Project in Massachusetts also has an extensive website on mosquito biology and control, with data available from aerial larviciding in Norfolk County to efficacy reports on Bti and Altosid®. Larval and adult spray notifications are also available, as well as light trap reports and potential adulticiding areas. If anyone in Norfolk County seeks information on mosquito control, everything they need is just a click away. The New Jersey Mosquito Control Association has a very informative website on their association. Notice and information on annual meetings can be made available days or even weeks ahead of other standard means such as the US Post Office. The American Mosquito Control Association has recently revised it's website, with better pictures and graphics. Here one can find information on AMCA, from AMCA publications to annual meeting news. And there is our very own website, one which has information ranging from past Proceedings of Annual Meetings, our Constitution and By-Laws, current committee assignments, and annual meeting news and information. There is also a beneficial area where all members of the Association are listed, with biographies and e-mail addresses if they've been submitted to the website. A Rolodex of the Association one might call it. The Program for this very meeting was available in mid-October, long before the meeting date. PestWeb® has also assembled an extensive website on pest control, from cockroaches to ants to mosquitoes. They offer website hosting and development for control agencies. It is due to the generosity of PestWeb® that we are fortunate to have a website that so far has not cost the Association one penny. To the folks here from PestWeb®, thank you on behalf of the Association.

I know talk of the Internet has been overwhelming, and frankly, I've tired of all the advertisements and other hype that has bombarded us. But if you haven't tried it, or are reluctant to do so, I would encourage you to give it a whirl. You may be pleasantly surprised at how accessible information can be to you. It can save you hours of searching in books and encyclopedias, but you may find yourself mired down in the massive amount of information available. Hours at a time can be lost in Internet surfing. Keep an alarm clock nearby. I'll leave you with a word of caution: just because you see it on the Internet, doesn't necessarily means that the information is valid. Check other sources, and keep a healthy grain of skepticism with you. Don't listen to published reports on the dangers of the Internet; judge for yourself.