Title:  What do URL and http mean?

Question:
I keep seeing references to these acronyms. URL and http. What are they?
How do I use them?

Answer:
The acronym "URL" stands for Uniform Resource Locator.  The acronym "http"  
stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. You don't need to remember either
of these definitions to function in today's information society. Rather,
try to remember that a URL is a World Wide Web address and that most World
Wide Web addresses begin with "http".

For instance, somewhere in today's newspaper there's probably a URL
advertising some Web site. I don't have a newspaper to adduce something
specific, but if I did it would look something like: 

	http://www.washington.edu

That, of course, is the Web address for the UW Home Page. It's a URL. See
how it begins "http." URLs based on the native transport scheme of the
Web, known as HTTP, start this way. So "http" is just a scheme for
transporting information. But not all URLs use this scheme. For instance,
many Web addresses use the familiar file transfer protocol (FTP) that has
been used on the Internet for years. An example URL based on FTP might
point you to C&C's anonymous ftp site:

	ftp://ftp.cac.washington.edu

Regardless of the scheme, it's still just a URL, just a Web address. Any
time you come across a URL, you can navigate your way to it using a Web
browser. Most browsers have a way to "open" a URL. Netscape Navigator has
its "Open" button, and Lynx has its "Goto URL" command (press G). Each
will prompt you to enter a URL.