Um...I was looking at the bottom of the home page and along with the members who are logged in it says there are all these "spiders".  Like Yahoo spiders and MSN spiders....what the heck are they?  I'm pretty much an internet noob so try not to laugh too much.

Quote from: BrandiOK on September 01, 2006, 09:56:39 AM
Um...I was looking at the bottom of the home page and along with the members who are logged in it says there are all these "spiders".  Like Yahoo spiders and MSN spiders....what the heck are they?  I'm pretty much an internet noob so try not to laugh too much.

Spiders are programs that go around and map out and index the internet for search engine use.  That's how webpages like google.com can search so fast. Not a silly question.

Melissa

ok brandi,  i hadnt even noticed those.  had no idea, thought maybe needed exterminators out . 

thanks melissa now i know.   and brandi welcome to susans.

Thanks for asking Brandi.  I've wondered the same thing, but never asked.
Gin

Welcome Brandi, and know Melissa has all the high tech answers

                                    Marco

Thanks Melissa....

So they are not furry little Things, with lots of legs and big eyes...

Are the cyber ones still as scary as the real ones?..... Can you catch them and cover them with a glass?

On a serious note.... I hadn't a clue what a Spider was.

Buffy

(Who hates Spiders)

Wow, I wasn't aware there were so many people on here that didn't know what spiders (the internet variety) were.  I've actually programmed one and I worked for a search engine optimization company before, so I was intimately familiar with them through that, but I had known what they were many years prior to that.

As for the insect variety, maybe I'm weird, but I don't get freaked out by that kind either.  As long as I know their a harmless variety, I have no qualms about holding them.  They don't bite unless you pick them up with 2 fingers.

Melissa

You pick them up!.... OMG   

They never bite me as they are normally shoved out the house with a broom (or sent to Spider heaven)....

Never knew what a spider was, or spyware for that matter and I thought a Trojan Horse was something to do with Greek mythology..

Buffy

Not a computer geek

Quote from: Buffy on September 01, 2006, 12:47:27 PM
Never knew what a spider was, or spyware for that matter and I thought a Trojan Horse was something to do with Greek mythology..

It does have to do with greek mythology.  In greak mythology, a giant wooden horse was built and soldiers hid inside.  It was delivered in the guise of a gift.  After it had been received, the soldiers attacked.  In computers, this is basically a virus delivered in the guise of a useful program.  Once the program is run, that's when the attack begins.

Spyware is similar to a trojan horse, but it spies on personal information and sends it to companies over the internet for "marketing purposes" while appearing as some other piece of software like a searchbar.

Melissa

melissa,

       You are educating us all

                         Marco

Internet spiders don't look like the real thing. (I thought they were servers with hard drives & memory & CPU etc but I guess they're actually programs running on servers?) Not scary, although I suppose quite a few of them store the data they find in big banks of hard drives, which could get scary if your job is to wire them up or track down the ones that fail from time to time.

Spiders of the arthropod variety are not insects per se; insects belong to the hexapoda, which belongs to the tracheata which includes centipedes & millipedes. Most insects have 6 legs and see in green, blue, and UV. Spiders belong to the arachnida, which belongs to the chelicerata which also includes horseshoe crabs. Most chelicerates have 8 legs and ancestral chelicerates didn't see blue.

Yeah, spiders usually are just programs, although somebody may dedicate an entire server (or servers) to a spider like google probably does.

Oh yeah, I knew they were arachnids.   

Melissa

OK, Melissa, now you have me thoroughly confused. I didn't know anything about spider, only the crawly ones. I just thought those were names of people. Now, a spider is what is called google right. I guess my spider is all right, I can get on google and ask. They are spiders? What kind? Is that why this is called the web cause they are spiders. Melissa, I'm serious about this as I have not a clue as to what you are talking about. I don't even know how to get the smiley faces into what I write an also how do you get the mood thing going? I have tried, but seems I screw things up. The last time I tried the smiley face I lost Susans. I have to go through the whole process of getting back on. I'm afraid to touch anything for fear I will break it. OK, so Im dumb.
Sheila

Sheila, I'm with you.  I try not to do too much.  It's a miracle I got the picture on here.  My sister has to put my pics on myspace for me.  I would like to know how to get the mood thing off.  I don't remember to change it with the post and some posts are not appropriate for my mood to read "happy".

Quote from: Sheila on September 01, 2006, 02:13:53 PM
I didn't know anything about spider, only the crawly ones. I just thought those were names of people. Now, a spider is what is called google right.

Um, not quite.  Google is a search engine.  Let me explain.  There are 2 parts, the spider and the search engine.  The spider is a program that goes around on the internet and follows links and gathers the text content on the pages.  It then stores what it finds into databases.  These programs are usually never seen by anyone usless the website detects them like here at Susans. 

Then you have your search engines (like google and ask) where you do searches.  You type in your terms and it reads out of the database and finds what you want.  It would take way too long to have a program search everywhere on the interrnet everytime somebody wanted to do a search, so this method was used.  I hope I didn't confuse you further.

Quote from: Sheila on September 01, 2006, 02:13:53 PM
They are spiders? What kind? Is that why this is called the web cause they are spiders.

Well, the names are related.  It is called a spider because it "crawls" the world wibe web looking for fodder.  It is called "the web" because of all the links from each website to other websites.  If you were to draw a map on paper, it would look like a spider web.

Quote from: Sheila on September 01, 2006, 02:13:53 PM
Melissa, I'm serious about this as I have not a clue as to what you are talking about. I don't even know how to get the smiley faces into what I write an also how do you get the mood thing going?

The smilies can be added by clicking on the ones at the top when you are writing a message.  They will appear where the cursor is.

The mood can be changed by clicking "Profile" at the top, then clicking "Forum Profile Information" on the side, then scrolling to the bottom, choosing your mood, and then clicking the "Change Profile" button.

Quote from: Sheila on September 01, 2006, 02:13:53 PM
I have tried, but seems I screw things up. The last time I tried the smiley face I lost Susans. I have to go through the whole process of getting back on. I'm afraid to touch anything for fear I will break it. OK, so Im dumb.

Your not dumb, just not as willing to break things to learn as much as some of us.  I would suggest a book like internet for dummies (I'm not calling you a dummy) because these books are well written and easy to follow.  They speak in "layman's" terms.

Hope this helps.

Melissa

I got that book "Internet for Dummies" a long time ago and I actually learned a lot.  Don't worry..the title is more of a marketing gimmick than anything.  It's an informative and easy to understand book (well most of it).  I also got "Windows for Dummies" which saved me some computer repair costs several times.... I'm still an internet and computer noob but I get the basics.

OH my,
It's great that this question started a whole discussion on things I didn't know about the computer either. Thank you so much everyone for the questions I didn't knw toask and thank you Melissa for answering them.

Is't this just the greatest group of people anywhere?!!!!

Big Smiles,
Peggiann

I got the book "Transsexuals for Dummies" but it didn't help much.  It just had a bunch of pictures in there of our esteemed president and his cronies.

Cindi

Yeah this thread is interesting.... Quite a learning event for anyone over the age of errrr 20? (30?)

Never before have I discussed Arachnids and Computers in the same discussion. Next question is what the hell is a BOT and a SLURP?

On a serious point.... perhaps we need a brief glossary and idiots guide to Computer speak, It would make my life easier....

All we need is a willing, knowledgable volunteer.... Where the hell is Melissa when you need her?

Buffy

O Cindy

OK so you identified the Dummies part - but begs the question who were the transexuals for them

laffs

Rana


PS - regarding dummies - my mood keeps being determined to be happy despite my instructions to the contrary