The Internet has been described simply as a computer system that allows millions of computer users around the world to exchange information. It is a vital part of today’s world of information technology, where communication travels at an amazing speed. According to Kahn and Cerf (1999), “the Internet, as an integrating force, has molded the technology of communications and computing to provide instant connectivity and global information services to all its users at very low cost.” As a global information system, the Internet offers many dazzling opportunities. It gives you access to thousands of databases; it enables you to interact with people worldwide on any subject. There are so many services that Internet provides to millions of people.

The development of the World Wide Web has made it a lot easier for the user to gain access to the vast resources of the Internet. With the aid of software tools, you can now move smoothly through online world of electronic information and find what you want. You only click on your mouse and a software browser lets you download a whole lot of materials from which you can pick the exact ones you want.

That the Internet is a goldmine is indeed an understatement. Sitting on a goldmine implies that many people all over the world have access to the Internet without realizing the vast opportunities the Internet provides. In other words, majority of people are still ignorant of the numerous services provided by the Internet.

Some, who seem to know about the opportunities on the Internet, ironically, abuse the Internet rather than using it to better themselves. For instance, there are a great number of youths who seem to understand only one thing on the Internet: pornography! Such people can be described as celebrating the discovery of clayey objects, while sitting on a goldmine.

The moment you log onto the Internet, you can travel along any path you like and find the wonders of a vast world of electronic information. Communication is made faster, as you can send and receive electronic mails (e-mails) in a moment. The Electronic Mail is a very fast method of sending a message from a user at a computer to a recipient on another computer. You can communicate electronically with experts anywhere in the world and get new ideas on any subject or even get your problems solved.

You can advertise, interact with customers or open shops and sell products on the Internet. You can start a blog as a way of marketing or promoting your business, product or service.
As a publisher, you can avail yourself of the numerous opportunities provided on the Internet for expanding your business. Digital information systems and the Internet now make it possible for you to have the electronic versions of books and journals, websites, etc. As a writer, you can start a blog or an online journal. You can even produce books based around your website. You can get your works published or marketed online. There are now many self-publishing companies offering interesting packages to help the budding author get published. You can now self publish your book, memoirs, or recipes using any of the print on demand websites, such as Lulu.com, authorhouse.com, etc. There is CreateSpace (CreateSpace.com), a member of the Amazon group of companies, which provides a very fast way to self-publish and make your content available to potential customers on Amazon.com and other channels. I-Proclaim.com even offers the budding writer the chance to become a published author in minutes without any set-up fees or minimum order. It also undertakes to make your book available for purchase as a traditional book and an e-book at the I-Proclaim.com bookstore. At iUniverse (www.iuniverse.com/packages/), marketing and publicity services are provided to propel your book into the marketplace. Expertscolumn.com not only gets your articles published online but also gives you the opportunity to earn some money for your effort.
The Internet, with the World Wide Web, is a real boost to students and researchers today. As a student, you can register online, receive lectures, submit assignments and access your results. If you are a professional and you are too busy in your work to participate in classroom instruction, you can use distant learning on the Internet to continue your educational studies. As a researcher, you now have the vast resources of the Internet and the World Wide Web as sources of ideas and help. As earlier mentioned, you can get information about any subject using a software browser. You can also avail yourself of the vast opportunities offered by Internet forums, such as Usenet newsgroups, listserv discussions, or real-time chat groups.

Usenet is an electronic forum for discussion groups. There are news groups and mailing lists about anything you can imagine. If you find a group that is appropriate to your field of study, you can get invaluable assistance from discussants who are experts on your chosen topic.

Joining a listserv interest group gives you access to a discourse community of people who are knowledgeable about the list’s given topic. You will be able to receive mails sent to the list, contribute to ongoing discussions or request for information about your own particular interests. This will no doubt facilitate your search for information or materials for your research project.

In real-time chat groups, messages are sent and received instantly among the participants in a discussion. The Internet Relay Chat (IRC) provides various channels in which real-time interactions take place on the Internet. However, it is important to advise that chat sessions should be used and not abused. Many chat sessions often degenerate to an ugly situation where some Internet users become irresponsible in their use of words and symbols. For a sincere and serious student or researcher, the right thing is to avoid groups, discussions and materials that are not appropriate for your class work, assignment or research project.

Another internet service, which is of vital importance to students and researchers, is information retrieval. The World Wide Web has been described as a wide-area “hypermedia” information retrieval initiative intended to provide universal access to a large universe of documents. The use of hypertext not only makes it possible for documents to be searched, read, edited and stored, but also enables the user to find connections within the text to other documents.

The Internet provides such a vast array of information and offers so many dazzling opportunities that you can achieve a lot of positive goals on the Internet, if you are willing and diligent. If you can define your goals and pursue them with determination, you can achieve them with the aid of the vast resources of the Internet and the World Wide Web.

You don’t have to abuse the Internet, since there are so many ways in which you can utilize its vast resources positively. You don’t have to waste your precious time on obscene materials. You don’t have to steal on the Internet. You are sitting on a goldmine, so you had better arise, ignore clayey objects and start mining for real gold.