What is URL?
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URL stands for "Uniform Resource Locator". It is a draft standard for 
specifying an object on the Internet, such as a file or news-group. URL's 
always look like this:

   file://wuarchive.wustl.edu/mirrors/msdos/graphics/gif/kit.zip
   ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/mirrors

(file: and ftp: URL's are synonymous and can be interchanged inside most 
standard web browsers.)

   http://www.w3.org:80/default.html
   news:alt.hypertext
   Telnet//dra.com

The first part of the URL, before the colon, specifies the access method. The 
part of the URL after the colon is interpreted specific to the access method. 
In general, two slashes after the colon indicate a machine name.
   Basically, a URL is a unique location of a Web resource (directory, file, 
image, host, etc.)..
   If you don't have access to the Web, you can still access 
locations via anonymous FTP by dropping the 'ftp://' protocol portion and 
interpreting the next section as the domain name. For example, for an URL of
frp://any.old.place/dirname/filename, connect via anonymous FTP to 
any.old.place and get /dirname/filename.
   Similarly, if the location begins gopher://, drop the protocol portion, 
Telnet to the host and log-in as 'gopher'. URL's are used to facilitate 
access to he cited documents/directories/files, and also make it easier to 
verify whether the pointer is accurate.
   Instead of typing: ftp.any.old.place, logging in as anonymous, entering 
my email address and CD /dirname, get filesname, I can simply use the "Open 
URL" feature of my browser and paste in 
"ftp://any.old.place/dirname/filenames" in one step. Or using Netscape or 
Microsoft IE, simply paste the URL into the menu bar. 

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