Bulky text documents, cassette tapes, video home system (VHS) tapes, or even digital video discs (DVDs) as well as other items of information can be stored in a single webpage or a website on the World Wide Web and can be accessed with the use of a web browser.

That is the power of Internet technology-the storage as well as the access of various items of information can be done by just having an Internet connected personal computer.

You don’t need to carry VHS tapes or DVDs to watch your favorite movies over your friend’s home theater system. Just upload it on a webpage and you can access it directly to your friend’s computer system especially if it is hooked on the Internet.

In the same manner, you can listen to your favorite music without the need for several audio compact discs (CDs) or cassette tapes and a music player.

All you need is a compatible multimedia speaker connected to your personal computer system and you can download different audio files and play it directly to your built in audio/video media player.

Probably you are familiar with the respective functions of your personal computer system. If your PC unit is hooked on the Internet, you frequently used a computer software application that you used to have an access over different items of information which is called the web browser.

In computer system application, it refers to a software application that enables you to display and interact with images, text documents, audio and video files, and other pieces of information stored on a webpage or a website within the World Wide Web or even in the LAN or the local area network.

In other words, your web browser allows you to access information provided by different webpage within many websites through hyperlinks.

There are different web browsers available for your PC unit, some of which are Internet Explorer (Microsoft) and the Mozilla Firefox (Mozilla Corporation).

Of course, who would ever forget the first web browsers during the early years of the World Wide Web in computer system application, which is the Netscape?

Netscape is the web browser owned and developed by the former Netscape Communications Corporation, which was dominant before with regards to usage share (the percentage of web visitors to a group of websites that uses a particular browser). However, because of the browser wars, Netscape lost much of their user base in terms of usage share area. It leads to the existence of the company within the span of 9 years (from 1994 to 2003) and later on became the subsidiary of the America On Line (AOL).

The glorious years of Netscape started when it completed its initial public offering on April 1994, barely 16 months after the company’s founding. The first issuance of their common shares to the public became the most remarkable step that they have made within the first few months of the company’s operation. Because of the IPO, they grew faster than any other software company in the history.

Their initial market value rose to $1 billion as against any other software companies whose market value were just around $200 million to $300 million. In addition, they had enough cash to compensate most of their expenses.

In other words, Netscape’s first initial public offering helped them in another way to became one of the successful software companies during the 20th century.

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The year 2004 has different designations and contains different significant events from around the world.

Aside from being one of the leap years of the Gregorian calendar and the Year of the Monkey in the Chinese calendar, 2004 were also designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Rice; by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the International Year of Commemorating the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition; and by the World Health Organization as the Road Safety Year.

It is also the year for various significant events around the world. It was in New Year’s Day of this year when Pervez Musharaff wins the vote of confidence from the Electoral College which is composed of the various provincial assemblies and the Parliament of Pakistan, confirming his presidency and de facto dictatorship until 2007. It was also in the same year of March 2 when Democrat Senator John Kerry clinched the party’s presidential nomination for U.S.

presidential election by winning 9 out of 10 primaries and caucuses. It was also in the same year of December 26 when the worst natural disaster occurred in Southeast Asia when strong earthquakes (magnitude 9.3 in the Richter scale) hits the Indian Ocean region, which generated huge tsunami waves that crash the coastal areas of India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Burma, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Maldives.

And 2004 is the year where it was forecasted that the 200 mark in terms of companies going public will now be broken.

The term “companies going public” is also referred to as companies undergoing an initial public offering or IPO. It is the initial or first sale of company’s common shares to the public to raise additional revenues for the company. Every year, there are hundreds of companies that files for an IPO, though some of them withdraws from the process due to several reasons, such as change in market conditions and others.

The year 2004 in IPO is considered to be “one of a kind” because it was likely to break the 200 mark in terms of companies under IPO. The initial scenario includes 164 IPOs filed for the first nine months (January to September) of 2004. The prediction was based on the trend of the previous years in terms of filing IPOs during the last quarter of the year.

A review on the last 5 years revealed that 23 percent of listed IPOs have priced during the fourth quarter. Based on the given figures, IPO market analysts could see 50 more IPOs that could be listed before 2004 ends, thus making the projected number of 2004 IPO registrants at 217, making the 2004 IPO market the most active since the 2000 IPO market.

The prediction came true.

At the end of 2004, there were 253 IPO registrants recorded. The total amount worth of IPO was at $46.8 billion, making it one of the impressive IPO market compared to the 1998 IPO market wherein there were 370 IPO registrants yet the total amount worth of IPO is just around $44.8 billion. In addition, the 2004 IPO market was just 76 IPO registrants away from hitting the 35 year average number of IPOs each year at 329.

The year 2004 is not just a memorable year for Pakistani President Pervez Musharaff and U.S. President George W. Bush for winning their respective presidential bids. It is also a remarkable year for the IPO market, and it is expected to carry on more IPO registrants for the years to come.