posted 18 years ago
Actually, from the title, I would have thought you meant "memory address", but it seems plain your' looking for your computer's IP address.
There's a problem here. A computer can have multiple IP addresses - as do two of the servers in my setup. One of them is a gateway, so it has not only multiple IP addresses, but not all of them are on the same network segment!
Also, a desktop machine's "Internet IP address" may not technically exist. When you're working with the common setup of having DHCP-assigned desktops with NAT, the apparent address to the rest of the world is not the same as your address to the local LAN.
These are some of the reasons why it's usually preferable to refer to hosts by name. The name is usually attributable to some specific service and remains relatively constant, but the IP addresses are much more volatile.
Some people, when well-known sources tell them that fire will burn them, don't put their hands in the fire.
Some people, being skeptical, will put their hands in the fire, get burned, and learn not to put their hands in the fire.
And some people, believing that they know better than well-known sources, will claim it's a lie, put their hands in the fire, and continue to scream it's a lie even as their hands burn down to charred stumps.