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A
Add-in: A mini program which runs in conjunction with a web browser or other application that enhances the functionality of that program. In order for the add-in to run, the main application must be running as well.
Address: The location of an Internet resource. An email address may take the form of jsmith@sharpertrainingsolutions.com. A web address looks something like http://www.sharpertrainingsolutions.com.
ADN (Advanced Digital Network): -- Usually refers to a 56Kbps leased-line.
Anchor: Either the starting point or destination of a hyperlink. The letters at the top of this page are all anchors - clicking one takes you to another part of this page.
Anonymous FTP: An anonymous FTP site allows Internet users to log in and download files from the computer without having a private userid and password. To login, you typically enter anonymous as the userid and your email address as the password.
Applet: A type of computer program that allows animation and other interactive functions on a file or Web page. An Applet can be downloaded over a network and launched on the user's computer (see Java).
Archie: The system used in searching FTP sites for files stored on anonymous FTP sites. You need to know the exact file name or a substring of it.. See also Veronica.
ARPANet: (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) -- The precursor to the Internet. Developed in the late 60's and early 70's by the US Department of Defense as an experiment in wide-area-networking that would survive a nuclear war. See Also: Internet
ASCII: (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) -- This is the de facto world-wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111. ASCII files are also known as plain text files.
AU: (.au) - a common audio file format for UNIX systems.
AVI: Audio/Video Interleaved - a common video file format (.avi). Video quality can be very good at smaller resolutions, but files tend to be rather large.
B
Backbone: A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. The term is relative as a backbone in a small network will likely be much smaller than many non-backbone lines in a large network. See Also: Network
Bandwidth: The rate information travels from one place to another either inside a computer or between computers. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits per second, kilobits (thousands of bits) per second, or megabits (millions of bits) per second. A 28.8 modem allows for a connection of 28.8 kilobits per second. Also, measurement of the volume of information that can be transmitted over a network at a given time. Think of a network as a water pipe - the higher the bandwidth (the larger the diameter of the pipe), the more data (water) can pass over the network (through the pipe).
Baud: In common usage the baud rate of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second. Technically, baud is the number of times per second that the carrier signal shifts value - for example a 1200 bit-per-second modem actually runs at 300 baud, but it moves 4 bits per baud (4 x 300 = 1200 bits per second). See Also: Bit , Modem
BBS: (Bulletin Board System) -- A computerized meeting and announcement system that allows people to carry on discussions, upload and download files, and make announcements without the people being connected to the computer at the same time. There are many thousands (millions?) of BBS's around the world, most are very small, running on a single IBM clone PC with 1 or 2 phone lines. Some are very large and the line between a BBS and a system like CompuServe gets crossed at some point, but it is not clearly drawn.
Binary: The system by which combinations of 0s and 1s are used to represent any type of data stored on a computer. Binhex (BINary HEXadecimal) -- A method for converting non-text files (non-ASCII) into ASCII. This is needed because Internet e-mail can only handle ASCII. See Also: ASCII , MIME , UUENCODE
Bit: (Binary DigIT) -- The smallest piece of digital information understood by computers. A single digit number in base-2, in other words, either a 1 or a zero. The smallest unit of computerized data. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second. See Also: Bandwidth , Bps , Byte , Kilobyte , Megabyte
Bitmap File: A common image format (.bmp) defined by a rectangular pattern of pixels.
Blocking software: A computer program that allows parents, teachers, or guardians to "block" access to certain Web sites and other information available over the Internet All blocking software has filtered the information before blocking access to it. (See also "filtering software.")
Bookmark - A placeholder or pointer for interesting or frequently used Web sites. Within browsers, you can bookmark interesting pages so you can return to them easily.
Bps (Bits-Per-Second) -- A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another. Also a measurement of the volume of data that a modem is capable of transmitting. A 28.8 modem can move 28,800 bits per second. See Also: Bandwidth , Bit
Browser - A software product that lets you find, see, and hear material on the World Wide Web, including text, graphics, sound, and video. Popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
BTW (By The Way) -- A shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum.
Byte: A set of Bits that represent a single character. Usually there are 8 Bits in a Byte, sometimes more, depending on how the measurement is being made. See Also: Bit
C
Cache - A cache is a place on your hard drive where the Web browser stores information (text, graphics, sounds, etc.) from pages or sites that you have visited recently so that returning to those pages or sites is faster and easier.
CD-ROM - A computer disk that can store large amounts of information; generally used on computers with CD-ROM drives. "CD-ROM" stands for "Compact Disk Read Only Memory". That means it can only play back information, not record or save material.
Certificate Authority: An issuer of Security Certificates used in SSL connections. See Also: Security Certificate , SSL
CGI (Common Gateway Interface) -- A set of rules that describe how a Web Server communicates with another piece of software on the same machine, and how the other piece of software (the "CGI program") talks to the web server. Any piece of software can be a CGI program if it handles input and output according to the CGI standard. Usually a CGI program is a small program that takes data from a web server and does something with it, like putting the content of a form into an e-mail message, or turning the data into a database query. You can often see that a CGI program is being used by seeing "cgi-bin" in a URL, but not always.
cgi-bin: The most common name of a directory on a web server in which CGI programs are stored. The "bin" part of "cgi-bin" is a shorthand version of "binary", because once upon a time, most programs were refered to as "binaries". In real life, most programs found in cgi-bin directories are text files -- scripts that are executed by binaries located elsewhere on the same machine. See Also: CGI
Characterized Content - Content that has been reviewed manually and assigned labels indicating age appropriateness, category and/ or quality.
Chat - A feature of online services or Web sites that allows participants to "talk" by typing messages that everyone can read at the same time. Here's how it works: The participant enters the chat room, types a message on his or her computer, and sends it; and it is instantly displayed on the screens of the other users in the chat room. Admission is generally not restricted. You never know who is going to be reading your messages or responding to them, so it's best to be cautious. See IRC.
Chat room - A "place" or page in a Web site or online service where people can chat, or "talk," with each other by typing messages. It's "real-time" communication like talking on the phone, except the "talkers" are typing text as with e-mail. E-mail, on the other hand, is delayed communication.
Client: A software program (like a Web browser or Email program) that is used to contact and obtain data from a Server software program on another computer, often across a great distance. Each Client program is designed to work with one or more specific kinds of Server programs, and each Server requires a specific kind of Client. A Web Browser is a specific kind of Client. See Also: Browser , Server
Client-based filter - A software program that you install on your own computer to block access to inappropriate material, prevent kids from accessing the Internet at certain times, or to prevent kids from revealing personal information. See also "filtering software" and "blocking software."
Client-Server Protocol: A communication protocol between networked computers in which the services of one computer (the server) are requested by the other (the client).
co-location: Most often used to refer to having a server that belongs to one person or group physically located on an Internet-connected network that belongs to another person or group. Usually this is done because the server owner wants their machine to be on a high-speed Internet connection and/or they do not want the security risks of having the server on thier own network. See Also: Internet , Server , Network
Commercial service - General term for large online services. These services are like special clubs that require membership dues. Besides providing access to the Internet, commercial services have lots of content, games, and chat rooms that are available only to members.
Compressed: Data files available for download from the Internet are typically compacted in order to save server space and reduce transfer times. Typical file extensions for compressed files include zip (DOS/Windows) and tar (UNIX).
Cookie - A piece of information unique to you that your browser saves and sends back to a Web server when you revisit a Web site (the Web server is the computer that "hosts" a Web site that your browser downloads or "sees"). The server "tells" your browser where to put the cookie on the server. Cookies contain information such as log-in or registration information, online "shopping cart" information (your online buying patterns in a certain retail site), user preferences, what site you came from last, etc. Many view 'cookies' as an invasion of privacy. Crippled Version: A crippled version is a demonstration version of a piece of software that has one or more critical features disabled. Many software companies distribute crippled versions of their applications free with the hope that users will get hooked and buy the full version.
Cyberpunk: Cyberpunk was originally a cultural sub-genre of science fiction taking place in a not-so-distant, dystopian, over-industrialized society. The term grew out of the work of William Gibson and Bruce Sterling and has evolved into a cultural label encompassing many different kinds of human, machine, and punk attitudes. It includes clothing and lifestyle choices as well. See Also: Cyberspace
Cyberspace - A very general term used in a number of ways. "Cyberspace" can refer to the electronic areas and communities on the Internet and other computer networks; the culture developing on (or across) the global network of phone wires that make up the Internet; a new publishing or communications medium separate from conventional media; and a "place" separate from or in addition to physical space.
Term originated by author William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer the word Cyberspace is currently used to describe the whole range of information resources available through computer networks.
D
Dial-up Connection: A connection to the Internet via phone and modem. Connection types include PPP and SLIP.
Digerati: The digital version of literati, it is a reference to a vague cloud of people seen to be knowledgeable, hip, or otherwise in-the-know in regards to the digital revolution.
Direct Connection: A connection made directly to the Internet - much faster than a dial-up connection.
Directories - Similar to search engines, directories are indexes of Web pages organized by subject.
Discussion group - An area online focused on a specific topic where users can read and add or "post" comments ("post" in the sense of posting something on a bulletin board). You can find discussion groups, also referred to as "discussion boards," for almost any topic. Also known as USENET. See also "Newsgroups."
Domain Name: The unique name that identifies an Internet site. A Web site address, usually followed by .com, .org or .edu. Allows you to reference Internet sites without knowing the true numerical address.
Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general.
Domain: The Internet is divided into smaller sets known as domains, including .com (business), .gov (government), .edu (educational) and others.
Download - Copying data from another computer to your computer. "Download" is also used to mean viewing a Web site, or material on a Web server, with a Web browser. The opposite action is upload where a local file is copied to a server. See also upload.
DSL - Digital Subscriber Line - A technology that allows you to access the Internet over standard phone lines at very high speeds. A method for moving data over regular phone lines. A DSL circuit is much faster than a regular phone connection, and the wires coming into the subscriber's premises are the same (copper) wires used for regular phone service. A DSL circuit must be configured to connect two specific locations, similar to a leased line
A commonly discussed configuration of DSL allows downloads at speeds of up to 1.544 megabits (not megabytes) per second, and uploads at speeds of 128 kilobits per second. This arrangement is called ADSL: "Asymmetric" Digital Subscriber Line
Another common configuration is symmetrical: 384 Kilobits per second in both directions
In theory ADSL allows download speeds of up to 9 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 640 kilobits per second
DSL is now a popular alternative to Leased Lines and ISDN, being faster than ISDN and less costly than traditional Leased Lines. See Also: bit , bps , ISDN , Leased Line
E
E-mail - Electronic Mail. A way of sending messages electronically from one computer to another. Users can send memos, letters, and other word-based messages, as well as multimedia documents. E-mailing requires having a modem, connecting a telephone line to your computer, and an e-mail address (recognizable because of the "@" symbol, such as president@whitehouse.gov).
Emoticon: A combination of characters that form a facial expression. For example, if you turn your head sideways, the characters :) make a smiley face, and the characters 8) make a four-eyed smiley. Frequently used in email messages to convey a particular tone.
Ethernet - the most common technology for connecting computers together in a network.
Eudora: A popular freeware and commercial email management program.
Exchange: Microsoft's integrated fax and email program designed for Windows 95.
F
FAQ - A list of "Frequently Asked Questions," a collection of common questions and answers, about a specific Web site, mailing list, product, or game. Reading the FAQ first is a great idea when you are new to a site, mailing list, discussion group, or product.
FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) -- A standard for transmitting data on optical fiber cables at a rate of around 100,000,000 bits-per-second (10 times as fast as Ethernet, about twice as fast as T-3). See Also: Bandwidth , Ethernet , T-1, T-3
Filtered Browsing - The real time, online application of intelligent Internet filtering technology, the purpose of which is to increase protection and productivity while browsing the web.
Filtered ISP - An Internet Service Provider (ISP) that automatically blocks access to content that is inappropriate for children. Each filtered ISP uses its own company criteria to decide which Web sites are inappropriate. When choosing a filtered ISP, parents and other caretakers should make sure the company's criteria are consistent with their own values and judgments.
Filtered Search - Intelligent Internet filtering that uses third-party ratings to deliver high speed, online navigation providing protection to individuals conducting searches. Results from a filtered search are personalized, appropriate and highly relevant making the Internet useful for all users.
Filtering software - Software that sorts information on the Internet and classifies it according to content. Some filtering software allows the user to block certain kinds of information on the Internet. See also "Blocking Software, "Client-Based Filtering Software," and "Server-based Filtering Software."
Finger: An Internet software tool for locating people on other Internet sites. Finger is also sometimes used to give access to non-personal information, but the most common use is to see if a person has an account at a particular Internet site. Many sites do not allow incoming Finger requests, but many do.
Firewall - A security device that places a protective "wall" around a computer or network of computers, keeping it from being accessible to the public.
First-Party or Self-Rating - Content providers or site developers who voluntary label their own content indicating age appropriateness, category and/or quality.
Flame: An insulting message exchanged via email or within newsgroups. Originally, flame meant to carry forth in a passionate manner in the spirit of honorable debate. Flames most often involved the use of flowery language and flaming well was an art form. More recently flame has come to refer to any kind of derogatory comment no matter how witless or crude. See Also: Flame War
Flame War: When an online discussion degenerates into a series of personal attacks against the debators, rather than discussion of their positions. A heated exchange. See Also: Flame
Flaming - Sending a nasty piece of e-mail or posting a nasty comment in a newsgroup or discussion group, usually in response to a posting that offended someone.
FreeWare: Software that is available for download and unlimited use without charge. Compare to shareware.
FTP - File Transfer Protocol - a way to transfer ("download" or "upload") files from one computer to another, for example from your hard drive to a Web server in order to update a Web site. A set of rules for exchanging files between computers via the Internet.
G
Gateway - Generally any device that provides access to another system. Computer hardware and software that allow users to connect from one network to another. For example, an ISP might be called a gateway to the Internet; also a hardware device that connects a local network to the Internet.
GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) -- A common format for image files, especially suitable for images containing large areas of the same color. GIF format files of simple images are often smaller than the same file would be if stored in JPEG format, but GIF format does not store photographic images as well as JPEG. See Also: JPEG
Gigabyte: 1000 or 1024 Megabytes. See Also: Byte , Megabyte
Gopher: A system allowing users to search for files via menus or directory structures. Uses plain English names and is text based only.
H
Hardware - The nuts, bolts, and wires of a computer and computer-related equipment, also the actual computer and related machines such as scanners and printers.
Helper Application: A program allowing you to view multimedia files that your web browser cannot handle internally, such as images, audio and video files. The file must be downloaded before it will be displayed/played. Plug-ins allow you to actually view the file over the Internet without downloading first.
Hit: As used in reference to the World Wide Web, "hit" means a single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server; thus in order for a web browser to display a page that contains 3 graphics, 4 "hits" would occur at the server: 1 for the HTML page, and one for each of the 3 graphics. "hits" are often used as a very rough measure of load on a server, e.g. "Our server has been getting 300,000 hits per month." Because each "hit" can represent anything from a request for a tiny document (or even a request for a missing document) all the way to a request that requires some significant extra processing (such as a complex search request), the actual load on a machine from 1 hit is almost impossible to define.
Home page - The first page or document Web users see when connecting to a Web server or when visiting a Web site. Also, the Web site that automatically loads each time you launch your browser.
Host: The name of a specific machine within a larger domain. Any computer on a network that is a repository for services available to other computers on the network. It is quite common to have one host machine provide several services, such as WWW and USENET. See Also: Node , Network
Hot Java: A Web browser developed by Sun Microsystems that takes full advantage of applets written in the Java programming language.
HTML - Hypertext Markup Language - The standard language used for creating documents on the World Wide Web. A collection of tags typically used in the development of Web pages.
HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol - The standard language that computers connected to the World Wide Web use to communicate with each other. A set of instructions for communication between a server and a World Wide Web client.
Hyperlink - An image or portion of text on a Web page that is linked to another Web page (either on the same site or in another Web site). If it's a word or phrase, you can tell it's a link because it's another color, it's underlined, or both. If it's an image, you can tell it's a hyperlink if you see a border around it, or if the cursor changes to a little hand when you drag the cursor over the image with the mouse. You just click on the link to go to another Web page or another place on the same page. See also links.
Hypertext: Generally, any text that contains links to other documents - words or phrases in the document that can be chosen by a reader and which cause another document to be retrieved and displayed.
I
ICRA - Internet Content Rating Alliance Rating System - a rating system for Web content (see also RSACi).
IM - Instant Message - A chat-like technology on an online service that notifies a user when a friend is online, allowing for simultaneous communication (like talking on the phone, only with text). IM rhymes with time. See also "Web-based instant messaging."
IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) -- A shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum, IMHO indicates that the writer is aware that they are expressing a debatable view, probably on a subject already under discussion. One of may such shorthands in common use online, especially in discussion forums. See Also: BTW
Information Superhighway: The terms were coined to describe a possible upgrade to the existing Internet through the use of fiber optic and/or coaxial cable to allow for high speed data transmission. This highway does not exist - the Internet of today is not an information superhighway.
Intelligent Filtering- Applying human intelligence and point of view to the rating and filtering of content. This process permits contextual filtering, however imposes subjective standards to the filtering process.
internet (Lower case i) Any time you connect 2 or more networks together, you have an internet - as in inter-national or inter-state. See Also: Internet , Network
Internet (Upper case I) The vast collection of inter-connected networks that all use the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from the ARPANET of the late 60's and early 70's. The Internet now (July 1995) connects roughly 60,000 independent networks into a vast global internet. See Also: internet
Internet: Referred to as "Net" for short, a collection of thousands of connected computers and computer networks. The worldwide network of computers communicating via an agreed upon set of Internet protocol. If you are reading this document, you are probably on the Internet right now.
Intranet - A private network that works like the Internet, except that it can only be seen by a select group of people, such as the employees of a company.
IP: Address: Internet Protocol Address - every computer on the Internet has a unique identifying number, like 191.1.24.2.
IP Number (Internet Protocol Number) -- Sometimes called a dotted quad. A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g. 165.113.245.2. Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. Most machines also have one or more Domain Names that are easier for people to remember.
IRC - Internet Relay Chat - A part of the Internet (not on the Web) that allows participants to "chat" online in a live forum that usually centers around a common interest. IRC is the earliest form of online chat.
ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network - A technology that allows you to connect to the Internet over standard phone lines at speeds higher than a 56k modem allows. The technology is older and the connection speed lower than those of DSL.
ISP - Internet Service Provider - A company that sells access to the Internet. ISPs are usually distinguished from commercial services, which link to the Internet but also offer additional services, such as content and chat, only available to their subscribers.
J
Java - A computer programming language that allows World Wide Web pages to have animation, calculators, and other fancy tricks called applets. Applets are capable of running on any computer regardless of the operating system.
JavaScript: JavaScript is a programming language that is mostly used in web pages, usually to add features that make the web page more interactive. When JavaScript is included in an HTML file it relies upon the browser to interpret the JavaScript. When JavaScript is combined with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and later versions of HTML (4.0 and later) the result is often called DHTML.
JavaScript was invented by Netscape and was going to be called "LiveScript", but the name was changed to JavaScript to cash in on the popularity of Java. JavaScript and Java are two different programming languages.
JDK (Java Development Kit) -- A software development package from Sun Microsystems that implements the basic set of tools needed to write, test and debug Java applications and applets.
JPEG: Joint Photograhic Experts Group - a common image format. Most of the images you see embedded into Web pages are GIFs, but sometimes, especially in art or photographic Web sites, you can click on the image to bring up a higher resolution (larger) JPEG version of the same image.
K
Keyword - On Web search engines, these are words that you type into the search form, or search "window," to search the Web for pages or sites that contain your keyword and information related to it.
Killfile: Found within newsreaders, a list of undesirable authors or threads to filter out.
Kilobyte: A thousand bytes. Actually, usually 1024 (2^10) bytes. See Also: Byte , Bit
Knowbot: A system for finding Internet user's email addresses via their first and last names. Due to the rapid growth in the volume of email users, this system is not perfect.
L
LAN - Local Area Network - A network of connected computers that are generally located near each other, such as in an office or company.
Leased Line: Refers to a phone line that is rented for exclusive 24-hour, 7 -days-a-week use from your location to another location. The highest speed data connections require a leased line. See Also: T-1 , T-3, DSL
Link - Highlighted text that is designed so that clicking on it will take you to another document, Web page, or Web site. See also hyperlink.
Listserv: An electronic mailing list typically used by a broad range of discussion groups. When you subscribe to a listserv, you will receive periodic email messages about the topic you have requested.
Login Noun or a verb. Noun: The account name used to gain access to a computer system. Not a secret (contrast with Password). Verb: The act of entering into a computer system, e.g. Login to the WELL and then go to the GBN conference. See Also: Password
Lurking: The act of reading through maillists and newsgroups without posting any messages. Considered good netiquette to get the feel of the topic before adding your own two cents.
Lynx: A popular text (non-graphical) World Wide Web Browser.
M
Mailing List: A list of email addresses to which messages are sent. You can subscribe to a mailing lists typically by sending an email to the contact address with the following in the body of the message: the word subscribe, the name of the list, and your email address.
Maillist (or Mailing List) A (usually automated) system that allows people to send e-mail to one address, whereupon their message is copied and sent to all of the other subscribers to the maillist. In this way, people who have many different kinds of e-mail access can participate in discussions together.
Megabyte A million bytes. Technically, 1024 kilobytes. See Also: Byte , Bit , Kilobyte
MIDI: Musical Instrument Digital Interface - a high quality audio file format.
MIME: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, a protocol for allowing email messages to contain various types of media (text, audio, video, images, etc.).
Mirror Generally speaking, "to mirror" is to maintain an exact copy of something. Probably the most common use of the term on the Internet refers to "mirror sites" which are web sites, or FTP sites that maintain exact copies of material originated at another location, usually in order to provide more widespread access to the resource.///Another common use of the term "mirror" refers to an arrangement where information is written to more than one hard disk simultaneously, so that if one disk fails, the computer keeps on working without losing anything.
Mirror Site: An Internet site setup as an alternate to a busy site; contains copies of all the files stored at the primary location.
Modem - (MOdulator, DEModulator) A hardware device that allows computers to communicate with each other over telephone lines. Modems come in different speeds: The higher the speed, the faster the data are transmitted. A modem enables what is generally referred to as "dial-up access."The fastest widely available modems are "56K" (or 56 kilobits per second).
Monitoring software - A type of software product that allows a parent or caretaker to monitor the Web sites or e-mail messages that a child visits or reads, without necessarily blocking access.
MOO (Mud, Object Oriented) -- One of several kinds of multi-user role-playing environments, so far only text-based. See Also: MUD , MUSE
Mosaic The first WWW browser that was available for the Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX all with the same interface. Mosaic really started the popularity of the Web. The source-code to Mosaic has been licensed by several companies and there are several other pieces of software as good or better than Mosaic, most notably, Netscape. See Also: Browser , Client , WWW
Mouse - A small device attached to your computer by a cord, which lets you give commands to the computer by clicking the device. See also hardware.
MPEG: Motion Picture Experts Group - a video file format offering excellent quality in a relatively small file. Video files found on the Internet are frequently stored in the MPEG format. Full length movies (like Top Gun) are available on CD and are stored in the MPEG format.
MUD (Multi-User Dungeon or Dimension) -- A (usually text-based) multi-user simulation environment. Some are purely for fun and flirting, others are used for serious software development, or education purposes and all that lies in between. A significant feature of most MUDs is that users can create things that stay after they leave and which other users can interact with in their absence, thus allowing a world to be built gradually and collectively. See Also: MOO , MUSE
Multimedia - A combination of two or more types of information such as text, audio, video, graphics, and images.
MUSE (Multi-User Simulated Environment) -- One kind of MUD - usually with little or no violence. See Also: MOO , MUD
N
Nameserver: A computer running a program that converts domain names into appropriate IP addresses and vice versa.
NCSA: National Center for Supercomputing Applications - an organization headquartered at the University of Illinois. Researchers here created the Mosaic and HTTPD server programs.
Netiquette - The rules of cyberspace civility. Usually applied to the Internet, where manners are enforced exclusively by fellow users. Short for Internet etiquette.
Netizen Derived from the term citizen, referring to a citizen of the Internet, or someone who uses networked resources. The term connotes civic responsibility and participation. See Also: Internet
Netscape A WWW Browser and the name of a company. The Netscape (tm) browser was originally based on the Mosaic program developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).
Netscape has grown in features rapidly and is widely recognized as the best and most popular web browser. Netscape corporation also produces web server software.
Netscape provided major improvements in speed and interface over other browsers, and has also engendered debate by creating new elements for the HTML language used by Web pages -- but the Netscape extensions to HTML are not universally supported.
The main author of Netscape, Mark Andreessen, was hired away from the NCSA by Jim Clark, and they founded a company called Mosaic Communications and soon changed the name to Netscape Communications Corporation.
Network A system of connected computers exchanging information with each other. A LAN is a relatively smaller form of a network in comparison to the Internet, a world wide network of computers. Any time you connect 2 or more computers together so that they can share resources, you have a computer network. Connect 2 or more networks together and you have an internet. See Also: internet , Internet , Intranet
Newbie: A new computer or Internet user.
Newsgroup: A particular section within the USENET system typically, though not always, dedicated to a particular subject of interest. Discussion groups on the Internet (not on the Web, which is only one area of the Internet) that are broken down and categorized by subjects. These discussion groups consist of messages sent by other Internet users and displayed publicly for everyone in the group (or under the topic area) to read. The word "news" in "newsgroups" does not mean they are run by news services or journalists.
Newsreader: A program designed for organizing the threads received from a mailing list or newsgroup.
NIC (Networked Information Center) -- Generally, any office that handles information for a network. The most famous of these on the Internet is the InterNIC, which is where new domain names are registered.
Another definition: NIC also refers to Network Interface Card which plugs into a computer and adapts the network interface to the appropriate standard. ISA, PCI, and PCMCIA cards are all examples of NICs.
NNTP (Network News Transport Protocol) -- The protocol used by client and server software to carry USENET postings back and forth over a TCP/IP network. If you are using any of the more common software such as Netscape, Nuntius, Internet Explorer, etc. to participate in newsgroups then you are benefiting from an NNTP connection.
Node Any single computer connected to a network. See Also: Network , Internet, internet
O
Online Service: Services such as America Online, CompuServe, Prodigy and the Microsoft Network which provide content to subscribers and usually connections to the Internet, though sometimes limited. For instance, online services just recently added Web browsing ability. If you spend a lot of time on the Internet, the fees these services charge add up rapidly.
Online: When you connect to the Internet, you are online.
P
Packet Switching The method used to move data around on the Internet. In packet switching, all the data coming out of a machine is broken up into chunks, each chunk has the address of where it came from and where it is going. This enables chunks of data from many different sources to co-mingle on the same lines, and be sorted and directed to different routes by special machines along the way. This way many people can use the same lines at the same time.
Packet: A chunk of data. The TCP/IP protocol breaks large data files into smaller "packets" for transmission. When the data reaches its destination, the protocol makes sure that all packets have arrived without error.
Page: An HTML document, or Web site.
Password A code used to gain access to a locked system. Good passwords contain letters and non-letters and are not simple combinations such as virtue7. A good password might be:Hot$1-6 See Also: Login
PGP: Pretty Good Privacy - an encryption scheme which uses the "public key" approach - messages are encrypted using the publicly available key, but can only be deciphered by the intended recipient via the private key.
PICS - Platform for Internet Content Selection - PICS is a technology that allows Web browsers to read content ratings of Web sites, but it is not a rating system itself.
PING: Ping - a program for determining if another computer is presently connected to the Internet.
Pixel: Short for picture element - the smallest unit of resolution on a monitor. Commonly used as a unit of measurement.
PKZIP: A widely available shareware utility allowing users to compress and decompress data files. Helps reduce storage space and transfer times.
Plug-In: A small application which extends the built in capabilities of your Web browser. Examples include Macromedia's Shockwave, providing animation, and RealAudio, offering streamed sound files over the Internet. Compared to helpers, the multimedia files do not need to be downloaded before shown or played.
POP (Point of Presence, also Post Office Protocol) -- a method of storing and returning email. Two commonly used meanings: Point of Presence and Post Office Protocol. A Point of Presence usually means a city or location where a network can be connected to, often with dial up phone lines. So if an Internet company says they will soon have a POP in Belgrade, it means that they will soon have a local phone number in Belgrade and/or a place where leased lines can connect to their network. A second meaning, Post Office Protocol refers to the way e-mail software such as Eudora gets mail from a mail server. When you obtain a SLIP, PPP, or shell account you almost always get a POP account with it, and it is this POP account that you tell your e-mail software to use to get your mail. See Also: SLIP , PPP
Port Three meanings. First and most generally, a place where information goes into or out of a computer, or both. E.g. the serial port on a personal computer is where a modem would be connected. On the Internet port often refers to a number that is part of a URL, appearing after a colon (:) right after the domain name. Every service on an Internet server listens on a particular port number on that server. Most services have standard port numbers, e.g. Web servers normally listen on port 80.
Finally, port also refers to translating a piece of software to bring it from one type of computer system to another, e.g. to translate a Windows program so that is will run on a Macintosh.
Portal Usually used as a marketing term to described a Web site that is or is intended to be the first place people see when using the Web. Typically a "Portal site" has a catalog of web sites, a search engine, or both. A Portal site may also offer email and other service to entice people to use that site as their main "point of entry" (hence "portal") to the Web.
Post: To send a message to a mailing list or newsgroup.
Posting - Like posting a message on a bulletin board, the sending of a message to a discussion group or other public message area on the Internet. The message itself is called a "post."
PPP: Point-to-Point Protocol - a protocol for converting a dial-up connection to a point-to-point connection over the Internet. Frequently used for accessing the World Wide Web over phone lines. Considered more stable than a SLIP connection.
Protocol: An agreed upon set of rules by which computers exchange information.
Provider: An Internet Service Provider, or ISP.
PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) -- The regular old-fashioned telephone system.
Q
Queue: A list of email messages that will be distributed next time you log onto the Internet.
QuickTime: A common video file format created by Apple Computer. Video files found on the Internet are often stored in the QuickTime format - they require a special viewer program for playback.
R
Register: With shareware, when you contact the vendor and pay for the product, you are registering. In return, you will receive either a password to turn off the nag notices or a copy of the full commercial version.
RFC (Request For Comments) -- The name of the result and the process for creating a standard on the Internet. New standards are proposed and published on line, as a Request For Comments. The Internet Engineering Task Force is a consensus-building body that facilitates discussion, and eventually a new standard is established, but the reference number/name for the standard retains the acronym RFC, e.g. the official standard for e-mail is RFC 822.
Robot: A program that automatically searches the World Wide Web for files.
Router A special-purpose computer (or software package) that handles the connection between 2 or more networks. Routers spend all their time looking at the destination addresses of the packets passing through them and deciding which route to send them on. See Also: Network , Packet Switching
RSACi - Recreation Software Advisory Council's Internet rating system - a rating system for Web content that uses PICS technology. RSACi was recently renamed the Internet Content Rating Alliance (ICRA).
S
Search engine - A website that is a tool to help people locate information available on the World Wide Web. By typing in keywords, users can find numerous Web sites that contain the information sought. Popular search engines include Yahoo, Dogpile, Excite, Lycos and Webcrawler.
Security Certificate A chunk of information (often stored as a text file) that is used by the SSL protocol to establish a secure connection.
Security Certificates contain information about who it belongs to, who it was issued by, a unique serial number or other unique identification, valid dates, and an encrypted "fingerprint" that can be used to verify the contents of the certificate.
In order for an SSL connection to be created both sides must have a valid Security Certificate. See Also: Certificate Authority , SSL
Server - A host computer that stores information and/or software programs and makes them available (or "serves" them) to users of other computers. You download the information on a Web server with a Web browser.
Server-based filter - Unlike client-based software, which is installed on your own computer, server-based filters work on a host server (for example, a Web server) generally located at an Internet Service Provider or a LAN at a company. Your computer is connected to this server so that you receive only the Web pages that are not filtered on the server.
SGML: Standard General Markup Language - a standard for markup languages. HTML is one version of HTML.
Shareware: Software that is available on a free limited trial basis. Sometimes this is a fully featured product, other times it lacks some of the features of the commerical version. If you find the product useful, you are expected to register the software, for which in return you will receive the full featured commercial version.
Signature: A personal tag automatically appended to an email message. May be short, such as the author's name, or quite long, such as a favorite quote.
Site: A single or collection of related Web pages.
SLIP a protocol allowing you to use a dial-up connection as an Internet connection. Similar to a PPP connection, though far less stable.
SMDS (Switched Multimegabit Data Service) -- A new standard for very high-speed data transfer.
SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol - a protocol dictating how email messages are exchanged over the Internet.
Snail Mail: Plain old paper mail. United States Post Office.
Spam (or Spamming) An inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list, or USENET or other networked communications facility as if it was a broadcast medium (which it is not) by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn't ask for it. Sending multiple, sometimes thousands, of unwelcome messages to a newsgroup or mailing list to promote a commercial product or Web site. The term probably comes from a famous Monty Python skit which featured the word spam repeated over and over.
Spider - A software program that "crawls" the Web, searching through Web pages and sites and indexing those pages in a database of Web pages that can then be searched using a search engine.
SQL (Structured Query Language) -- A specialized programming language for sending queries to databases. Most industrial-strength and many smaller database applications can be addressed using SQL. Each specific application will have its own version of SQL implementing features unique to that application, but all SQL-capable databases support a common subset of SQL.
Subscribe: To become of a member of. One can subscribe to a mailing list, a newsgroup, an online service or an Internet Service.
Sysop (System Operator) -- Anyone responsible for the physical operations of a computer system or network resource. A System Administrator decides how often backups and maintenance should be performed and the System Operator performs those tasks.
T
T1: A category of leased telephone line service, allowing transfer rates of 1.5 Mbps (megabytes per second) over the Internet. Too expensive for home users (around $2000 per month), but commonly found in business environments.
T-3 A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits-per-second. This is more than enough to do full-screen, full-motion video. See Also: Bandwidth , Bit , Byte , Ethernet , T-1
TAR: Tape ARchive - a compression format commonly used in the transfer and storage of files residing on UNIX computers.
TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol - A computer "language" that allows for transmission, or "publishing," of information across the Internet. This protocol is the foundation of the Internet, an agreed upon set of rules directing computers on how to exchange information with each other. Other Internet protocols, such as FTP, Gopher and HTTP sit on top of TCP/IP.
Telnet The command and program used to login from one Internet site to another. The telnet command/program gets you to the login: prompt of another host.
Terabyte 1000 gigabytes. See Also: Byte , Kilobyte
Terminal A device that allows you to send commands to a computer somewhere else. At a minimum, this usually means a keyboard and a display screen and some simple circuitry. Usually you will use terminal software in a personal computer - the software pretends to be (emulates) a physical terminal and allows you to type commands to a computer somewhere else.
Terminal Server A special purpose computer that has places to plug in many modems on one side, and a connection to a LAN or host machine on the other side. Thus the terminal server does the work of answering the calls and passes the connections on to the appropriate node. Most terminal servers can provide PPP or SLIP services if connected to the Internet.
Thread: An ongoing message based conversation on a single subject.
TIFF: Tag Image File Format - a popular graphic image file format.
Time limiting software - Software that allows time limits to be set for access to the Internet or software programs such as games. For details, see the Time Limiting section in our Guide to Online Safety Tools.
Trolling: Deliberately posting false information in order to elicit responses from people who really want to help.
U
UDP (User Datagram Protocol) -- One of the protocols for data transfer that is part of the TCP/IP suite of protocols. UDP is a "stateless" protocol in that UDP makes no provision for acknowledgement of packets received. See Also: TCP/IP
UNIX: A powerful operating system used on the backbone machines of the Internet. World Wide Web servers frequently run on UNIX.
Upload - Copying or sending data or documents from your computer to another computer, usually over a phone line or direct cable connection. See also download.
URL - Uniform Resource Locator - The World Wide Web address of a site on the Internet. The method by which Internet sites are addressed. For example, the URL for the this website is http://www.sharpertrainingsolutions.com. See also Domain Name.
USENET: Short for User's Network. The collection of the thousands of bulletin boards residing on the Internet. Each bulletin board contains discussion groups, or newsgroups, dedicated to a myriad of topics. Messages are posted and responded to by readers either as public or private emails.
UUENCODE (Unix to Unix Encoding) -- A method for converting files from Binary to ASCII (text) so that they can be sent across the Internet via e-mail. See Also: Binhex , MIME
V
Veronica (Very Easy Rodent Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives) -- The system used in searching Gopher menus for topics. Developed at the University of Nevada, Veronica is a constantly updated database of the names of almost every menu item on thousands of gopher servers. The Veronica database can be searched from most major gopher menus. See Also: Gopher
Visit: Synonymous with viewing a World Wide Web site.
VPN (Virtual Private Network) -- Usually refers to a network in which some of the parts are connected using the public Internet, but the data sent across the Internet is encrypted, so the entire network is "virtually" private.
A typical example would be a company network where there are two offices in different cities. Using the Internet the two offices mereg their networks into one network, but encrypt traffic that uses the Internet link.
W
WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) -- a system of searchable text databases. A commercial software package that allows the indexing of huge quantities of information, and then making those indices searchable across networks such as the Internet. A prominent feature of WAIS is that the search results are ranked (scored) according to how relevant the hits are, and that subsequent searches can find more stuff like that last batch and thus refine the search process.
WAN: Wide Area Network - a system of connected computers spanning a large geographical area.
WAV: Waveform Audio (.wav) - a common audio file format for DOS/Windows computers.
Web - The World Wide Web - What most people think of when they think of the Internet. The Web is actually just one service on the Internet. It is a collection of graphical hyperlinked documents made publicly available on computers (or Web servers) around the world. The information on these servers can be viewed or accessed with a browser. Other services on the Internet include Internet Relay Chat and Newsgroups.
Web-based chat - As opposed to chat IRC found on subscriber-only online services, Web-based chat allows people to chat with each other using a browser. Web-based chat rooms are found in Web sites.
Web-based e-mail - A technology that allows you to send and receive e-mail using only a browser (as opposed to an e-mail software program like Eudora).
Web-based Instant-Messaging - Instant-Messaging technology that works in Web sites (as opposed to a commercial online services). See also "Instant Messaging."
Webmaster - The administrator responsible for the management and often design of a Web site. Web Ring: A web ring is a bunch of sites that have something in common and are all connected through a circular series of links.
Usually, there's a link at the bottom of the website that lets you jump to the next site in the ring. If you keep going, you eventually end up back where you started (in theory). You can usually view these sites in pretty much any order you want, too. You can go to the next site in the ring, the previous, or a random site in the ring.
Someone owns the web ring, which addresses a particular subject, and people with sites on that topic can join, or link, their site to the ring.
There are web rings covering just about every subject imaginable. Sometimes the circle gets broken, however; gravesites are everywhere.
WINSOCK: Winsock - a Micorsoft Windows DLL file that provides the interface to TCP/IP services, essentially allowing Windows to use Web browsers, FTP programs, and others. WWW - The World Wide Web, or simply Web. A subset of the Internet that uses a combination of text, graphics, audio and video (multimedia) to provide information on most every subject imaginable. See "Web."
X
X-Bitmap: An uncompressed black and white image file format (.xbm).
X-Pixelmap: An uncompressed color image file format (.xpm).
Y
Yahoo: A Web directory, also know as a search engine. Their site is constantly updated and provides an easy way of finding almost any Web page.
Z
ZIP: A compressed file format (.zip). Many files available on the Internet are compressed or zipped in order to reduce storage space and transfer times. To uncompress the file, you need a utility like PKZip (DOS) or WinZip (Windows). |
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