Address,
Address Bar,
Address Book,
ADSL,
ALT,
Analog,
AOL,
Applet,
Archie,
ARPAnet,
Artificial, Intelligence,
ASCII,
Attachment,
Bandwidth,
BBS,
Beta Software,
Binary,
BIOS,
Bit,
Bitmap,
Bookmark,
Boot,
Browser,
Bug,
Byte,
Cable,
Case Sensitive,
Cache,
CD-ROM,
Chat,
Chatroom,
CTRL,
Cookie,
Copy,
CPU,
Cursor,
Cut,
Cyberhood,
Cyberspace,
Data,
Database,
Digital
Digital Divide,
Discussion,
Group,
DHTML,
Discussion,
Group,
Disk,
Distance,
Learning,
DNS,
Domain,
Name,
DOS,
Download,
Edit,
E-Mail,
Emoticons,
Encryption,
ESC,
Ethernet,
Extension,
Extranet,
E-zine,
FAQ,
Favorites,
File,
Filter,
Finder,
Finger,
Firewall,
Flame,
Forum,
Frames,
Freeware,
FTP,
Gateway,
Geek Speak,
GIF,
Gigabyte,
Go,
Gopher,
Graphics,
Guest Book,
GUI,
Hacker,
Hacker Ethic,
Hard Drive,
Highlighted,
Hit,
HTML,
HTTP,
HTTPS,
Home Page,
Host,
Hyperlink,
Hypertext,
Icon,
ID,
Index File,
Information Superhighway,
Input,
Install,
Interactive,
Internaut,
Internet,
Intranet,
ISP,
IP Address,
IRC,
Java,
Java Script,
JPEG,
Key Pal,
Key Word,
LAN,
LISTSERV,
Link,
Log,
Loop,
Lurker,
Mail,
Mail Box,
Main Frame,
Megabite,
MIDI,
Modem,
Mouse,
Monitor,
Monitored,
MP3,
Net,
Net Speak,
Netiquette,
Netizen,
Network,
Newbie,
Newsgroup,
Newsie,
Offline,
Online,
Open,
OS / Operating,
System,
Output
Password,
PGP / Pretty Good Privacy,
Ping,
Pixel,
Plug-in,
POP,
Port,
Post,
PPP,
Prompt,
Protocol,
Proxy,
Public Domain,
Quick Time,
RAM - Random Access Memory,
ReadMe,
Real Player,
Real Time Chat,
Remote Access,
Restricted
Access,
Right Click,
Robotics,
ROM -Read,
Only Memory,
Router,
Search Engine,
Server,
Set Up,
Shareware,
Shell Account,
Site,
SLIP,
Slot,
Smiley,
SMTP,
Snail Mail,
Software,
Streaming Audio /
Streaming Video,
SPAM,
Supervised,
Surf,
TCP/IP,
Telenet,
Terminal,
Text,
Thread,
Trojan,
UNIX,
Upload,
URL,
Usenet,
User Name,
Utility,
Veronica,
Video Conferencing,
Virtual Community,
Virtual Reality,
Viruses,
VRML,
WAIS,
WAV,
Web,
Webby,
Web Designer,
Web Developer,
Web Page,
Web Site,
Web Speak,
WHOIS,
Worm,
World Wide,
Web (WWW),
WYSIWYG,
XML,
Zine
AddressWhen we say address on the internet we mean a web page's address. An
address is the string of words and symbols you type in to reach a
website. It looks like this:
http://www.qualitywebmasters.com/. Another name for a web page address
is
URL. When you type a web page address you have
to be careful, even if you miss one letter you may be taken to the
wrong page or get an error message.
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Address Bar
The address bar is the bar at the top of your internet
browser where you type the web page address (URL).
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Address Book
Your address book is a storage center in your
e-mail client where you keep your friend's and family's e-mail
addresses. You get to your address book by clicking the Addresses
button when you are in your e-mail client.
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ADSL
A technology that allows more data to be sent over existing copper
telephone lines (POTS). ADSL supports data rates of from 1.5 to 9
Mbps when receiving
data (known as the
downstream rate) and from 16 to 640 Kbps when sending data (known as
the upstream rate). ADSL requires a special ADSL modem. It is not
currently available to the general public except in trial areas, but
many believe that it will be one of the more popular choices for
access over
the next few years.
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ALT
1. Usually seen with a dot after it (i.e., alt.), this is a type of
newsgroup that discusses alternative topics. Some Internet
providers ask that their users sign an agreement stating they are
over 18 before providing access to the alt. newsgroups. 2. A key on the keyboard that makes it possible to perform
certain computer tasks easily.
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Analog
Relating to or being a device in which data are represented by
variable measurable physical quantities.
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AOL
A commercial online service provider (OSP) known for its all
inclusive use of events, shopping, travel, etc., as well as
Internet
access and some background.
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Applet
A
Java program that can be attached to a web
page so that when a person views the web page, they automatically
download and run the program. The programs have certain restrictions
though, so they can't damage a person's computer or spread
viruses.
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Archie
A
Gopher tool (software) for finding files
stored on anonymous FTP sites. You need to know the exact file name
or a substring of it.
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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. Also: An
experimental network designed to see how well distributed,
non-centralized networks work; the basis for the later evolution of
the
Internet.
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Artificial Intelligence
Computer hardware and software packages that try to emulate human
intelligence in order to solve problems using reasoning and
learning.
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ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange
(pro nounced: ass-key)
The 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. This is also used to describe files that are stored in
clear text format. Some rather inventive individuals have developed
what is known as ASCII art, a lowbrow art in a high tech medium,
using only the ASCII character set to create images.
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Attachment
A file that is attached, and sent with an email message. An
attachment can be a picture, a sound, a movie, any type of file,
including viruses, so be careful with attachments from people you
don't know well.
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Bandwidth
A measure of your Internet connection's capacity to transfer data.
More->faster->better
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BBS / Bulletin Board System or Service
A dial-up computerized meeting and announcement system for carrying
on discussions,
uploading and
downloading files, and generally obtaining
online information and services. BBS also refers to a congregation
gathered electronically via a modem that allows the users to
post messages. They began as informal
communities but now include political, commercial, adult, etc.,
categories. There are many thousands of BBS’s around the world, most
of which are very small, running on a single PC or Mac clone 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.
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Beta Software
The pre-general release version of software. Be warned: if you
decide to experiment with betas, expect an occasional software
glitch or system crash.
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Binary
Any downloadable file that doesn’t simply contain human-readable,
ASCII text. Typically it refers to a runnable
program available for
downloading, but it can also refer to pictures, sounds, or
movies, among others.
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Binary Numbers
A numbering system with a base (radix) of 2, unlike the number
system most of us use, which have bases of 10 (decimal numbers), 12
(measurement in feet and inches), and 60 (time). Binary numbers are
preferred for computers for precision and economy. Building an
electronic circuit that can detect the difference between two states
(high current and low current, or 0 and 1) is easier and less
expensive than building circuits that detect the difference among 10
states (0 through 9). The word
bit derives from
the phrase BInary digiT.
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BIOS
Basic Input Output System is the part of the operating system that
handles communication between the computer and all of its peripheral
devices (keyboard, printer, mouse, etc.) usually encoded as ROM for
protection.
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Bit
The basic unit of information in a
binary
numbering system. The electronic circuitry in computers detect
the difference between two states (high current and low current) and
represents these two states as one of two numbers 1 or 0. This basic
high/low, either/or, yes/no units of information are called bits.
Eight bits comprise what is called an octet, sometimes referred to
as a
byte. The word bit derives from the phrase
Binary digit.
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Bitmap
Any picture you see on a Web page is a bitmap. Bitmaps come in many
file formats such as
GIF,
JPEG,
TIFF,
BMP, PICT, PCX, and DIB (device independent bitmap). They can be
read and edited by paint programs and image editors such as Adobe
Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. As its name suggests, a bitmap is a map
of dots or "pixels". If you zoom in on or try to scale up a bitmap,
it will look blocky.
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BMP or .bmp
A Microsoft Windows image format. The images you see when Windows
starts up and closes, and the wallpaper that adorns your desktop,
are all in BMP or
bitmap format.
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Bookmark
A quick and easy way to save the address of a web site that you
like, so you can go back to it as often as you like, easily.
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Boot
To start a computer; more frequently used as “re-boot”. When you
shut down a system then restart, you are re-booting. It tends to
clear out
bugs that are
hampering smooth computing.
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Browser
A software aplication that allows you to navigate the world wide
web. It translates the HTML, the language that web pages are written
in, into the pages you see on your screen.
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Bug
A programming error that causes a program or computer system to
perform erratically, produce incorrect results, or crash. The term
bug was coined when a real insect was discovered to have fouled up
one of the circuits of the first electronic
digital computer, the ENIAC. Not to be confused with a glitch,
which refers to a hardware problem.
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Byte
Abbreviation for
binary term,
a unit of storage capable of holding a single
character. On almost all modern
computers, a byte is equal to 8 bits. Large amounts of
memory are indicated
in terms of kilobytes (1,024 bytes),
megabytes (1,048,576 bytes), and
gigabytes (1,073,741,824 bytes). A
disk that can hold 1.44 megabytes, for example,
is capable of storing approximately 1.4 million
characters, or about 3,000 pages of information.
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Cable Modem
A modem attached to a coaxial cable television system. Cable modems
can transmit
data at 500 kilobytes a second,
much faster than a typical computer modem that sends signals over
telephone lines.
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Cache
A copy of a web page or graphic or sound file that is stored on your
computer's hard drive. The next time you request that file, the
computer checks to make sure there have been no changes, then just
reads from the hard drive. This speeds things up a great deal.
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Case Sensitive
When it matters if letters are typed in uppercase or lowercase.
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CD-ROM / Compact Disc - Read Only Memory
An optical storage technology that uses compact discs to store and
play back
data. CD-ROM technology was originally
used for encyclopedias, dictionaries, and software libraries, but
now they are often used in multimedia applications. One CD-ROM can
hold about 600 megabytes, or the equivalent of 700 floppy disks
CD-ROMs have become a favorite medium for installing programs, since
they cost only slightly more to manufacture than floppy disks, and
most major software applications come on at least five floppies.
Don’t sound hopelessly out of touch with technology: use the term
CD-ROM to refer to the technology or the discs, but not to the
hardware you play the discs on. That’s a CD-ROM drive.
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Chat
Real-time communication over the internet, using a chat application.
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Chatroom
A site on a network where a number of users can type in messages to
each other in real time, creating an online conversation.Back
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CTRL
A key on PC keyboards labeled
Ctrl. You use the Control key
in the same way that you use the Shift key -- keeping it pressed
down while pressing another character. The result is a control
key combination , which can have different meanings
depending on which program is running. On Macintoshes, the Control
key is called an Apple key or Command key.
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Cookies
Bits of information about you, stored on your hard drive by
websites, that enable these sites to remember you and your
preferences.
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Copy
(1) To copy a piece of data to a temporary location. In word
processing, for example, copying refers to duplicating a
section of a document and placing it in a buffer (sometimes
called a clipboard). The term copy differs from cut,
which refers to actually removing a section of a document and
placing it in a buffer. After cutting or copying, you can move the
contents of the buffer by pasting it somewhere else.
(2) In file management, the term
copy refers to making a
duplicate of a file.
(n) A duplicate of a piece of data, such as a file or a directory.
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CPU / Central Processing Unit
Look for the most powerful microprocessor chip in your computer, and
that’ll be the CPU. The Intel Pentium and Motorola 68040 chips, for
example, handle the central management functions of a high-powered
PC and Mac, respectively. Sometimes the term CPU is used to describe
the whole box that contains the chip along with the motherboard,
expansion cards, disk drives, power supply, and so on. Both uses are
widespread, but only the first is really accurate.
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Cursor
Depending on what application you're using, a cursor or pointer can
appear as many things - an arrow, a blinking line or rectangle, a
spinning black-and-white circle or globe, a hand, a watch, a
trotting dog, a capital "I" - visual clues that tell you what the
application you're running is doing.
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Cut
To remove an object from a document and place it in a
buffer.
In word processing, for example, cut means to move a section
of text from a document to a temporary buffer. This is one way to
delete text. However, because the text is transferred to a buffer,
it is not lost forever. You can copy the buffer somewhere else in
the document or in another document, which is called pasting.
To move a section of text from one place to another, therefore, you
need to first cut it and then paste it. This is often called cut-and- paste.
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Cyberhood
A virtual community where people can have fun, be entertained, learn
things and explore the best of the Earth Internet.
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Cyberspace
Where all media converge: audio and video, telephone and television,
wire and satellite. The term "cyberspace" was first coined by sci-fi
writer William Gibson in the early 1980s. Cyberspace,
Internet,
World Wide Web
and
Information Superhighway are all
basically used interchangeably.
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Data
In general, data is information, factual information such as text,
numbers, sounds, images, anything that can be processed on a
computer. Data also represents concepts, and sensations that are suitable
for communicating, interpreting, or processing. As futurist Marshall
Mcluhan said, "The electric light is pure information," meaning
everything perceptible is data. The word data is plural; the singular form is datum, however data
is commonly used to refer to both singular and plural.
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Database
(1) A collection of information organized in such a way that a
computer program can quickly select desired pieces of data. You can
think of a database as an electronic filing system.
Traditional databases are organized by fields, records,
and files. A field is a single piece of information; a record
is one complete set of fields; and a file is a collection of
records. For example, a telephone book is analogous to a file. It
contains a list of records, each of which consists of three fields:
name, address, and telephone number.
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DHTML
The next generation of
HTML, the language that
describes how text and images are displayed on a
Web
page. Dynamic HTML, developed by Netscape and the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), is based entirely on
industry-standard HTML and
Java. New features in
Dynamic HTML, such as absolute positioning and layers, give web
designers and developers much greater control over the look and feel
of Web pages.
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Digital
Expressed in binary digits or bits (see below) for use by a
computer.
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Digital
A form of representation in which distinct objects, or digits, are
used to stand for something in the real world, so that counting and
other operations can be performed precisely. Data represented
digitally can be manipulated to produce a calculation, a sort, or
some other computation. In digital electronic computers, two
electrical states correspond to the 1’s and the 0’s of
binary numbers, which are manipulated
by computer programs.
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Discussion Group
A group of people who exchange messages about particular topics.
Often associated with
newsgroups, they can
also take the form of interactive message boards, thread message
forums, and
e-mailing lists. Discussion groups
vary widely in their variety and format.
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Disk
A round plate on which
data can be
encoded. There are two basic types of disks: magnetic disks
and optical disks.
On magnetic disks, data is encoded as microscopic magnetized needles on the disk's surface. You can record and erase data on
a magnetic disk any number of times, just as you can with a cassette
tape. Magnetic disks come in a number of different forms:
- floppy disk : A typical 5¼-inch floppy disk
can hold 360K or 1.2MB (megabytes). 3½-inch floppies normally
store 720K, 1.2MB or 1.44MB of data.
- hard disk : Hard disks can store anywhere from
20MB to more than 10GB. Hard disks are also from 10 to 100 times
faster than floppy disks.
- removable cartridge : Removable cartridges are
hard disks encased in a metal or plastic cartridge, so you can
remove them just like a floppy disk. Removable cartridges are
very fast, though usually not as fast as fixed hard disks.
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Distance Learning
Education occurring away from the classroom or teacher. It can by
through the mail or the Internet as computer assisted distance
learning.
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DNS / Domain Name System
A
database system that translates an
IP address into a
domain name. For example, a numeric IP
address like 207.219.116.4 is converted into netlingo.com. The
DNS is a static, hierarchical name service and it
uses
TCP/IP hosts, and is housed on a number
of
servers on the
Internet.
Basically, it maintains this database for figuring out and finding
(or resolving) host names and IP addresses. This allows users to
specify remote computers by host names rather than numerical IP
addresses.
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Domain Name
A web address. For example, in http://www.fcgnetworks.net,
fcgnetworks.net is the domain name.
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DOS
Acronym for disk operating
system. The
term DOS can refer to any operating system, but it is most
often used as a shorthand for MS-DOS (Microsoft
disk operating system). Originally
developed by Microsoft for IBM, MS-DOS was the standard operating
system for IBM-compatible personal computers.
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Download
To copy a computer program from a remote computer to your own, over
the internet. The reverse process of upload.
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Edit
To change data.
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E-Mail
The most popular use of the Internet, email allows any Internet user
to send a nearly instantaneous electronic message to anyone else on
the Internet who has an email address.
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Emoticons
Little pictures that look like faces made by typing keyboard
characters to represent different emotions. Smile :-) or frown :-(
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Encrypt
The process by which information or data is encoded so that it can
safely be transmitted over the
Internet
without other people being able to read it.
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ESC
Short for Escape key. For example,
ESC-Q means press the Escape key and then the Q key .
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EtherNet
A widespread networking scheme rated at 10 Mbs (megabits per
second). It is most commonly known as "the hardware device in the
office that is the LAN."
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Extension
The end of a filename that tells you what kind of file it is. For
example in the file readme.txt, .txt is the extension and it tells
you that it is a text file.
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Extranet
The connecting of two or more intranets. If you think of an intranet
as a company's internal Web site which allows users inside the
company to communicate and exchange information, now imagine
connecting that virtual space with another company's intranet, thus
allowing these two (or more) companies to share resources and
communicate over the Internet in their own virtual space. This
technology greatly enhances business to business communications.
Companies like Netscape, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and
VeriSign announced support for a core set of open standards for
enabling external networks (extranets).
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E-zine
Sometimes referred to as just
zine, it is an
electronic publication or a magazine published in electronic form.
Quite simply, an online magazine. There are dozens of e-zines
published on a regular basis on the
Internet.
Topics range from science-fiction-inspired poetry to the angst of
living in the digital age, and beyond.
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FAQ
This is short for "Frequently Asked Questions"
A list of questions and answers related to a newsgroup, software,
Web site, or whatever. FAQ lists prevent newsgroup discussions from
being overrun by common user questions. Finding and Writing FAQs -
By Infinite Ink Newsgroup FAQs - Easy to use look-up for FAQs found
on USENET.
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Favorites
What Internet Explorer calls Bookmarks. See
bookmarks.
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File
A collection of data or information that has a name, called the
filename. Almost all information stored in a computer must be in
a file. There are many different types of files: data files, text files , program files, directory files, and so on.
Different types of files store different types of information. For
example, program files store programs, whereas text files store
text.
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Filter
A program that accepts a certain type of data as input,
transforms it in some manner, and then outputs the transformed data.
For example, a program that sorts names is a filter because it
accepts the names in unsorted order, sorts them, and then outputs
the sorted names.
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Finder
The desktop management and file management system for Apple
Macintosh computers. In addition to managing files and disks, the
Finder is responsible for managing the Clipboard and Scrapbook and
all desktop icons and windows
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Finger
A piece of software that lets you find out more information about an
Internet user like their real name and if they are logged in at the
present moment, usually if that user is on a UNIX or VAX system. It
is also possible to finger someone from the World Wide Web.
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Firewall
An electronic boundary that limits access between networks that are
linked together.
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Flame
To insult a person online in a chat room, message board, discussion
list, newsgroup, etc.
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Frames
On some websites you may see sections that are divided into separate
scrollable regions. These are frames.
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Freeware
Copyrighted software available free of charge.
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FTP
File Transfer Protocol. FTP is the most common method of
transferring files over the
internet. There
are thousands of FTP archives on the
internet,
where users can download files and programs, usually for free. To
FTP, your computer will need FTP client software.
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Gateway
A computer system for exchanging information across incompatible
networks that use different protocols. For example, many commercial
services have e-mail gateways for sending messages to Internet
addresses.
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Geek Speak
A new subset of language which makes use of online jargon terms to
describe and communicate a technology-related vocabulary, for
example, NetLingo is a dictionary of geek speak.
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GIF
Graphics Interchange Format - the most widely used graphic format on
the web.
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Gigabyte
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Go
Refers to the Go button on the Netscape
browser.
This button keeps track of all of the
sites you
have visited during your current web surfing session. Internet
Explorer has a similar button called the History button. This
button keeps a weekly log of the sites you visit and is not limited
to the current
surf.
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Gopher
A program that lets you browse the Internet and find information
using menus.
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Graphics
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Guestbook
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GUI
Short for Graphic User Interface. (Pronounced as "gooey."
This refers to the part of the computer that creates icons
(graphics) and puts them on the screen on the computer screen to
make it easy for you (the user,) to do things (interact) like click
and type (interact).
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Hacker
A computer enthusiast who enjoys learning everything about a
computer system and, through clever programming, pushes the system
to it's highest possible level of performance. Also known as
crackers, these computer hobbyists are skilled programmers with the
reputation of having a mischievous bent who break into secured
computer systems.
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Hacker Ethic
A set of moral principles common to the first generation hacker
community. According to hacker ethic, all technical information
should, in principle, be freely available to all. However,
destroying, altering, or moving data in a way that could cause
injury or expense to others is always unethical.
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Hard Drive
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Highlighted
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Hit
The access of a file by a user on a server. Every element of a
requested page (graphics, multimedia, etc.) including the HTML file
itself is counted as a hit. For example, if a Web page contains five
graphics, then accessing the page generates six hits. Hits used to
be a method of determining the amount of traffic a Web site
received, however, due to the fact that businesses needed to isolate
the exact number of times a page was requested (in order to charge
for advertising), this method was tossed aside in lieu counting the
actual HTML page requests.
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HTML
Hypertext Markup Language. The programming language used by
web pages. Documents written in HTML are
also said to be
Hypertext documents. Common
"tags" or codes, allow text formatting, images to be include d in a
web page, or links.
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HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
The protocol that tells the server what to send to the client, so
the client can view Web pages, FTP sites, or other areas of the net.
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HTTPS
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Home Page
The first or "front" page on a Web site that serves as the starting
point for navigation. Where the site's information actually begins.
Also known as the Welcome page. This should not be confused with a
buffer page or splash page. One Word or Two when used to refer to
something belonging to an individual, person or group of people (a
company for instance), or when used to refer to a place you want
someone to visit or does not yet exist, the one word version is used
- for example: - "Have you seen our/my homepage?" or "I gotta get a
homepage up!". When talking about a Home Page as a piece of a larger
Web site with many pages, in navigational directions on the actual
Web site or once you have actually arrived at this place as in:
"From the Help Page go back to the Home Page" or "This is our Home
Page", the two word version seems to be more applicable. You may
also see it written instructionally as just simply "Home" instead of
Home Page. Sometimes an Internet service provider will offer a
certain amount of disk space on their server for an account to put
up their own homepage.
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Host
A computer that functions as the beginning and end point of data
transfers. Most commonly known of as the place where your Web site
resides. An Internet host has a unique Internet address (IP address)
and a unique domain or host name.
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Hyperlink
Programming that lets you jump from one site or source of
information to another on a network, notably the World Wide Web.
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Hypertext Document
A file that contains "links" to other files. Web pages are examples
of hypertext documents. Hypertext documents use the programming
language
HTML.
Programming that lets you jump from one site or source of
information to another on a network, notably the World Wide Web.
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Icon
A picture on a web page that will take you to different places
depending on what part of the image you click on.
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ID
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Index File
Can refer to a file or directory found on a server. The file usually
contains information about the directory or Web site as well as
access privileges required, dates, and even a list of other indexes
(indices). This is usually the first place you check when you're
looking for a file. A file called index.html is usually the starting
point or home page for a Web site. A server is usually configured to
display automatically the index.html or .htm file when a request for
a certain directory comes to the server, therefore, the "default"
page that comes up when you type in a URL like
http://www.netlingo.com would be http://www.netlingo.com/index.html.
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Information Superhighway
A reference to Cyberspace, the
Internet or the
World Wide Web.
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Input
A device that provides a way of communicating with a computer.
Examples include mouse, keyboard, joystick, microphone, scanner,
modem.
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Install
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Interactive
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Internaut
A
Net Speak term used to describe a person
who surfs cyberspace. Like an astronaut in
outer space, an internaut is a cyberspace explorer.
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Internet
Originally designed by the U.S. Defense Department so that a
communication signal could widthstand a nuclear war and serve
military institutions worldwide, the Internet, was first known as
the
ARPAnet. A system of linked computer
networks, international in scope, that facilitates data
communication services such as remote login, file transfer,
electronic mail, and newsgroups. The Internet is a way of connecting
existing computer networks that greatly extends the reach of each
participating system.
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Intranet
A private network inside a company or organization that uses the
same kinds of software that you would find on the public Internet,
but that is only for internal use. As the Internet has become more
popular many of the tools used on the Internet are being used in
private networks, for example, many companies have Web servers that
are available only to employees. Note that an "Intranet" may not
actually be an Internet, it may simply be a network.
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ISP
Internet Service Provider
A company that provides access to the Internet. Before you can
connect to the Internet you must first establish an account with an
Internet Service Provider (ISP). For a monthly fee, the service
provider gives you a software package, username, password and an
access phone number. Once you install the software on your computer
and go through the registration process, you'll be able to surf the
Web, send e-mail and browse the newsgroups.
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IP Address
Internet Protocol address
A numeric address that is given to servers and users connected to
the Internet. For servers it is translated into a domain name by a
Domain Name Server aka the DNS. When you get "online" you are
assigned an IP address by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). This
IP address may be the same everytime you log on (this is called a
static IP) or it can change and be assigned each time you connect
based on what's available. Most Internet users prefer the static IP
because this allows you to use software such as Internet Phone or
CUSEEME more easily, which needs to know an IP address in order to
connect to another user. If your IP is automatically assigned based
on what's available then someone trying to "call" you with an
Internet Phone program will not be able to connect unless you
somehow identify what your current IP address is and transmit that
information to them somehow, so they could then point to the current
and correct address.
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IRC
Internet Relay Chat
IRC allows multiple users to "talk" to each other in real-time
over the
Internet. To use IRC, you need IRC
client software, and you need to choose an IRC server. There are
numerous available to everyone. You can talk with anyone who is on
the same IRC network as you, even if they are on a different IRC
server. IRC is divided into channels. When you join a channel everything
you type is visible to other people in the same channel, and
everything they type is visible to you. Most channels have a topic,
but the conversations on IRC tend to drift far from that topic.
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Java
Java is a computer programming language. It has gained a lot of
popularity because the same code can be used on many different
operating systems.
Another reason for Java's popularity is that Java
applets can be placed on web pages. When
someone views that web page, they automatically receive and run the
Java
applet.
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Java Script
Not really related to Java at all, JavaScript can make a web page
more dynamic.
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JPEG
Joint Photographic Experts Group - The other standard for images on
the web, along with GIF.
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Key Pal
The online equivalent of a pen pal. A key pal is a person you
correspond with using a keyboard via e-mail, versus using a pen to
write handwritten letters. These e-mail messages are written back
and forth between two or more people with some kind of regularity.
If you correspond with someone frequently or on a regular basis it
can be said that the two of you are "key pals".
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Key Word
The word (or words) a user types in when presented with a search box
upper right-hand On a
search engine, for
example, a keyword is the term or phrase that you type in to begin
an
online search. The term keyword also appears in a
meta tag
as part of the
HTML code on a
Web site. Keywords are the series of words which follow this
tag, and often comprise a long list of terms in order to help the
search engines readily identify and better index the Web site.
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LAN
Local Area Network
A network that connects computers in a small pre-determined area
(such as a room, a building, or a set of buildings), LAN's can also
be connected to each other via telephone lines, and radio waves. Workstations and personal computers in an office are commonly
connected to each other with a LAN. This allows them to have
send/receive files and/or have access to the files and data. Each
compter connected to a LAN is called a
node.
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LISTSERV
An automatic mailing list server developed by Eric Thomas for BITNET
in 1986. When e-mail is addressed to a LISTSERV mailing list, it is
automatically broadcast to everyone on the list. The result is
similar to a newsgroup or forum, except that the messages are
transmitted as e-mail and are therefore available only to
individuals on the list. LISTSERV is currently a commercial product marketed by L-Soft
International. Although LISTSERV refers to a specific mailing list
server, the term is sometimes used incorrectly to refer to any
mailing list server. Another popular mailing list server is
Majordomo, which is freeware.
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Link
also called hyperlinks, links are what allow you to jump from one
web site to another, by clicking on highlighted text or images.
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Log
A file that keeps record of a Web site's or a server's activity. The
file which contains the information on how many "hits" a Web page is
getting.
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Loop
A program that is written to keep repeating the same actions, over
and over. It can be set to loop forever, or for a set number of
repetitions.
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Lurker
A visitor to a newsgroup or online service who only reads other
people posts but never posts his or her own messages, thus remaining
anonymous.
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Mail
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Mail Box
The directory on a host computer where your e-mail message are
stored. With some systems you can elect to keep saved messages
either on the server or on your local computer as you prefer.
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Main Frame
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Megabite
A million bytes. A thousand kilobytes.
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MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface - One of the ways to reproduce
music on the web.
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Modem
MOdulator, DEModulator
A device that you connect to your computer and to a phone line, that
allows the computer to talk to other computers through the phone
system. Basically, modems do for computers what a telephone does for
humans. Generally there are 3 types of modems: external, PC Card and
internal.
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Mouse
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Monitor
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Monitored
Checked.
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MP3
MPEG Third Layer or MPEG-1, audio layer 3
MP3 is widely recognized as the most popular format for storing
music on the World Wide Web and other components of the Internet.
MP3 is an open format for making large music files smaller without
radically degrading their audio quality. It is considered an amazing
new standard for digital audio compression because it is capable of
compressing about 12:1 while still preserving sound quality. For example, an audio sample at CD Quality (44KHz, 16 bit,
Stereo) takes up 172 bytes for every second with a standard Wave
Audio file. Making use of Mpeg Layer 3 (MP3) compression each second
takes only 16 bytes, when compressed at the standard bitrate of 128
kbits/sec. By compressing at lower bitrates, MP3s can be lowered to
12 bytes per second of audio with slight quality loss. For a
standard Wave audio file to have a disk space / time ratio that
small, you would have to reduce the quality to an 8 bit, Mono, 11KHz
file. The only disadvantage to this format is that MP3 needs to be
decoded while it is being played back. This is done with a player
such as WinAmp, or Winplay3.
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Net
Short for Internet
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Net Speak
The talk of the Internet. It encompasses the "slang and jargon,
computer and Internet terms, and acronyms and smileys that you come
across while online."
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Netiquette
Etiquette in cyberspace. The rules of etiquette that govern online
interaction, for example, you should not TYPE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
AS IT INDICATES YOU ARE SHOUTING, another no-no is
spamming.
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Netizen
A citizen of the Internet.
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Network
Two or more computers that are connected. The most common types of
networks are:
-
LAN
- local area network:
The computers are near each other, like in the same office
space, room or building
-
WAN
- wide area network:
The computers are at different geographic locations and are
connected by telephone lines or radio waves.
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Newbie
Someone who is new to the Internet.
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Newsgroup
Newsgroups are sort of like discussion groups. There are over 10,000
different newsgroups available now, and each one is on a specific
topic. You can read messages written by other people on that topic,
or ask / answer questions yourself. Some newsgrou ps are moderated,
meaning someone watches over what is said on the newsgroups and
censors it, but most are unmoderated, so be careful, you never know
what you might see or read.
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Newsie
Someone who spends an excessive amount of time reading and posting
on newsgroups.
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OfflineNot connected to the Internet.
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Online
Connected to the Internet.
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Open
Depending on how it is used, can mean any one of the following: To
read the contents of a certain file To start or launch a computer
application or software program To maximize or restore a "window" of
an already running computer program. Most commonly used however is
the read meaning which may appear in a sentence something like this:
"Take this file and open it with Microsoft Word. This means that
MSWord is the application you should use to read this file or see
what is in it or what it looks like. Computer systems are set or
have an area where a user can set the default application to "open
up" a particular file.
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OS / Operating System
An operating system is the very basic "program" which makes your
computer start and run. It helps the higher level applications
"talk" to the hardware. Common operating systems are MS-DOS, Windows
95, UNIX, MAC System 7, etc. Normally programs written for one
operating system will not run on another.
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Output
A device that lets a computer communicate with you. Examples include
a monitor, a printer, a set of speakers.
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Password
A personal, secret set of letters, numbers and symbols a user enters
to access a program or log onto a network.
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Paste
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PGP / Pretty Good Provacy
"Pretty Good Privacy", an
encryption
program that is popular on the
Internet. PGP
helps to prevent other people from reading things such as email
messages which you send to a friend.
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Ping
A DOS command used to check the speed with which packets of
information are sent from a location on the Internet
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Pixel
Tiny dots on your computer (or TV) screen that, when combined
together, make up what you see on screen.
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Plug-in
A small application that runs in conjunction with your browser,
performing a specific function, like playing sound or movies.
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POP
Post Office Protocol
The protocol used by mail clients to retrieve messages from a
mail server. Comes in three flavors POP1, POP2, and POP3 the number
denoting the different version number of the protocol.
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Port
The first and most generally used meaning is a place where
information goes into or out of a computer, or both. E.g. the
"serial port" on a person computer is where a modem would be
connected. Secondly, 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. Services
can also listen on non-standard ports, in which case the port number
must be specified in a URL when accessing the server, so you might
see a URL of the form: gopher://peg.cwis.uci.edu:7000/ which shows a gopher server running on a non-standard port (the
standard gopher port is 70). 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.
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PostSubscribers to newsgroups and mailing lists take part in discussions
by sending, or posting their articles or comments online. Means the
same as "to put up".
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PPP
Point to Point Protocol. PPP is the protocol used if you want to
connect to the
Internet graphically.
Programs like Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer use PPP
connections.
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Prompt
When your computer is asking yo something. The flashing symbol where
you type or place your mouse on the screen. This is when the host
system asks you to do something and waits for you to respond. For
example, if you see "login:" it means type your user name.
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Protocols
Rules that different computers use to communicate and work with each
other.
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Proxy
Proxy or Proxy Server
A technique used to cache information on a Web server and acts as
an intermediary between a Web client and that Web server. It
basically holds the most commonly and recently used content from the
World Wide Web for users in order to provide quicker access and to
increase server security. This is common for an ISP especially if
they have a slow link to the Internet. Proxy servers are also
constructs that allow direct Internet access from behind a firewall.
They open a socket on the server, and allow communication via that
socket to the Internet. For example, if your computer is inside a
protected network, and you want to browse the Web using Netscape,
you would set up a proxy server on a firewall. The proxy server
would be configured to allow requests from your computer, trying for
port 80, to connect to its port 1080, and it would then redirect all
requests to the proper places.
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Public Domain
Work (text, code, art, etc. that is no longer copyright protected
and is free to use with out payment.
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QuickTime
Apple's widely used multimedia function, which allows text, sound,
video, and animation to be compined and used in one file.
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RAM
Random Access Memory - The memory on your computer that is available
for you to run applications. If the computer is turned off, whatever
was in RAM is gone.
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ReadMe
A text file that comes with software with information on the source,
installation and uninstallation instructions.
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Real Player
Software developed by RealNetworks that lets users play multimedia
presentations streamed by a Web server.
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Real Time Chat
A program allowing live conversation between individuals by typing
on a computer terminal. The most common tools are Talk and IRC
(International Relay Chat).
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Remote Access
It is possible to login to a remote computer by using an application
program based on TELNET - a terminal emulation protocol made for
this purpose. The user can therefore enter commands on a keyboard
attached to their local computer and access files etc. on a remote
computer that may be located anywhere in the world.
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Restricted Access
Access is limited to those who have approved user names and
passwords.
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Right Click
On a mouse with two buttons, the right button is clicked to bring up
a menu of options for the exact area the mouse is on.
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Robotics
Science of making robots- machines run by computers to do mechanical
tasks.
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ROM
Read Only Memory - Read Only Memory is a permanent storage for data
which is essential to the basic operations of the computer.
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Router
An electronic device that connects two networks, for example, it can
connect a local network directly to an ISP for Internet access. In a
packet-switching network such as the Internet, it is one of two
basic devices (the other is a host). Routers receive packets of
data, filter them, and forward them to a final destination using the
“best route.”
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Search Engine
A program that searches for information for you on the web.
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Server
A host computer on a network that holds information (e.g., Web
sites) and reponds to requests for information from it (e.g., links
to another Web page). The term server is also used to refer to the
software that makes the act of serving information possible.
Commerce servers, for example, use software to run the main
functions of an e-commerce Web site, such as product display, online
ordering, and inventory management. You'll also hear this described
as "shopping cart technology."
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Set Up
This is the installation procedure used by a software program to
install it.
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Shareware
Free or very inexpensive software easily downloaded off the
Internet. Registration is usually required.
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Shell Account
A UNIX-based account that allows an indirect, command-line
connection to the Internet.
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Site
A web site.
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SLIP
Serial Line Internet Protocol. Communication protocol used over serial lines to support Internet
connectivity.
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slot
A place in a motherboard to add peripherals.
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Smiley
Smileys are small faces created with ordinary text. :) Smileys can
be read by tilting your head to the side. They are often used in
email and
IRC to describe emotions, since it is
sometimes hard to let someone know you are sad, happy or kidding. A
smiley dictionary can be found at
www.eff.org.
But for now, the common smileys are:
:) - happy, joking, smiling
:O - bored, yawning
:7 - smarty, wry
:( - sad, hurt
;) - winking...watch out :)
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SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
The standard Internet protocol for transferring electronic mail
messages.
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Snail Mail
This is
netspeak for mail that goes through
the U.S. Post office.
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Software
A computer program such as a word processor, game, or email program.
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SPAM
Annoying email that you did not ask for. It is usually trying to
sell something or get you to go to a web site that you normally
would not go to.
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Streaming Audio / Streaming Video
Multimedia that does not have to be completely downloaded to your
computer to begin playing. It plays as it is received, hence
streaming.
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Supervised
Activity that is monitored for appropriateness.
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Surf
Visit web sites on the Internet. Clicking links to got to new web
sites.
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TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
This set of protocols makes TELNET, FTP, e-mail, and other
services possible among computers that don't belong to the same
network.
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Telenet
Telnet is used to connect to a remote computer across the
Internet. This is similar to if you dialed
the computer’s modem, but you use the Internet instead of the phone
lines.
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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.
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Text
Words
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Thread
Continuation of a a message posted in a discussion list or
newsgroup.
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TIFF or TIF
A graphic file format developed by Aldus and Microsoft. Mosaic
supports the viewing of TIFF images. The shorter TIF (without the
seconf F) version is used when referring to a PC based TIFF file.
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Trojan
A serious computer program (a virus or worm) usually spread in email
attachments, that work on the programming code in software programs
or computer operating systems to destroy data, and/or send private
information through the Internet. They usually are hard to find,
and appear originally to be harmless. Often they are set to begin
working on a specifit date or when a specific action is performed on
the computer triggers it.
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UNIX
Unix is an
operating system that was originally
developed by Bell Laboratories around 1970. It is a very powerful
multitasking, multi-user
operating system that was
first used by mainframes and workstations. Unix has been upgraded a
lot over the decades, and now there are many different "flavors" of
Unix, including versions for the home computer. Unix is the most
common
OS for
Internet
servers, because it can handle heavy computing loads and has
Internet networking protocols built-in.
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Upload
To copy files from your computer to a server over the internet, so
those files can be accessed by others. The reverse process of
download.
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URL
Uniform Resource Locator. The URL is basically the Internet Address
(see our help page explaining
Internet Addresses
URL’s usually look something like
http://www.mkl.com/newuser/toc.html.
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USENET
Often referred to as just the "newsgroups", USENET is a distributed
bulletin board system supported mainly by UNIX machines. Originally
implemented in 1979--1980 by Steve Bellovin, Jim Ellis, Tom
Truscott, and Steve Daniel at Duke University, it has swiftly grown
to become international in scope and is now probably the largest
decentralized information utility in existence. As of early 1993, it
hosted well over 1200 newsgroups and an average of 40 megabytes (the
equivalent of several thousand paper pages) of new technical
articles, news, discussion, chatter, and flamage every day.
Usenet groups can be "unmoderated" (anyone can post) or
"moderated" (submissions are automatically directed to a moderator,
who edits or filters and then posts the results). Some newsgroups
have parallel mailing lists for Internet people with no netnews
access, with postings to the group automatically propagated to the
list and vice versa. Some moderated groups (especially those which
are actually gatewayed Internet mailing lists) are distributed as
`digests', with groups of postings periodically collected into a
single large posting with an index.
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User Name
The name that gets you access to things. A username is like a handle
for a user on the Internet and is commonly left up to the user to
decide what it is, although most Web sites or systems will NOT allow
the same username to be assigned to two different people. Usually
it's the first part of your e-mail address before the @ sign or the
nickname you use in a chat room.
The name by which you or someone else is known by on the
Internet. Used when logging into an access provider or when entering
a member's only area on the Web.
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Utility
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Veronica
very easy rodent-oriented
Netwide index to computerized archives. This contrived acronym is really the name of a front end for
searching Gopher servers. A Veronica search looks for filenames and
produces a menu of items linked to a Gopher data source. It's really
named for a character from the Archie comics, because Veronica
searches Gopher sites in the same way that Archie searches ftp
archives.
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Video Conferencing
Conducting a
conference between two or more participants at different sites by
using computer networks or the Internet to transmit audio and video
data. For example, a point-to-point (two-person) video conferencing
system works much like a video telephone. Each participant has a
video camera, microphone, and speakers mounted on his or her
computer. As the two participants speak to one another, their voices
are carried over the network and delivered to the other's speakers,
and whatever images appear in front of the video camera appear in a
window on the other participant's monitor.
Multipoint video conferencing allows three or more participants to
sit in a virtual conference room and communicate as if they were
sitting right next to each other. Software programs such as CUSeeMe
have brought video conferencing to the Internet and are easily
available and easy to use.
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Virtual Community
An online community means a couple of different things; primarily,
it refers to an area on the Internet which caters to people's common
interests. These areas are virtual in the sense that they do not
take up any physical space. Communities are formed on
Web sites,
discussion groups,
newsgroups,
chat rooms, etc....IN GENERAL, anywhere
people of like mind and interests gather to communicate,
online.
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Virtual Reality
Simulation of the real thing
Means the same as "almost". You will
see this term appear before various computer terms to indicate
simulation technology that enables you to cross boundaries and
experience something without needing it's physical presence, as in
virtual theme parks, virtual communities.
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Virus
A virus is a small computer program that attaches itself to other
programs. Viruses can do many things to damage a computer, but most
are relatively harmless. Contrary to popular belief, you can not get
a virus by viewing a web page or reading email.
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VRML
Virtual Reality Modeling Language
An open, extensible, industry-standard scene description language
for 3-D scenes, or worlds, on the Internet. With VRML and certain
software tools, you can create and view distributed, interactive 3-D
worlds that are rich with text, images, animation, sound, music, and
even video. VRML 1.0 supports worlds with relatively simple
animations while VRML 2.0 (still in development) supports complex
3-D animations, simulations, and behaviors by allowing Java and
JavaScript programmers to write scripts that act upon VRML objects.
It is usually pronounced "V R M L", but its friends pronounce it
"vermel." The goal of VRML is to create the infrastructure and
conventions of cyberspace, a multi user space of many virtual worlds
on the Net.
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WAIS
Wide Area Information Server
A client-server information system that lets users search through
databases with a single user interface.
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WAV
Wave File
A kind of sound file, used extensively in Microsoft Windows.
There are converters available for other operating systems.
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Web / Web Page
A web page is a simgle page or site on the World Wide Web. You are
currently viewing a web page.
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Webby
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Web Designer
The asthetic and navigational Architect of a Web site and it's
presentation. How the site "looks" and "feels" is the responsibilty
of the Web designer. Takes alot of heat if graphics are "fuzzy" ,
links are too light, or if something is "hard to find". Usually this
person is on the artistic side of Web site building/developing
however, an extensive knowledge of Web based programming, art, and
information architecture combined are considered fundemental to
being a successful Web Designer. This person very often can create
entire Web productions completely on their own with little "outside"
help. Oh, and good client relational skills a must!
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Web Developer
A person who from a technical standpoint, architecturally "builds"
Web sites. Researches and provides through programming the means for
a particular Web product to work. Not to be confused with the Web
counterpart of Web designer.
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Web Page
World Wide Web Page
There are different usages of this term. The most technically
correct usage means a single HTML file, which when viewed by a
browser on the World Wide Web (WWW) could be several
screen-dimensions long, meaning you would "scroll" to view contents
that are off-screen. The size of a Web page varies greatly from
system to system and depends largely on what your computer monitor's
resolution is set at, therefore the contents of a given HTML file
which appears either as 2 or 10 or any amount of screens long, is
considered a single Web page. If you scroll up and down this page
for example you will notice other information on it other than just
what fits in one screen of your browser. All this information is
considered to be on one Web page. Large Web sites are said to have
hundreds of pages of information. This means the site contains
hundreds of separate documents varying in length each with probably
a different topic or subject. Web page length is sometimes judged by
how much of its content fits on a printed 8 1/2" X 11" page. This
usage is less correct and is usually only done by Web Designers who
have crossed over from the print industry in estimating how many
pages they are going to charge a client for designing.
The term Web page is also used to refer to an entire Web site.
You may hear someone say "have you got a Web page?", This usage
pertains more to a collection of "pages" which are "housed" under
one domain name. You may also hear it referred as a homepage,
although a homepage is indeed a Web page it is not quite the same
since a homepage is usually the starting point or front door to alot
more Web pages or Web site.
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Web Site
A home and/or location on the
World Wide Web. A place made up of
Web pages.
These pages can contain graphics, text, audio, video and other
dynamic and/or static materials.
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Web Speak
Same as
NetSpeak.
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WHOIS
A means of looking up names in a remote database. Used initially as
an aid for finding e-mail addresses for people at large institutions
or companies.
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Worm
Known primarily as a virus, a worm is a computer program that can
replicate itself. First postulated by computer science researcher
Fred Cohen in the '70s, computer viruses are small programs that
propagate by attaching copies of themselves to other programs. The
most famous example is the 1987 "Internet worm" which shut down
hundreds of computers nationwide.
It is also referred to as a program used by search engines to
locate and index information on the Web.
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World Wide Web
Often referred to just as "the Web" the WWW is a collection of
HTML and other documents available through the
Internet. For all practical purposes the
terms
Cyberspace,
Internet,
World Wide Web and
Information Superhighway are all basically
used interchangeably.
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WYSIWYG
What You See Is What You Get
(whiz-ee-wig)
An acronym used in online chat, e-mail, and newsgroup postings.
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XML
eXtensible Markup Language
A programming language/specification developed by the W3C. XML is
a pared-down version of SGML, designed especially for Web documents.
It enables Web authors and designers to create their own customized
tags to provide functionality not available with HTML. For example,
XML supports links that point to multiple documents, as opposed to
HTML links, which can reference just one destination each.
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Zine
(pronounced: zeen or zyn)
The nickname for an electronic magazine. Just like their real
world counterparts, online magazines primarily derive revenue from
ad sales. Broadly speaking, a zine is any Web site that publishes
content; Hotwired is considered by many to be the most famous zine.
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