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| Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) |
The restrictions
that a network segment places on the traffic it carries.
(These polices used to be more prevalent when the government
was running the Internet backbone.) |
|
Active Web Page |
Static web pages are fixed by the data in computer files. Active web pages contain constantly changing data. Every time a dynamic web page is requested by a web browser the HTML that is returned is created programmatically by the web server exactly as specified in scripts or programs. |
|
Active X |
ActiveX® controls are among the many types of components that use COM technologies to provide interoperability with other types of COM components and services. ActiveX controls are the third version of OLE controls (OCX), providing a number of enhancements specifically designed to facilitate distribution of components over high-latency networks and to provide integration of controls into Web browsers. These enhancements include features such as incremental rendering and code signing, to allow users to identify the authors of controls before allowing them to execute. |
| Address |
See email
address and host address. |
| Agent |
The commercial
version of the Free Agent newsreader. |
| Alias |
A short name used
to represent a more complicated one. Often used for e-mail
addresses or host domain names. |
| Analog |
A form of
electronic communication using a continuous electromagnetic
wave, such as television or radio. Any continuous wave form,
as opposed to digital on/off transmissions. |
|
AppleScript |
AppleScript is an English-like language used to write script files which can control the actions of the Apple Macintosh computer and the applications which run on it. Scripts can make decisions based on user-interaction or by parsing and analyzing data, documents or situations. AppleScript scripts can automate much of what you do, make actions on your computer more productive. |
|
Applet |
Java Applets are programs that are written in Java and run on your web browser in a web page. Applets can perform a wide variety of tasks from database access and forms to web site navigation and graphics animation. |
| Archive |
A repository of
files available for access at an Internet site. Also, a
collection of files, often a back-up of a disk or files saved
to tape to allow them to be transferred. |
| Article |
Message submitted
to a UseNet newsgroup. Unlike an e-mail message that goes to a
specific person or group of persons, a newsgroup message goes
to directories (on many machines) that can be read by any
number of people. |
| ASCII |
Data that is
limited to letters, numbers, and punctuation. |
|
ASP |
Microsoft(r) Active Server Pages (ASP) is a server-side scripting environment that you can use to create interactive Web pages and build powerful Web applications. When the server receives a request for an ASP file, it processes server-side scripts contained in the file to build the HTML Web page that is sent to the browser. In addition to server-side scripts, ASP files can contain HTML (including related client-side scripts like Javascript) and calls to Windows COM components that perform a variety of tasks, such as connecting to a database or processing business logic etc. |
| Attribute |
A form of command
line switch as applied to tags in the HTML language. HTML
commands or tags can be more specific when attributes are
used. Not all HTML tags utilize attributes. |
|
Audio Streaming |
Audio Streaming is sound that is delivered to you as it is being received from a web site or digital radio station. This is very different from downloading a file to your hard drive and then playing it after the entire file has been downloaded. The advantage of streaming is that there is no waiting (or very little) from the time you click the mouse until you hear the sound. |
|
AVI |
AVI stands for Audio Video Interleav. The AVI format was defined by Microsoft. By including an AVI player with Windows Microsoft has made AVI one the most common formats for audio/video data on the PC. |
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Backbone |
The major
communication lines of a network. |
| Bandwidth |
The maximum volume
of data that can be sent over a communications
network. |
| Bulletin Board System (BBS) |
A system that
allows you to connect to a computer to upload and download
files and leave messages for other users. |
| Binary |
Data that may
contain nonprintable characters, including graphics files,
programs, and sound files. |
| BinHex |
A program that is
used to encode binary files as ASCII so that they can be sent
through e-mail. |
| Bit |
The basic unit of
digital communications. There are eight bits in a
byte. |
| Bookmarks |
Term used by some
World Wide Web browsers for marking URL's you access
frequently. |
| Bounce |
An e-mail message
you receive that tells you that an e-mail you sent wasn't
delivered. Usually contains an error code and the contents of
the message that wasn't delivered. |
| Bits per Second (BPS) |
A unit of
measurement that expresses the speed at which data is
transferred between computers. |
| Browser |
A utility that
lets you look through collections of things. For example, a
file browser lets you look through a file system. Applications
that let you access the World Wide Web are called
browsers. |
| Byte |
A digital storage
unit large enough to contain one ASCII character. Compare to
bit. |
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C |
C was the natural name for the successor to a computer language called B. The C language was developed by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie of Bell Labs to program the UNIX based computers and equipment used in the telephone system. C is a general purpose language and is not specialized for any particular application. One of its main features is that it is available on almost every type of computer from a washing machine to a mainframe. |
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C++ |
C++ is an Object Oriented extension to C. C++ enables software re-usability by supporting objects and multiple inheritance. |
|
Cache |
Caches come in many types, but they all work the same way: they store information where you can get to it fast. A Web browser cache stores the pages, graphics, sounds, and URLs of online places you visit on your hard drive; that way, when you go back to the page, everything doesn't have to be downloaded all over again. Since disk access is much faster than Internet access, this speeds things up. Of course, disk access is slower than RAM access, so there's also disk caching, which stores information you might need from your hard disk in faster RAM. |
|
CGI Programs |
Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a standard for interfacing external programs with web servers. A plain HTML document that a Web server supplies is static, which means it exists in a constant state: a text file that doesn't change. A CGI program, on the other hand, is executed in real-time, so that it can output dynamic information. For example, let's say that you wanted to "hook up" your database to the World Wide Web, to allow people from all over the world to query it. Basically, you need to create a CGI program that your web server will execute to transmit information to the database engine, and receive the results back again and display them in a web browser. |
|
Cookie |
According to Netscape, cookies are a "general mechanism which server side connections can use to both store and retrieve information on the client side of the connection." In English, that means cookies are small data files written to your hard drive by some Web sites when you view them in your browser. These data files contain information the site can use to track such things as passwords, lists of pages you've visited, and the date when you last looked at a certain page. |
| Channel |
An Internet Relay
Chat term that refers to a group of people discussing a
particular topic. |
|
Class Library |
Object Class Libraries are pre written and tested software objects and code that can readily be inherited and re-used in new applications very easily. this eliminates the need to re-invent the wheel in every software project re creating functionality that has already been developed and tested. |
| Client |
User of a service.
Also often refers to a piece of software that gets information
from a server. |
| Coaxial |
A type of wiring
where the signal wire is in the center of a shielded
cable. |
| Command Line |
Line on a terminal
based interface where you can enter commands to the operating
system. Some Internet accounts are command line
based. |
| Compress |
A program that
compacts a file so it fits into a smaller space. This term can
also refer to the technique of reducing the amount of space a
file takes up. |
|
Crystal Report |
Crystal reports is a tool for creating reports based on the information in a RDBMS (Relational Data Base Management System). The reports can show the latest data in the database or the data for a particular date. |
|
CSS |
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a simple styling language which allows attaching style to HTML elements. Every element type as well as every ocurance of a specific element within that type can be declared an unique style, e.g. margins, positioning, color or size. By including a single Cascading Style Sheet every page on your web site can inherit the styles described therein. |
| Cyberspace |
A term used to
refer to the entire collection of sites accessible
electronically. If your computer is attached to the Internet
or another large network, it exists in
cyberspace. |
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Database |
A database can be as simple as a shopping list or as complex as a collection of thousands of sounds, graphics, and related text files. Database software is designed to help users organize such information. While early "flat" databases were limited to simple, searchable rows and columns, modern relational databases allow users to access and reorganize data in a variety of ways. Even more advanced databases let users store and retrieve all kinds of nonstandard data, from sound clips to video. |
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DDE |
Windows DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) sends messages between applications that share data and uses shared memory to exchange data between applications. Applications can use the DDE protocol for one-time data transfers and for continuous exchanges in which applications send updates to one another as new data becomes available |
| Dedicated Line |
See leased
line. |
|
DHTML |
DHTML, or Dynamic HTML, is a web technology that enables elements inside your web page to be, dynamic. Things such as text, page styles (font color, size etc), element position, etc, can all be changed dynamically, thanks to DHTML. It brings web pages a step closer to how things look on your television, where images appear and disappear, text flies in and out, and content move around freely on the screen. DHTML pages contain client-side scripts that take advantage of the DHTML technology to bring true interactivity to your site. They can be written in a number of languages, although the most popular are JavaScript and VBscript. |
| Dial-up |
A type of
connection where you use a modem to connect to another
computer or an Internet provider via telephone
lines. |
| Digest |
A form of mailing
list where a number of messages are concatenated, or linked,
and sent out as single messages. |
| Digital |
A type of
communication used by computers, consisting of individual on
and off pulses. |
|
DiVX |
DivXTM is a new format for digital video, much like MP3 is a format for digital music. DivXTM is the brand name of a video compression technology created by DivXNetworks, Inc. The DivXTM codec (short for compression-decompression) is based on the MPEG-4 compression standard. This codec is so advanced that it can reduce an MPEG-2 video (the same format used for DVD or Digital Satellite Transmissions) to ten percent of its original size. |
|
Document Management System |
A system of archiving and storing electronic and paper based documents for subsequent retrieval and viewing or printing. Document Management systems also store "Meta Data" or information about the documents being archived to aid in the document retrieval process. |
| Domain |
Highest
subdivision of the Internet, for the most part by country
(except in the U.S., where it's by type of organization, such
as educational, commercial, and government). Usually the last
part of a host name; for example, the domain part of ibm.com
is .com, which represents the domain of commercial sites in
the U.S. |
| Domain Name System (DNS) |
The system that
translates between Internet IP addresses and Internet host
names. |
| Dot Address |
See host
address. |
|
DSL |
Digital Subscriber Lines carry data at high speeds over standard copper telephone wires. With DSL, data can be delivered at a rate of 1.5 mbps (around 30 times faster than through a 56-kbps modem). Also, DSL users can receive voice and data simultaneously, so small offices can leave computers plugged into the Net without interrupting phone connections. Currently, DSL is expensive because specialized equipment--a splitter--needs to be installed at the subscriber's location. DSL Lite, the consumer-ready version of DSL, requires no such splitter, and promises comparable access speeds at a cheaper rate. xDSL is the collective term for different variations of DSL, such as ADSL and HDSL. |
| Download |
Move a file from a
remote computer to your local computer. |
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| E-mail |
An electronic
message delivered from one computer to another. Short for
electronic mail. |
| E-mail Address |
An address used to
send e-mail to a user on the Internet, consisting of the user
name and host name (and any other necessary information, such
as a gateway machine). An Internet e-mail address is usually
of the form username@hostname. |
| Encryption |
The process of
scrambling a message so that it can be read only by someone
who knows how to unscramble it. |
| Ethernet |
A type of local
area network hardware. Many TCP/IP networks are ethernet
based. |
| Expire |
Remove an article
from a UseNet newsgroup after a special interval. |
| Extension |
An enhancement or
addition to an existing HTML standard. Extensions are usually
referred to in the context of the HTML language. Netscape and
Microsoft utilize extensions to the HTML standards that are
proprietary to their own browser products. See also
browser. |
|
Extranet |
Companies often use extranets to provide nonpublic information to a select group of people, such as business partners or customers. So while an extranet may look like an ordinary Web site, you have to enter a password or use digital encryption to access it. For example, Federal Express's customers can track packages on the company's extranet by simply entering a tracking number. And Bank of America's extranet lets users transfer funds or look up account balances online. Using an extranet can help companies save money by allowing customers to find information themselves, without having to call and talk to a person. |
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| Frequently Asked Question
(FAQ) |
Contains a list of
commonly asked questions on a topic. Most UseNet newsgroups
have a FAQ to introduce new readers to popular topics in the
newsgroup. |
| Finger |
A program that
provides information about users on an Internet host (possibly
may include a user's personal information, such as project
affiliation and schedule). |
| Firewall |
a device placed on
a network to prevent unauthorized traffic from entering the
network. |
| Flame |
Communicate in an
abusive or absurd manner. Often occurs in newsgroup posts and
e-mail messages. |
|
Flash |
Flash is an authoring tool for animated multimedia both on and off the Web. Flash is today the most widely accepted technology for creating fully interactive real-time design animation's on the Web. The most amazing thing about Flash animation technology is its low bandwidth requirements compared to animated GIFs, Quick Time movies, or even Shockwave Director technology. Flash file size requirements are extremely low due to its use of vector art as compared to bit-mapped art used in animated GIFs. Vector art uses geometry to define shapes and colors rather than bitmaped art which is defined by coloring each individual pixel (represented by a group of data bits) in a user-defined fixed sized matrix (often called a "raster"). Programs such as Photoshop, Painter, XRES, and your scanner software use bitmap graphics. Flash can be used to make simple animated banners and graphics or used to create an entire Web site. The developer of this product, Macromedia, has designed Flash to work on all operating systems and has designed it to play with the Shockwave plug-in or through JAVA-playback and Active X if you don't have the plug-in. Viewers of Flash animations who have the plug-in will notice the presentation start quicker than those without the plug-in. Flash can also be used for CD-authoring, and is a powerful program for illustration and presentations. |
| Forms |
On-line data entry
sheets supported by some World Wide Web browsers. |
| Frame Relay |
A type of digital
data communications protocol. |
| Freeware |
Software that is
made available by the author at no cost to anyone who wants it
(although the author retains rights to the
software). |
| File Transfer Protocol (FTP) |
An Internet
communications protocol that enables you to transfer files
between hosts on the Internet. |
| For Your Information (FYI) |
An abbreviation
used often in on-line conversations. An FYI is also a type of
Internet reference document that contains answers to basic
questions about the Internet. |
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| Gateway |
A device that
interfaces two networks that use different
protocols. |
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GIF |
The GIF (Graphics Interchange File) file format was initially developed by Compuserve as a cross platform graphics format which would allow compressed graphics files to be viewed on DOS, Commodore and Apple systems. As time went on Windows, Macintosh and virtually every other type of computer could also display GIF files making it a de facto standard of the industry. |
|
GIF Animation |
GIF Animation is the easiest way of delivering animation to many web browsers since most of them support this file format. Here is an example GIF animation of a US Flag waving in the breeze. |
| Gigabit |
Very high speed (1
billion bits per second) data communications. |
| Gigabyte |
A unit of data
storage approximately equal to 1 billion bytes of
data. |
| Gzip |
A file compression
program originally designed to replace the UNIX "compress"
utility. |
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| Hacking |
Originally
referred to playing around with computer systems; now often
used to indicate destructive computer activity. |
| Headers |
Lines at the
beginning of an e-mail message or newsgroup post that contain
information about the message: its source, destination,
subject, and route it took to get there, among other
things. |
| Home Page |
The primary
document for a Web site. All other Web documents at that site
are linked to the home page. |
| Host Address |
A unique number
assigned to identify a host on the Internet (also called IP
address or dot address). This is usually represented as four
numbers between 1 and 254, and separated by periods; for
example, 192.58.107.230. |
| Host Name |
A unique name for
a host that corresponds to the host address. |
|
Hosting Service |
A web hosting service will give your web site a "home" on the web by providing space for your files on their server and making your web pages available to the entire Internet. Their fees and services vary greatly. |
| Hosts |
Individual
computers connected to the Internet; see also
nodes. |
| Hotlist |
A list of your
favorite World Wide Web sites that can be accessed quickly by
your browser. |
| HyperText Mark-Up Language (HTML) |
The formatting
language that is used to create World Wide Web
documents. |
| HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP) |
The communications
protocol that enables WWW hypertext documents to be retrieved
quickly. |
| Hyperlinks |
See
links. |
| Hypertext |
An on-line
document that has words or graphics containing links to other
documents. Usually, selecting the link area on screen (with a
mouse or keyboard command) activates these links. |
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| Internet |
The term used to
describe all the worldwide interconnected TCP/IP
networks. |
| InterNIC |
The NSFNET manager
sites on the Internet that provide information about the
Internet. |
| Internet Protocol (IP) |
The communications
protocol used by computers connected to the
Internet. |
| IP Address |
See host
address. |
| Internet Relay Chat (IRC) |
A live conference
facility available on the Internet. |
| Integrated Services Digital Network
(ISDN) |
An emerging
digital communications standard, allowing faster speeds than
are possible using modems over analog phone
lines. |
|
Intranet |
A play on the word Internet, an intranet is a restricted-access network that works like the Web, but isn't on it. Usually owned and managed by a corporation, an intranet enables a company to share its resources with its employees without confidential information being made available to everyone with Internet access. |
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ISP |
Once upon a time, you could only connect to the Internet if you belonged to a major university or had a note from the Pentagon. Not anymore: ISPs have arrived to act as your (ideally) user-friendly front end to all that the Internet offers. Most ISPs have a network of servers (mail, news, Web, and the like), routers, and modems attached to a permanent, high-speed Internet "backbone" connection. Subscribers can then dial into the local network to gain Internet access--without having to maintain servers, file for domain names, or learn Unix. |
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JavaScript |
JavaScript is a platform-independent, event-driven, interpreted programming language developed by Netscape Communications Corp. and Sun Microsystems. Originally called LiveScript (and still called LiveWireTM by Netscape in its compiled, server-side incarnation), JavaScript is affiliated with Sun's object-oriented programming language JavaTM primarily as a marketing convenience. They interoperate well but are technically, functionally and behaviorally very different.
JavaScript is useful for adding interactivity to the World Wide Web because scripts can be embedded in HTML files (i.e., web pages) simply by enclosing code in a tag pair. All modern browsers can interpret JavaScript -- albeit with some irritating caveats. (More about them below.)
In practice, JavaScript is a fairly universal extension to HTML that can enhance the user experience through event handling and client-side execution, while extending a web developer's control over the client's browser. And that's worth a FAQ. |
|
JSP |
JSP (Java Server Page) is a server-side scripting environment that you can use to create interactive Web pages and build powerful Web applications. When the server receives a request for a JSP file, it processes server-side java language code contained in the file to build the HTML web page that is sent to the browser. In addition to HTML and related client-side scripts like Javascript JSP files contain java language code which can perform a variety of tasks, such as connecting to a database and formatting returned data in an HTML format that can be displayed by any web browser. |
|
JPEG |
The JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) file format was developed as a non-proprietary high quality compressed graphics format. Web Browsers on Windows, Macintosh and virtually every other type of computer can also display JPEG files making it a de facto standard of the industry. |
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| Kill File |
A file used by
some newsreader software that allows you to automatically skip
posts with certain attributes (specific subject, author, and
so on). |
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| Leased Line |
A dedicated phone
line used for network communications. |
| Links |
The areas (words
or graphics) in an HTML document that cause another document
to be loaded when the user clicks on them. |
| Local |
Pertaining to the
computer you are now using. |
| Local Host |
The computer you
are currently using. |
| Logon |
Provides a user ID
and password to allow you to use the resources of a
computer. |
|
Lossless Audio Compression |
Audio compression can be one of two categories, lossless or lossy. Lossless digital compression is commonly used to reduce the size of computer files for electronic transmission. In order for the files to be useable on a computer the files that are extracted from a compressed data file must be identical to the original file (before it was compressed). Lossless compression is great because it makes perfect copies but it doesn't yield very high compression ratios. That means it doesn't save huge amounts of disk storage space. ZIP, ARC, TAR, and SIT are some of the acronyms or formats of Lossless Compression commonly used on computers. |
|
Lossy Audio Compression |
Audio compression can be one of two categories, lossless or lossy. Lossy compression algorithms offers much higher compression ratios than lossless algorithms but in order to achieve this they need to discard some of the original data. Lossy compression is only suitable for use on audio or graphical data. The audio or graphics are reproduced but at a lower overall quality than they had before they were compressed. In some cases the difference is difficult to perceive. The compression ratio can usually be adjusted so the quality level can vary widely. Audio that is compressed at a 20:1 or 10:1 ratio will certainly sound inferior to audio that was compressed at a 2:1 ratio. MPEG, MP3, AAC, RA, WMF, JPEG, QT, and DivX are some of the acronyms or formats of Lossy compression commonly used for audio and video. |
| Lurking |
Observing but not
participating in an activity, usually a UseNet
newsgroup. |
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| Mailers |
Applications that
let you read and send e-mail messages. |
| Mailing List |
A service that
forwards an e-mail message sent to it to everyone on a list,
enabling a group of people to discuss a particular
topic. |
|
MIDI |
MIDI is an acronym for musical instrument digital interface. Midi files contain the equivalent of an electronic musical score. This digital sheet music contains performance information, without any actual samples of sound. Midi is the only sound format that contains no actual sound samples. Microsoft .wav files and other formats are real sound files, and tend to be huge files relative to the time duration of the sound, as compared to midi files. Your computer contains the actual patches or samples of sound that are played for the midi score. Midi files can have multiple tracks and can be included in web pages and qucickly downloaded and heard by the people who are browsing your web site. |
| Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extensions
(MIME) |
An extension to
Internet mail that allows for the inclusion of nontextual data
such as video and audio in e-mail. |
| Modem |
An electronic
device that enables digital computer data to be transmitted
via analog phone lines. |
| Moderator |
A person who
examines all submissions to a newsgroup or mailing list and
allows only those that meet certain criteria to be posted.
Usually, the moderator makes sure that the topic is pertinent
to the group and that the submissions aren't
flames. |
|
MPEG |
The Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) file format was developed as a non-proprietary high quality compressed video format. Players for MPEG are available on Windows, Macintosh computers and many Set Top Boxes and Digital Satellite Receivers. |
| Multimedia |
Presenting
information using more than one type of media; for example,
sound, text, and graphics. |
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| Network |
A number of
computers physically connected to enable communication with
one another. |
| Newsgroups |
The electronic
discussion groups of UseNet. |
| Newsreaders |
Applications that
let you read (and usually post) articles in UseNet
newsgroups. |
| Nodes |
Individual
computers connected to a network. See also
hosts. |
|
Non Linear Video Editing |
NLE Non-Linear Editing, in the context of computer editing, is to film and video editing what the word processor was to the typewriter. Non-linear editing offers the best of both the film and video worlds..and more. The benefits of Non-linear editors (NLE) are greater than could be explained here. A NLE allow you to make changes in your video edit anywhere at any time. A NLE can easily save multiple cuts of one program. A NLE can remember and undo your recent edits that you aren't happy with. |
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| Online |
Existing in
electronic form (for example, on-line documentation). Also,
connected to a network. |
|
OS |
Operating System - A computer by itself is essentially dumb bits of wire and silicon. An operating system knows how to talk to this hardware and can manage a computer's functions, such as allocating memory, scheduling tasks, accessing disk drives, and supplying a user interface. Without an operating system, software developers would have to write programs that directly accessed hardware--essentially reinventing the wheel with every new program. With an operating system, such as Windows NT or Mac OS 8, developers can write to a common set of programming interfaces called APIs and let the operating system do the dirty work of talking to the hardware. |
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| Packet |
The unit of data
transmission on the Internet. A packet consists of the data
being transferred with additional overhead information, such
as the transmitting and receiving of addresses. |
| Packet Switching |
The communications
technology that the Internet is based on, where data being
sent between computers is transmitted in packets. |
| Parallel |
A means of
communication in which digital data is sent multiple bits at a
time, with each simultaneous bit being sent over a separate
line. |
|
PDF |
Portable Document Format (PDF) is a document description language that has been implemented on a wide variety of computers. This makes the same PDF documents readable on otherwise totally incompatible operating systems like Macintosh , Windows and UNIX. Even if you don't know what that is, you may know about Adobe Acrobat, the program used to create and read PDF files. This format has become a strong standard for sending documents, manuals and literature over the Internet. PDF files on web sites can be displayed by most web browsers if the Free Acrobat Reader program and browser plug-in is installed on the computer. |
| Peer-to-Peer |
Internet services
that can be offered and accessed by anyone, without requiring
a special server. |
|
Perl |
Practical Extraction and Reporting Language (PERL), is an interpreted computer language that functions on a wide variety of computers. It eclectically combines features and purposes of many programming languages. Perl is widely used for programming World Wide Web electronic forms and generally serves as a glue and gateway between systems, databases, and users. |
|
PHP |
PHP (Personal Home Page) is a server-side scripting environment that you can use to create interactive Web pages and build powerful Web applications. When the server receives a request for a PHP file, it processes server-side perl scripts contained in the file to build the HTML web page that is sent to the browser. In addition to HTML and related client-side scripts like javascript PHP files contain perl scripts which can perform a variety of tasks, such as connecting to a database and formatting returned data in an HTML format that can be displayed by any web browser. |
| Ping |
A utility that
sends out a packet to an Internet host and waits for a
response (used to check if a host is up). |
| Pipeline |
A computer
Internet service package. |
| Point of Presence (POP) |
Indicates
availability of a local access number to a public data
network. |
| Port1 |
A physical channel
on a computer that allows you to communicate with other
devices (printers, modems, disk drives, and so
on). |
| Port2 |
An address to
which incoming data packets are sent. Special ports can be
assigned to send the data directly to a server (FTP, Gopher,
WWW, telnet, and e-mail) or another specific
program. |
| Post |
Send a message to
a UseNet newsgroup. |
| Postmaster |
An address to
which you can send questions about a site (asking if a user
has an account there, or if they sell a particular
product. |
|
Post Office Protocal |
Post Office Protocol - The current champ in Internet email mailbox access standards, but its limitations--basically, you connect to a server and download all your messages, which are then deleted from the server--discourage flexibility. Of course, some clients let you leave all messages on the server, and/or refuse to download messages above a certain size. Still, as messages become longer--with multimedia (such as sound or video) objects and the likes--we'll want some flexibility in what we retrieve and when we retrieve it. That's where IMAP comes in. The current version of POP is POP3. |
| Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) |
A drive that
allows you to use a network communications protocol over a
phone line, used with TCP/IP to allow you to have a dial-in
Internet host. |
| Provider |
Someone who sells
(or gives away, in some cases) access to the
Internet. |
| Public Domain Software |
Software that is
made available by the author to anyone who wants it (in this
case, the author gives up all rights to the
software). |
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QuickTime |
QuickTime is a multimedia architecture developed by Apple Computer Apple for Macintosh, Windows, and other platforms. It allows your computer to work with real time movies, sounds, and high-quality compressed images. |
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RDBMS |
Relational Database Management System |
| Remote Host |
A host on the
network other than the computer you currently are
using. |
| Router |
Equipment that
receives an Internet packet and sends it to the next machine
in its destination path. |
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| Serial |
A means of
communication in which digital data is sent one bit at a time
over a single physical line. |
| Server |
Provider of
service. Also often refers to a piece of hardware or software
that provides access to information requested from it. See
also client. |
| Server Side Include (SSI) |
An SSI is a
command that directs the server to run a program, usually in
the PERL programming language. SSI's are server
specific. |
|
Servlet |
Java Servlets are programs that are written in Java and run on your web server. They perform tasks once only delegated to CGI programs. |
| Shareware |
Software that is
made available by the author to anyone who wants it, with the
request to send the author a nominal fee if the software is
used on a regular basis. |
|
Shopping Cart |
Shopping carts keep track of what products a customer orders from your electronic store. |
| Signature |
A personal
sign-off used in e-mail and newsgroup posts, often contained
in a file and automatically appended to the mail or post.
Often contains organization affiliation and pertinent personal
information. |
| Site |
A group of
computers under a single administrative control. |
| Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) |
A way of running
TCP/IP via the phone lines to enable you to have dial-in
Internet host. |
|
SHTML |
SHTML (Server parsed HTML) is a format where the web server parses or reads thru a file looking for specially marked SSI (Server Side Includes) tags and replacing them with with some other data or the contents of another file. SSI is extremely use full for creating areas of a web page that can be derived from normal non HTML text documents that can be changed and maintained by anyone with no more than a word processor. |
| Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) |
The accepted
communication protocol standard for exchange of e-mail between
Internet hosts. |
| Spam |
1. Sending UBE
(Unsolicited Bulk Email) email messages. 2. Posting messages
to inappropriate newsgroups. |
|
Spread Sheet |
A spread sheet represents data in a table like fashion consisting of rows of data organized in columns. Spread Sheet Programs like Lotus 123 and Microsoft Excel are like erector sets for building these smart self calculating marvels. Spread sheets can be used to calculate and display financial projections or financial statements. |
|
SQL |
Structured Query Language |
|
SSL |
The SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Handshake Protocol was developed by Netscape Communications Corporation to provide security and privacy over the Internet. The protocol supports server and client authentication. The SSL protocol maintains the security and integrity of the transmission channel by using encryption, authentication and message authentication codes. SSL is widely used to protect sensative information like E-Commerce credit card and customer data. |
|
Streaming Video |
Video Streaming is video and sound that is delivered to you as it is being received from a web site or digital TV station. This is very different from downloading a file to your hard drive and then playing it after the entire file has been downloaded. The advantage of streaming is that there is no waiting (or very little) from the time you click the mouse until you see the picture. |
| Subscribe |
Become a member of
a mailing list or newsgroup; also refers to obtaining Internet
provider services. |
| Surfing |
Jumping from host
to host on the Internet to get an idea of what can be found.
Also used to refer to briefly examining a number of different
UseNet newsgroups. |
| Syntax |
A statement that
contains programming code. |
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| T1 |
Communication
lines operating at 1.544M/second. |
| T3 |
Communication
lines operating at 45M/second. |
| Tag |
A slang reference
for commands that are part of HTML. See also
HTML. |
|
Telnet |
Telnet is an application that lets you log on to a Unix computer. Provided you have an account on that Telnet server, you can then use its resources. A drawback of Telnet is that it's character-based, so you need to speak Unix to the other computer. |
|
TIFF |
The Tag Interface File Format (TIFF) is a standard for storing bit mapped graphics from scanners and fax machines. Free TIFF file viewers and plug-ins are available for most web browsers and computers. TIFF is commonly used in document management systems to enable viewing of scanned legacy documents. The US Patent and Trademark Office stores millions of old patent and trademark documents in TIFF files so they may be viewed and read by anyone with a web browser and an internet connection. |
|
TCP/IP |
TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internet protocol) - These two protocols were developed by the U.S. military to allow computers to talk to each other over long distance networks. IP is responsible for moving packets of data between nodes. TCP is responsible for verifying delivery from client to server. TCP/IP forms the basis of the Internet, and is built into every common modern operating system (including all flavors of Unix, the Mac OS, and the latest versions of Windows). |
| Thread |
All messages in a
newsgroup or mailing list pertaining to a particular
topic. |
| Traffic |
The information
flowing through a network. |
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| Unsolicited Bulk Email
(UBE) |
Sending message(s)
to email addresses that did not request the
messages. |
| UNIX |
An operating
system used on many Internet hosts. |
| Upload |
Move a file from
your local computer to a remote computer. |
| Universal Resource Locator (URL) |
Used to specify
the name and location of a World Wide Web document. Can also
specify other Internet services available from WWW browsers.
For example, http://www.rtz.com. |
| UseNet |
A collection of
computer discussion groups that are read all over the
world. |
| User Name |
The ID used to log
on to a computer. |
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| Viewers |
Applications that
are used to display non-text files, such as graphics, sound,
and animation. |
| Virus |
a computer program
that covertly enters a system by means of a legitimate
program, usually doing damage to the system; compare to
worm. |
| Virtual Reality Modeling Language
(VRML) |
An experimental
language that lets you display 3-D objects in Web
documents. |
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| Web Chat |
An application
that enables you to carry on live conversations over the World
Wide Web. |
| Worm |
A computer program
that invades other computers over a network, usually
nondestructive; compare to virus. |
|
WSH |
Windows Scripting Host (WSH) is a language-independent scripting host that allows you to run any script engine on the Windows operating system. For example, one script can be run with the VBScript script engine, and another could be run with Jscript, and yet another could be run with perl. WSH also extends the functionality of the scripting engines it supports by providing access to the Windows Common Object Model (COM) and all of the COM objects built into or installed on a Windows System. Distributed COM (DCOM) provides WSH scripts access to COM objects residing on other systems on a network. |
| World Wide Web (WWW) |
A hypertext based
system that allows browsing of available Internet resources.
Also, called the Web. |
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XML |
XML stands for EXtensible Markup Language. XML is a markup language much like HTML. XML was designed to describe data. Each data item is enclosed in descriptive "tags" that identify the data item. This makes XML data suitable for many applications. It is important to understand that XML is not a replacement for HTML. XML is used to structure and describe data, while HTML will be used to format and display the same data. |
|
XSL |
XSL stands for EXtensible Stylesheet Language. XSL is a simple language that can be used to can transform or format XML data into an HTML form so it can be displayed in a web browser. XSL is far more sophisticated than the CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) used by HTML. Because of its simplicity and the fact that many databases can output XML data sets, XSL is very useful tool for quickly creating web pages that contain dynamic data from databases. |
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| Zip |
Probably the
single most popular file compression and archive program for
PCs. |
