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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
A
Address
An address in a unique identifier assigned to a web
page. The address is more commonly referred to as the URL
(Uniformed Resource Locator).
Address Book
An address book is where you keep e-mail addresses in your
e-mail program, such as Microsoft Outlook Express.
ADN
(Advanced Digital Network) Often refers to 56kbps leased line
AltaVista
A well-known search engine available on the internet. Its
full address is www.altavista.com
Anonymous FTP
Users may gain access to a remote server using FTP without
actually having an account on that server. The user's E-mail
address is usually given as a password and the user name 'anonymous'
is assigned to the user by systems supporting this service.
Applet
A multimedia application written or embedded in the Java language
such as animation or sound, viewable only in a Java-enabled
browser such as Netscape 2.0 or HotJava.
Application
A software program, such as Microsoft Word or Lotus 123.
Archie
A database of anonymous ftp sites and their contents, "Archie"
keeps track of the entire contents of these sites, and allows
users to search for files on those sites using various different
kinds of filename searches.
Archive
Often compressed, archives are usually large files containing
several smaller files. Commonly used archive file formats
are ZIP, TAR, ARJ, LZH, UC2.
Archive site
Contains archived files of many kinds, available for users
to download either by FTP or E-mail.
ARJ
Allows the user to store one or more files in a compressed
format in an archive file. This saves space both in the compression
and in the saving of disk sector clusters. Particularly strong
compressing databases, uncompressed graphics files, and large
documents. Named after the creator, American programmer Robert
Jung.
ARPA
(Advanced Research Projects Agency) US governmental organization
responsible for creating an experimental network which heralded
the beginning of the internet. Now known as Defence Advanced
Research Projects Agency.
ARPAnet
Network created by ARPA in 1969, primarily allowing data transfer
between Government laboratories. (Now defunct).
ASCII
(American Standard Code for Information Interchange) a file
containing only text characters: numbers, letters, and standard
punctuation.
ATM
(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) a new communications standard
that is currently in the later stages of development. ATM
is designed to transfer voice, video, and other multimedia
data that requires short bursts of large quantities of data
that can survive small losses but must be broadcast in real
time.
Attachments
Multimedia files that are 'attached' to an E-mail; can be
text, graphics, sound, video, spreadsheet, database, or even
an entire application.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
B
Backbone
A central high-speed network established by a company or organisation
for connecting independent sub-networks.
Bandwidth
In simplistic terms, bandwidth is the amount of information
travelling through a single channel at any one moment in time.
Baud Rate
Speed at which data travels through a modem, measured in bps
(bits per second). Most modems today range from 2400 to over
50,000 bps.
BBS
A computer site set up to accept messages, files etc on a
given topic. Can be connected to the internet, or accessed
through direct dial phone lines. Content and protocol are
usually established by the system operator (sysop) or moderator.
BCC (Blind Carbon Copy)
An e-mail feature used to send the same message to a number
of e-mail addresses, without the address of any recipient
appearing on the message.
Binary
Binary data is a direct representation of the bits stored
in RAM on a computer. Much more compact and accurate than
ASCII.
Bit
(Binary DigIT) the smallest unit of computerized data, comprising
of either a 1 or 0. A combination of bits can indicate an
alphabetic character, a numeric digit, or perform a signalling,
switching or other function. Bandwidth is usually measured
in bits-per-second.
Body
In E-mail terms, the part of the message containing the most
textual content, sandwiched between the Header and the Signature.
Bookmark
A stored URL or web address in your browser.
BPS
(Bits Per Second) speed at which data transfer is measured.
Browse
(also Surf) To trawl the internet for information: hence "browser",
a piece of software that allows you to do just that.
Browser
(Often called a 'Web Browser') allows the user to search the
World Wide Web and other internet facilities using a Graphical
User Interface. Examples are Mosaic and Netscape.
Byte
A unit of data, generally formed from 8 bits. Example: 01101010
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
C
CC (Carbon Copy)
An e-mail feature used to send the same message to a number
of addresses. A list of all recipients appears on the message
CERN
(Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire) A Lab located
in Geneva, Switzerland, where the concept for the World Wide
Web was first developed.
CGI
(Common Gateway Interface) an interface-creation scripting
program that allows you to make WWW pages on the fly based
on information from fill-in forms, checkboxes, text input
etc.
CHAP
Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol this is another
authentication method that can be used when connecting to
an ISP, like PAP. It also allows you to log in without having
to use a terminal window. However, it does not send passwords
in text format and is more secure than PAP
Client
In a Client-Server relationship, the client is a computer
running programs or applications from the server, or accessing
files from it.
Compress
The act of discarding redundant or semi-redundant information
from a file, thereby making it smaller.
Cookie
A Cookie is a piece of software which records information
about you. It holds this information until such time that
the server requests it. For example, if you are browsing around
a virtual shop, each time you place an item in your basket
the information is stored by the cookie until you decide to
buy and the server requests the purchase information.
Crash
A popular term that is used to refer to a computer failure.
Cyber café
A cafe or bar allowing customers to explore the World Wide
Web whilst having a drink or snack, usually charged per half-hour
of usage.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
D
Daemon
A program that runs in the background whenever needed, carrying
out tasks for the user. They 'sleep' until something comes
along which needs their help; most commonly found on Unix
systems.
Dialup connection
'Dialup access' or a 'Dialup account' is when a modem is
used to gain access to the internet via a network.
Dillee
An internet user who has little idea of what they are doing.
Domain Name
Unique address identifying each site on the internet, usually
of two or more segments separated by full stops.
Domain Name Server
Computers connected to the internet whose job it is to keep
track of the IP Addresses and Domain Names of other machines.
When called upon, they take the ASCII Domain Name and convert
it to the relevant numeric IP Address.
Domain Name System
Allows users to relate to computers on the internet by using
textual addresses (e.g. www.i12.com) for ease of use, rather
than the IP Address system.
DOS
(Disk Operating System) simple operating system developed
by Microsoft, allows extensions by other programs.
Download
When you transfer information off a remote machine connected
to the internet onto your local machine, you are downloading
data.
DUN
Dial Up Networking: Windows '95/98's way of making the connection
between your machine and another computer (like the i12 server)
over a modem and telephone line.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
E
Electronic mail or E-mail
Method of communication whereby an electronic message is sent
to a remote location and received by another user at a specific
E-mail Address.
Emoticons
These are the sideways smiles and frowns used in email to
indicate emotions. E.g. :-) would indicate a smile and :-(
would indicate a frown!
Encryption
The encoding of data in a particular way prior to transmission
to ensure data security.
Ethernet
A type of network cabling allowing theoretical data transfers
of up to 10Mb per second.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
F
FAQ
(Frequently Asked Question) Lists of Frequently Asked Questions
(and their answers) covering all manner of topics can be found
across the World Wide Web, allowing the user to search for
a query that somebody has already found the answer to.
FDDI
(Fibre Distributed Data Interface) is a standard for transmitting
data through optical fibre cables at a rate of around 100
million bps.
Filename extension
Commonly a three or four-letter extension on the end of a
file name designating the file type. There are hundreds in
existence, and new ones frequently being invented. Examples
are: .txt (text file), .gif (Graphics Interchange Format).
Finger
A Unix program which displays information about a particular
user or all users logged on the system, or a remote system.
Firewall
Secures a company or organisation's internal network from
unauthorised external access (most commonly in the form of
internet hackers).
Flame
An insulting or derogatory message usually sent via E-mail
as punishment for breach of netiquette. There have been instances
of 'Flame Wars', when other people join in the heated exchanges.
In either case, not recommended.
Forms
Certain Browsers support electronic fill-in forms. A form
on a Web Page can be filled in by users all over the world,
and the information sent electronically to the relevant domain
site.
Forward
A feature of e-mail that enables a received message to be
re-addressed and sent to a third party.
Freeware
Software publicly available for downloading by FTP. There
are no charges for downloading, and the software may be used,
copied and distributed freely.
FTP
(File Transfer Protocol) one of the main ways files are transferred
across the internet. An FTP Site is that which is provided
by a company or organisation as a depository for all kinds
of files which users may download.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
G
Gateway
The interface between two opposing protocols. By means of
software and hardware a gateway allows connection between
otherwise incompatible networks.
GIF
(Graphics Interchange Format) developed by CompuServe, GIF
is a platform-independent file format, used extensively throughout
the internet for graphics files. Compresses files using a
'loss less' method which ensures picture quality is not diminished.
Gigabyte (GB)
A thousand Megabytes.
Gopher
Internet Gopher is a distributed document search and retrieval
system. It takes a request for information and then
scans
the internet for it. The protocol and software follows a
client-server model, and permits users on a heterogeneous
mix of desktop
systems to browse, search, and retrieve documents residing
on multiple distributed server machines.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
H
Header
In E-mail terms, this is the part of the message indicating
who the sender is and some other brief details, such as the
subject of the message.
Hit
As used in reference to the World Wide Web, "hit"
means a single request from a web browser for a single item
from a web server; thus in order for a web browser to display
a page that contains 3 graphics, 4 "hits" would
occur at the server: 1 for the HTML page, and one for each
of the 3 graphics.
Home Page
On the World Wide Web, this is the main navigation page owned
by a company, organisation, University, individual, etc, from
which hyperlinks are made to other pages on the site (or other
sites).
Host
You usually connect to a host computer whenever you use the
internet.
HotJava
A Web browser developed by Sun Microsystems expanding traditional
browser capabilities by allowing dynamic functions instead
of just static text and images.
HTML
(HyperText Mark-up Language) the tagging language used to
format Web pages. Allows pictures and text to be combined
to create Web documents, and the most important feature -
hypertext - making it possible for links to be made between
different documents.
HTTP
(HyperText Transport Protocol) used on the World Wide Web
since 1990, this application-level protocol is essential for
the distribution of information throughout the Web.
Hyperlink
In World Wide Web pages, hyperlinks are highlighted text or
images which, when selected (usually by clicking the mouse
button), follow a link to another page. Hyperlinks can also
be used to automatically download other files as well as sounds
and video clips.
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