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Internet Terms
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
ASCII is the standard, unformatted 256
character set of letters and numbers, used as a standard in the
digital world.
Backbone: the main conduit of a computer network, to which
all other users and networks connect.
Back-end: generally speaking, it is the software that runs on a
network server or mainframe.
Bandwidth: the capacity of a network to carry data, usually
expressed in bits per second (bps).
Baud: a speed of data transmission.
Bitstream: flow of data over a network connection.
Broadband: generally means wider bandwidth than a standard
phone line.
Browser: software that provides the interface for traveling the
World Wide Web. Brand names include Mosaic, Netscape
Navigator and Microsoft Explorer.
Bytes: Used to describe storage capacity. It takes 8 bits, each
designated as a 1 or 0, to make up a byte.
Cache: small, fast memory that stores frequently used, similar,
recently accessed data. It is used as a way to speed up the
network.
Cancelbot: Automated program designed to navigate around
Usenet and delete spam-style advertising and cross-posting.
CC: In email, CC: is a duplicate message sent to recipients
other than the primary one.
Client/server: The network architecture in which the computer
processing is distributed among many individal PCs (clients)
and a more powerful central computer (server) that accepts
requests for resources.
Cookie: A unique identifier, or tag, on your hard disk and used
by computers.
Daemon: a program that runs continuously and automatically in
the background, handling for example, email received by a
network server or responding to requests from other computers
on the network.
Debug: To fix an error in the source code of a software program.
DNS: Domain Name System. Associated to the international
system of Internet domain servers, their names and addresses.
Domain name: A network name associatated with an organization,
organized in a hierarchical system, with each level seperated by a "dot".
Organizational types are commercial (.com), educational (.edu), organiziatonal (.org) or governmental (.gov).
Download: To copy a document or application from a network
or BBS to a personal computer.
Encryption: A method of keeping networks, databases and
files private and secure by using mathematical algorithms to
scramble and unscramble digital messages so that only
intended recipients can read them.
Firewall: The wall of software and/or hardware that keeps
intruders outside a network, or company users on an internal
network from browsing the Web.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol, a method for transferring files
between computers over the Internet. It can also be used as a
verb - "I FTP'd you those files!
Front end: It's what you see onscreen - the part of the software
you interact with.
Gateway: A "translator" machine or router that links networks
using different protocols.
GIF: graphic image format, generally online images and photographs compressed into this format.
Gopher: A protocol that provides a seamless interface to
transfer files, browse databases and telnet to sites around the
Internet.
GUI: Graphical user interface turns computing into a "visual-friendly" experience, replacing text commands and function
keys with icons, windows and the staging area called the desktop.
Hit: a computer's request for an image or file from a Web server.
Homepage: Homepages are the Lego blocks of the World
Wide Web. A homepage can be a single page dedicated to one
person or institution, or a main entrance to a suite of linked,
related pages.
Host: A machine on a network that provides a service or
information to other computers.
HTML: hypertext markup language, or the formatting language of the Web, the language humans use to talk to Web servers
and browsers.
HTTP: hypertext transfer protocol, the original communications
protocol of the Web. Browsers use HTTP to connect to Web
servers, and servers use HTTP to "talk amongst themselves."
Hypertext: A system of coding text that links electronic documents with each other.
Icon: Any onscreen image representing an application or
document or directory in a GUI.
Internet: A worldwide network of computers communicating in
a common language, TCP/IP, over telephone lines or other
common links.
IP: The language that allows computers to communicate over
the Internet, addressing the small data packets so that routers
know where to send them.
InterNic: The national registry of Internet domain names and
owners, run by Network Solutions Inc., might be called the
trademark office of domain names.
IRC: Internet Relay Chat. An international federation of Internet
connected computers aligned in a client / server relationship.
ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network, a set of digital telecommunications standards that transmits voice, video and
data over standard phone lines at up to 128 Kbps.
ISP: Internet Service Providers provide access to the Internet.
Java: a multiplatform, object-oriented language developed by
Sun; especially useful for distributed networks like the Internet,
providing supercharged animations and real-time interactivity.
JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group, the compression for
photographic images, reducing the space needed to store the
image.
LAN: Local-Area Network, the network of computers that are
centered in a physical location.
Link: As a noun, a hypertext jump or connection between one
file and another, tangential file. As a verb, to attach computers
via a network.
MIME: multipurpose Internet mail extensions that lets users
send messages with audio, graphics, video and text elements.
Mirroring: The automatic duplication of data from one disk to
another as a form of network backup.
Mosaic: generally referred to as the first true Web browser that
allowed users to travel the Internet using a point-and-click
interface.
Multimedia: the term used for anything that combines text,
sound, graphics, video and interactivity.
Newsgroups: see "Usenet"
Open platform: a buzzword for a given machine that supports
many different standards, or operating systems.
Perl: Practical Extraction and Report Language; generally
used to write cgi-bin scripts on the Web.
Ping: a message sent from one computer to another to see if
it is active.
Platform: see "open platform."
POP: point of presence, the term for local access to a network
or telecom service.
Pointcasting: live, online programming distributed to one
person or machine.
Port: the spot where information passes in and out of a
computer. As a verb, to translate a program from one platform
machine to another.
PPP: Point to Point Protocol for transmitting data over the
Internet.
Protocol: see "Internet protocol".
RAM: Random Access Memory, the computer's short-term
memory, and the simplest route to improved computing
performance.
Script/scripting: programming shortcuts that give non-technical
users a richer, more expressive way to work with computers
and enables programmers to create simple applications quickly.
Server: a computer or workstation that "serves" stored data
and files or processing power to other machines, or "clients" on
a network.
Stream: The flow of digitized information. Often used in the
plural, as in datastreams.
T1: a high-speed network link that transmits data at 1.5 Mbps.
T3: a high-speed network link that transmits data at 3 - 45 Mbps.
TCP/IP: transmission control protocol / Internet Protocol, the
"mother tongue" of the Internet. Other Internet protocols, such
as FTP or PPP, run on top of TCP/IP.
Throughput: The rate at which data is transferred.
URL: uniform resource locator, referring to the address for a
page on the Web.
Usenet: Globe-spanning collection of informal bulletin boards (or
newsgroups) distributed over the Internet and covering almost
every conceivable topic.
WAN: wide-area network usually linking computers over a great
physical distance.
World Wide Web: a graphics-intensive environment running on
top of the Internet.
Yahoo: a search engine that helps Net surfers target
information by keyword or concept.
- Credit for Source goes to "Wired Style, Principles of English
Usage in the Digital Age"
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