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09.04.10  

Alias A nickname that refers to a person or group of people on a network. archive A collection of files stored on a computer network. Authentication A security measure for checking a network user's identity.

Backbone The Internet's high speed data highways that serve as major access points to which other networks connect.

Bandwidth The amount of data you can send through a network connection. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second (bps).

Bookmark A feature of most web browsers. You can save frequently accessed links in a bookmark file, rather than have to look up the URL each time.

Browser Another name for a client program that allows users to access documents on the WWW. Browsers can be both text-based or graphic. BBS (Bulletin Board System) A dial-up computerized meeting and announcement system for carrying on discussions, uploading and downloading files, and generally obtaining online information and services.

Chat Room A virtual room where you are able to type messages to other people in real time and they are able to respond immediately.

Clickable image map A map or graphic where certain parts of it are associated with different hyperlinks. For example, users can click on cities on a map of a country and bring up linked pictures and other information about each place.

Client A remote computer connected to a host or server computer. Also refers to the software that makes this connection possible.

Cyberspace A term coined by author William Gibson in his novel "Neuromancer". Cyberspace is currently used to refer to the digital world constructed by computer networks, in particular the Internet.

Data traffic The number of TCP/IP packets traversing a network.

Dial-up account A basic type of Internet account that allows you to dial-up a provider's computer with a modem. These types of accounts usually have a UNIX or other command-line interface.

Dedicated line A telecommunications line that lets your computer have a direct, permanent connection to the Internet.

Domain name The address that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names consist of at least 2 parts. The part on the left is the name of the company, institution, or other organization. The part on the right identifies the highest subdomain. This can be a country, such as ca for Canada, fr for France, or the type of organization: com for commercial; edu for educational, etc. The IP address is translated into the domain name by the DNS.

DNS Domain Name System --- A database system that translates an IP address into a domain name.

Download To transfer files from one computer to another. The most common way of doing this on the Internet is by FTP.

E-mail (electronic mail) A way of sending messages on computers attached to local or global networks.

Electronic mall A virtual shopping mall where you can browse and buy products and services online.

Embedded hyperlink A hyperlink that is incorporated into a line of text.

Emoticon A symbol to compensate for the absence of nonverbal clues when communicating on the Internet. For example signifies a "grin", :} or :-} a "smile", when inserted in the text of an e-mail message and alerts the reader not to take it seriously.

Encryption A way of making data unreadable to everyone except the receiver. An increasingly common way of sending credit card numbers over the Internet when conducting commercial transactions.

FAQ Frequently Asked Questions - a list of the most common questions posted on a newsgroup.

Feedback form Sections of html documents that accept user input. You can usually input comments, order products, or search for information with these forms.

Firewall The computer file system of a site's inner network that is protected against unauthorized access by Internet users. Flame An angry remark or message on a newsgroup or mailing list, often aimed at a user who has violated netiquette in some way.

Freeware Free software available on the Internet that can be redistributed.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) A way of moving files across networks. With FTP you can login to another Internet site and download or send files. Some sites have public file archives that you can access by using FTP with the account name "anonymous" and your e-mail address as password. This type of access is called anonymous ftp.

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.

Hit In the context of the WWW, it refers to the act of accessing an html document on a server.

Home page The first page on a Web site that acts as the starting point for navigation.

Host A computer that acts as a server.

Hotspot A place in a document that contains an embedded hyperlink.

HTML Hypertext Markup Language - the coded format used to create WWW documents. html commands control how a piece of text will appear. Files in html format are viewed with a World Wide Web Client program.

Hyperlink These are links in HTML documents that you can click on to go to other Web resources.

Hypermedia The multimedia links on the Web that lead to sound, graphics, video, or text resources.

Hypertext A term coined by Ted Nelson to refer to a nonlinear system of information browsing and retrieval that contains associative links to other related documents. Hypertext is the basic organizing principle of the WWW.

Information packet A bundle of data sent over a network. The protocol used determines the size and makeup of the packet.

Internet A global collection of computer networks that exchange information by the TCP/IP suite of networking protocols.

Internet account An account with an ISP that allows you to access the Internet.

IP address The Internet Protocol address - the numeric address that is translated into a domain name by the DNS.

IRC Internet Relay Chat - chatting with others by typing to each other in real time.

ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network -- Digital telecommunications lines with 2 channels that can yield a combined capacity of 128 kbps.

Internet service provider A company that provides various kinds of Internet accounts to organizations and individuals.

Java A special computer language formulated by Sun Microsystems to work over the Internet that add animations or other complex tasks on some Web pages.

Leased line Refers to a dedicated phone line that is rented for exclusive 24-hour, 7-days-a-week use from your location to another location. The highest speed data connections require a leased line.

Log file A file that keeps track of network connections.

Login The account name used to access a computer system or, used as a verb, the act of typing your username and password on a terminal.

Logon The process of connecting to a network or remote system.

Logoff Logout - To type logout, or a similar word (e.g. "exit", "quit". etc.) in order to disconnect from a network.

Mailing List An email group that individuals subscribe to and receive messages from, often on a specific topic like a computer program or a medical support group. Read the details before you subscribe: some mailing lists may send you over 100 emails a day. Tip - keep unsubscribe instructions for future reference.

Netiquette Manners or the appropriate way to behave on the Internet. Applies to email, newsgroups, mailing lists and chat rooms.

Newbie A new Internet user.

Newsgroups Electronic bulletin boards (thousands) linked together on Usenet.

POP Point of presence - refers to local phone numbers maintained by national, regional or local Internet access providers.

Shareware A program you can download for free. If you keep using it, you are expected to pay the author for it. May be a fully functional program, a partially functional program or a fully functional program that only works for a period of time.

SLI Serial Line Internet Protocol - a direct type of Internet access account requiring TCP/IP software.

Snail mail Mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service.

Spam Receiving unsolicited email similar to the junk mail you receive through postal mail.

Spamming Sending a single message to multiple newsgroups or email address. This can cause you to lose your Internet access account.

TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protoco -; a series of rules computers must obey in order to communicate across the Internet.

Telnet A communications protocol that lets you log onto another computer from a remote location.

UNIX An operating system used on networked machines that provide the basis for the Internet.

URL Uniform resource locator - the address of a page or file on the Web.

Usenet Network featuring thousands of discussion groups, also see newsgroups.

Virus Destructive program that could erase your hard drive or destroy data on your computer. Make sure you have virus protection software on your computer if you are going to be downloading and running a lot of programs. There are free programs available that scan downloads for viruses before you save them.

Web site Group of related web pages, usually about the same topic or business, and have a main page or "home page" which directs you to the other pages on the site.

WWW The World Wide Web.