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By
Scott Cottingham
At one
time you had to be a rocket scientist to use the Internet
but now almost anyone with a computer, or Internet appliance,
has access to it. The difficulty associated with connecting
may have changed but the difficulty of understanding the
language hasn't. Here are some of the basic terms that you
will encounter when discussing the Internet.
Access Number
The telephone number dialed by the modem that lets a computer
communicate with an online service or Internet Service Provider.
Anti-Virus
Program
Software that monitors a computer for viruses and eliminates
them before damage occurs.
ARPANet
Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. Considered the
forefather of the Internet. A worldwide network created
in the 1960's that was maintained by the U.S. Department
of Defense to facilitate communications between research
facilities and universities.
ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. This
code maps letters and other symbols, like periods and commas,
to numbers that your computer can understand.
Bandwidth
A measurement of how much information can be transmitted
at a given time over the Internet.
BBS
Bulletin Board System. A dial-in service that usually provides
information, software, and technical support on a focused
topic.
Bit
Binary Digit. The smallest unit of data a computer can handle.
Each "bit" has a value of 1 or 0 that the computer
interprets as "on" or "off" respectively.
Bookmarking
A way of storing pointers to favorite Web sites in your
browser.
BPS
Bits Per Second. Measurement of the speed at which data
can be transmitted over a telephone or network line.
Browser
An application that displays a Web page. Also known as a
Web browser.
Byte
Equal to either 7 or 8 bits, depending on whether it requires
an extra bit, called a parity bit, for error correction.
A byte stores a single character of information such as
the letter A.
Chat
Live communication over the Internet Relay Chat service
or an online service. As one person enters text it appears
on the other person's screen in "real time", or
almost instantly.
Client/Server
A relationship between programs running on separate machine
in a computer network. The server is the provider of services,
while the client is the consumer of the services.
Data
Encryption
A process that transforms information into random streams
of bits to create a secret code for data security.
Domain
Name
Denotes the name of a specific Internet area controlled
by a company, school, or organization.
Email
Electronic Mail. Text messages sent through a network to
specified individual or group. Email messages can also carry
attached files.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions. A FAQ is generally a list of
questions and answers about a specific subject. Most news
groups have FAQ's, which should be read before you post
any message to them.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol. The Internet protocol that allow
the viewing, downloading, and uploading of files on remote
computers.
Firewall
Software or hardware that limits certain kinds of access
to a computer from a network or other outside source.
Flame
An argumentative Newsgroups posting or email message in
response to another posting or message.
GIF
Graphic Interchange Format. A bit-mapped color graphics
file format that is the preferred one to use if you want
to put a graphic (as opposed to a photo) on a Web page.
Gig
Approximately one billion bytes, or one thousand megabytes.
Gopher
A browsing and searching protocol that lets you find and
retrieve text and files.
Helper
App
Add-on applications that support sound, image, and other
formats that your browser can't support by itself.
HTML
Hypertext Markup Language. The standard for adding tags
to a text file, so that the file is able to be interpreted
by a Web browser.
HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The Internet protocol that
the Web uses
to send information to the client, so the client browser
can view Web
pages.
Icon
A small abstract graphic representation of an object or
idea.
Image
Map
A graphic image that's used on a Web site as a navigational
tool. It's made up of two elements: The graphic that you
see on the page through your browser, and a text file that
contains the link information.
IP
Address
The number that identifies your machine as unique on the
Internet. Without it, you can not use any Internet protocols.
ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network. Digital telephony scheme
that
allows two simultaneous connections over the same wire;
can include audio and data.
ISP
Internet Service Provider. A company that provides direct
access to
the Internet.
Java
An object-oriented, cross-platform programming language,
similar to C++, that is designed for building applications
for the Internet.
JPEG
Joint Photographic Expert Group. A file format using a compression
technique to reduce the size of a graphics file by as much
as 96 percent. JPEG is the preferred file format to use
if you want to put a photograph on a Web page.
LAN
Local-Area Network. A group of computers, usually in one
building, that are physically connected in a way that lets
them communicate and interact with each other.
Link
A word or phrase emphasized in a hypertext document that
acts as a pointer to related information. Links in a Web
browser are usually underlined and are a different color
than the rest of the text.
Mailing
List
Discussion groups over the Internet that link a group of
people together with common interests. If you belong to
a mailing list, you receive every message posted to that
list via email.
Mail
Server
A computer that holds email messages for clients on a network.
Modem
A devise that translates computer signals to analog signals
suitable for send across phone lines.
'Netiquette
Slang for the unwritten rules of Internet courtesy.
Newsgroups
An area on the Internet reserved for discussion of a certain
topic. Messages are posted in the Newsgroups and replies
are encouraged.
News
Server
A remote computer that controls access to a Newsgroups in
a group of interconnected computers.
Packets
A block of data that can be transmitted from one computer
to another on a network like the Internet. A packet contains
data to be transmitted, data to guide the packet, and data
that corrects errors along the way.
PDF
Portable Document Format. A standard used by Adobe Acrobat
to display any sort of document on any computer. The Adobe
Acrobat
Reader can be downloaded as freeware.
PICT
The default graphics format on Macintoshes.
Portal
A fancy name for the "start-up" page of a Web
browser. This is the entry point of the Web.
PPP
Point-to-Point Protocol. A communications protocol that
lets users connect their computers directly to the Internet
through phone lines.
RealAudio
A helper app that allows you to download sound files over
Web pages in real-time. The player can be downloaded as
freeware.
Router
A specialized machine that runs various protocols to direct
network packets from one segment to another.
Search
Engine
A utility that locates resources via searches for keywords
and phrases. Click here for a large list of search engines.
Shareware
Software distributed via the honor system. You download
shareware
from the Internet, try it out, and if you keep it, are expected
to pay a shareware fee.
Shell
Account
When you log into this kind of account, the computer you
log into is connected to the Internet, but your computer
isn't.
Slip/PPP
Account
When you log into this kind of account, your computer is
actually connected to the Internet, and so is fully capable
of all the TCP/IP services available.
Spam
Unsolicited email messages or Newsgroups postings, usually
advertising a product.
T1
A type of data connection able to transmit a digital signal
at 1.544 megabits per second.
TCP/IP
Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The protocol
suite that make Telnet, FTP, email, and other services possible
among computers that aren't on the same local area network.
Telnet
The Protocol for remote terminal connection service. It
lets someone at one site interact with a remote computer
as if that user's terminal were directly connected to the
remote site.
Transparent
GIF
A GIF that has one of its colors set to be transparent.
When displayed against a background tile or color, the image
will appear to float above it.
Unix
An operating system invented in 1969 at AT&T Bell Laboratories
that was made available to researchers and students in 1973.
It was used to develop the Internet's communication protocols.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator. Describes the location and access
method of a resource on the Internet. This is also known
as the "Web site address."
VRLM
Virtual Reality Modeling Language. An emerging standard
that will let you model and move around in 3-D environments
on the Internet.
World
Wide Web
A collection of electronic documents loosely knit by a concept
called "hypertext." Documents connect to each
other by clickable "hyperlinks." You need to run
a browser program to access the Web.
Scott Cottingham www.famvid.com/i101
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