Analog
Relating to or being a device in which data are represented by variable measurable physical quantities.
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AOL
A commercial online service provider (OSP) known for its all inclusive use of events, shopping, travel, etc., as well as Internet access and some background.
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Applet
A Java program that can be attached to a web page so that when a person views the web page, they automatically download and run the program. The programs have certain restrictions though, so they can't damage a person's computer or spread viruses.
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Archie
A Gopher tool (software) for finding files stored on anonymous FTP sites. You need to know the exact file name or a substring of it.
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ARPANet
Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
The precursor to the Internet. Developed in the late 60’s and early 70’s by the US Department of Defense as an experiment in wide-area-networking that would survive a nuclear war. Also: An experimental network designed to see how well distributed, non-centralized networks work; the basis for the later evolution of the Internet.
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Artificial Intelligence
Computer hardware and software packages that try to emulate human intelligence in order to solve problems using reasoning and learning.
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ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange
(pro nounced: ass-key)
The world-wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes, each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111. This is also used to describe files that are stored in clear text format. Some rather inventive individuals have developed what is known as ASCII art, a lowbrow art in a high tech medium, using only the ASCII character set to create images.
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Attachment
A file that is attached, and sent with an email message. An attachment can be a picture, a sound, a movie, any type of file, including viruses, so be careful with attachments from people you don't know well.
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Bandwidth
A measure of your Internet connection's capacity to transfer data. More->faster->better
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BBS / Bulletin Board System or Service
A dial-up computerized meeting and announcement system for carrying on discussions, uploading and downloading files, and generally obtaining online information and services. BBS also refers to a congregation gathered electronically via a modem that allows the users to post messages. They began as informal communities but now include political, commercial, adult, etc., categories. There are many thousands of BBS’s around the world, most of which are very small, running on a single PC or Mac clone with 1 or 2 phone lines. Some are very large and the line between a BBS and a system like CompuServe gets crossed
at some point.
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Beta Software
The pre-general release version of software. Be warned: if you decide to experiment with betas, expect an occasional software glitch or system crash.
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Binary
Any downloadable file that doesn’t simply contain human-readable, ASCII text. Typically it refers to a runnable program available for downloading, but it can also refer to pictures, sounds, or movies, among others.
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Binary Numbers
A numbering system with a base (radix) of 2, unlike the number system most of us
use, which have bases of 10 (decimal numbers), 12 (measurement in feet and
inches), and 60 (time). Binary numbers are preferred for computers for precision
and economy. Building an electronic circuit that can detect the difference
between two states (high current and low current, or 0 and 1) is easier and less
expensive than building circuits that detect the difference among 10 states (0
through 9). The word bit derives from the
phrase BInary digiT.
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BIOS
Basic Input Output System is the part of the operating system that handles communication between the computer and all of its peripheral devices (keyboard, printer, mouse, etc.) usually encoded as ROM for protection.
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Bit
The basic unit of information in a binary numbering system. The electronic circuitry in computers detect the difference between two states (high current and low current) and represents these two states as one of two numbers 1
or 0. This basic high/low, either/or, yes/no units of information are called bits. Eight bits comprise what is called an octet, sometimes referred to as a byte. The word bit derives from the phrase Binary digit.
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Bitmap
Any picture you see on a Web page is a
bitmap. Bitmaps come in many file formats such as GIF, JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PICT, PCX, and DIB (device independent bitmap). They can be read and edited by paint programs and image editors such as Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. As its name suggests, a bitmap is a map of dots or "pixels". If you zoom in on or try to scale up a bitmap, it will look blocky.
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BMP or .bmp
A Microsoft Windows image format. The images you see when Windows starts up and closes, and the wallpaper that adorns your desktop, are all in BMP or bitmap format.
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Bookmark
A quick and easy way to save the address of a web site that you like, so you can go back to it as often as you like, easily.
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Boot
To start a computer; more frequently used as “re-boot”. When you shut down a system then restart, you are re-booting. It tends to clear out bugs that are hampering smooth computing.
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Browser
A software aplication that allows you to navigate the world wide web. It translates the HTML, the language that web pages are written in, into the pages you see on your screen.
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Bug
A programming error that causes a program or computer system to perform erratically, produce incorrect results, or crash. The term bug was coined when a real insect was discovered to have fouled up one of the circuits of the first electronic digital computer, the ENIAC. Not to be confused with a glitch, which refers to a hardware problem.
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Byte
Abbreviation for binary term, a unit of storage capable of holding a single character. On almost all modern computers, a byte is equal to 8 bits. Large amounts of memory are indicated in terms of kilobytes (1,024 bytes), megabytes (1,048,576 bytes), and gigabytes (1,073,741,824 bytes). A disk that can hold 1.44 megabytes, for example, is capable of storing approximately 1.4 million characters, or
about 3,000 pages of information.
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Cable Modem
A modem attached to a coaxial cable television system. Cable modems can transmit data at 500 kilobytes a second, much faster than a typical computer modem that sends signals over telephone lines.
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Cache
A copy of a web page or graphic or sound file that is stored on your computer's hard drive. The next time you request that file, the computer checks to make sure there have been no changes, then just reads from the hard drive. This speeds things up a great deal.
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Case Sensitive
When it matters if letters are typed in uppercase or lowercase.
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CD-ROM / Compact Disc - Read Only Memory
An optical storage technology that uses compact discs to store and play back data. CD-ROM technology was originally used for encyclopedias, dictionaries, and software libraries, but now they are often used in multimedia applications. One CD-ROM can hold about 600 megabytes, or the equivalent of 700 floppy disks CD-ROMs have become a favorite medium for installing programs, since they cost only slightly more to manufacture than floppy disks, and most major software applications come on at least five floppies. Don’t sound hopelessly out of touch with technology: use the term CD-ROM to refer to the technology or the discs, but not to the hardware you play the discs on. That’s a CD-ROM drive.
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Chat
Real-time communication over the internet, using a chat application.
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Chatroom
A site on a network where a number of users can type in messages to each other in real time, creating an online conversation.Back to Top
CTRL
A key on PC keyboards labeled Ctrl. You
use the Control key in the same way that you use the Shift key -- keeping it pressed
down while pressing another character. The result is a control key combination ,
which can have different meanings depending on which program is running. On
Macintoshes, the Control key is called an Apple key or Command key.
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Cookies
Bits of information about you, stored on your hard drive by websites, that enable these sites to remember you and your preferences.
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Copy
(1) To copy a piece of data
to a temporary location. In word
processing, for example, copying refers to duplicating a section of a document
and placing it in a buffer
(sometimes called a clipboard).
The term copy differs from cut,
which refers to actually removing a section of a document and placing it in a buffer.
After cutting or copying, you can move the contents of the buffer by pasting it somewhere else.
(2) In file
management, the term copy refers to making a duplicate of a file.
(n) A duplicate of a piece of data, such as a file or a directory.
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CPU / Central Processing Unit
Look for the most powerful microprocessor chip in your computer, and that’ll be the CPU. The Intel Pentium and Motorola 68040 chips, for example, handle the central management functions of a high-powered PC and Mac, respectively.
Sometimes the term CPU is used to describe the whole box that contains the chip along with the motherboard, expansion cards, disk drives, power supply, and so on. Both uses are widespread, but only the first is really accurate.
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Cursor
Depending on what application you're using, a cursor or pointer can appear as many things - an arrow, a blinking line or rectangle, a spinning black-and-white circle or globe, a hand, a watch, a trotting dog, a capital "I" - visual clues that tell you what the application you're running is doing.
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Cut
To remove an object from a document and place it in
a buffer. In word processing, for example, cut means to move a section
of text from a document to a temporary buffer. This is one way to delete text.
However, because the text is transferred to a buffer, it is not lost forever. You can
copy the buffer somewhere else in the document or in another document, which is called
pasting. To move a section of text from one place to another, therefore, you
need to first cut it and then paste it. This is often called cut-and- paste.
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Cyberhood
A virtual community where people can have fun, be entertained, learn things and explore the best of the Earth Internet.
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Cyberspace
Where all media converge: audio and video, telephone and television, wire and satellite. The term "cyberspace" was first coined by sci-fi writer William Gibson in the early 1980s. Cyberspace, Internet, World
Wide Web and Information Superhighway are all basically used interchangeably.
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Data
In general, data is information, factual information such as text, numbers, sounds, images, anything that can be processed on a computer.
Data also represents concepts, and sensations that are suitable for communicating, interpreting, or processing. As futurist Marshall Mcluhan said, "The electric light is pure information," meaning everything perceptible is data.
The word data is plural; the singular form is datum, however data is commonly
used to refer to both singular and plural.
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Database
(1) A collection of information organized
in such a way that a computer program can quickly select desired pieces of data. You
can think of a database as an electronic filing system.
Traditional databases are organized by fields, records, and files.
A field is a single piece of information; a record is one complete set of fields; and
a file is a collection of records. For example, a telephone book is analogous to a
file. It contains a list of records, each of which consists of three fields: name,
address, and telephone number.
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DHTML
The next generation of HTML, the language that describes how text and images are displayed on a Web page. Dynamic HTML, developed by Netscape and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), is based entirely on industry-standard HTML and Java. New features in Dynamic HTML, such as absolute positioning and layers, give web designers and developers much greater control over the look and feel of Web pages.
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Digital
Expressed in binary digits or bits (see below) for use by a computer.
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Digital
A form of representation in which distinct objects, or digits, are used to stand for something in the real world, so that counting and other operations can be performed precisely. Data represented digitally can be manipulated to produce a calculation, a sort, or some other computation. In digital electronic computers, two electrical states correspond to the 1’s and the 0’s of binary numbers, which are manipulated by computer programs.
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Discussion Group
A group of people who exchange messages about particular topics. Often associated with newsgroups, they can also take the form of interactive message boards, thread message forums, and e-mailing lists. Discussion groups vary widely in their variety and format.
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Disk
A round plate on which data
can be encoded. There are two basic types of disks: magnetic disks and optical
disks.
On magnetic disks, data is encoded as microscopic magnetized needles on the
disk's surface. You can record and erase data on a magnetic disk any number of times,
just as you can with a cassette tape. Magnetic disks come in a number of different
forms:
- floppy disk : A typical 5¼-inch floppy disk can hold 360K or
1.2MB (megabytes). 3½-inch floppies normally store 720K, 1.2MB or 1.44MB
of data.
- hard disk : Hard disks can store anywhere from 20MB to more
than 10GB. Hard disks are also from 10 to 100 times faster than floppy
disks.
- removable cartridge : Removable cartridges are hard disks
encased in a metal or plastic cartridge, so you can remove them just like
a floppy disk. Removable cartridges are very fast, though usually not as
fast as fixed hard disks.
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Distance Learning
Education occurring away from the classroom or teacher. It can by through the mail or the Internet as computer assisted distance learning.
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DNS / Domain Name System
A database system that translates an IP address into a domain name. For example, a numeric IP address like 207.219.116.4 is converted into netlingo.com. The DNS is a static, hierarchical name service and it uses TCP/IP hosts, and is housed on a number of servers on the Internet. Basically, it maintains this database for figuring out and finding (or resolving) host names and IP addresses. This allows users to specify remote computers by host names rather
than numerical IP addresses.
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Domain
Name
A web address. For example, in http://www.fcgnetworks.net, fcgnetworks.net is the domain name.
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DOS
Acronym for disk operating system.
The term DOS can refer to any operating system, but it is most often used as a
shorthand for MS-DOS (Microsoft disk operating system).
Originally developed by Microsoft for IBM, MS-DOS was the standard operating system
for IBM-compatible personal computers.
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Download
To copy a computer program from a remote computer to your own, over the internet. The reverse process of upload.
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Edit
To change data.
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E-Mail
The most popular use of the Internet, email allows any Internet user to send a nearly instantaneous electronic message to anyone else on the Internet who has an email address.
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Emoticons
Little pictures that look like faces made by typing keyboard characters to represent different emotions. Smile :-) or frown :-(
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Encrypt
The process by which information or data is encoded so that it can safely be transmitted over the Internet without other people being able to read it.
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ESC
Short for Escape key. For example, ESC-Q
means press the Escape key and then the Q key .
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EtherNet
A widespread networking scheme rated at 10 Mbs (megabits per second). It is most commonly known as "the hardware device in the office that is the LAN."
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Extension
The end of a filename that tells you what kind of file it is. For example in the file readme.txt, .txt is the extension and it tells you that it is a text file.
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Extranet
The connecting of two or more intranets. If you think of an intranet as a company's internal Web site which allows users inside the company to communicate and exchange information, now imagine connecting that virtual space with another company's intranet, thus allowing these two (or more) companies to share resources and communicate over the Internet in their own virtual space. This technology greatly enhances business to business communications. Companies like
Netscape, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and VeriSign announced support for a core set of open standards for enabling external networks (extranets).
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E-zine
Sometimes referred to as just zine, it is an electronic publication or a magazine published in electronic form. Quite simply, an online magazine. There are dozens of e-zines published on a regular basis on the Internet. Topics range from science-fiction-inspired poetry to the angst of living in the digital age, and beyond.
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FAQ
This is short for "Frequently Asked Questions"
A list of questions and answers related to a newsgroup, software, Web site, or
whatever. FAQ lists prevent newsgroup discussions from being overrun by common user questions. Finding and Writing FAQs - By Infinite Ink Newsgroup FAQs - Easy to use look-up for FAQs found on USENET.
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Favorites
What Internet Explorer calls Bookmarks. See bookmarks.
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File
A collection of data or information that has a name, called the filename.
Almost all information stored in a computer must be in a file. There are many
different types of files: data files, text files , program files, directory
files, and so on. Different types of files store different types of information.
For example, program files store programs, whereas text files store text.
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Filter
A program that accepts a certain type of data as input, transforms it in some
manner, and then outputs the transformed data. For example, a program that sorts names
is a filter because it accepts the names in unsorted order, sorts them, and then
outputs the sorted names.
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Finder
The desktop management and file management system for Apple Macintosh computers. In
addition to managing files and disks, the Finder is responsible for managing the
Clipboard and Scrapbook and all desktop icons and windows
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Finger
A piece of software that lets you find out more information about an Internet user like their real name and if they are logged in at the present moment,
usually if that user is on a UNIX or VAX system. It is also possible to finger someone from the World Wide Web.
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Firewall
An electronic boundary that limits access between networks that are linked together.
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Flame
To insult a person online in a chat room, message board, discussion list, newsgroup, etc.
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Frames
On some websites you may see sections that are divided into separate scrollable regions. These are frames.
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Freeware
Copyrighted software available free of charge.
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FTP
File Transfer Protocol. FTP is the most common method of transferring files over the internet. There are thousands of FTP archives on the internet, where users can download files and programs, usually for free. To FTP, your computer will need FTP client software.
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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.
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Geek Speak
A new subset of language which makes use of online jargon terms to describe and communicate a technology-related vocabulary, for example, NetLingo is a dictionary of geek speak.
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GIF
Graphics Interchange Format - the most widely used graphic format on the web.
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Gigabyte
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Go
Refers to the Go button on the Netscape browser. This button keeps track of all of the sites you have visited during your current web surfing session. Internet Explorer has a similar button called the History button. This button keeps a weekly log of the sites you visit and is not limited to the current surf.
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Gopher
A program that lets you browse the Internet and find information using menus.
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Graphics
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Guestbook
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GUI
Short for Graphic User Interface. (Pronounced as "gooey." This refers to the part of the computer that creates icons (graphics) and puts them on the screen on the computer screen to make it easy for you (the user,) to do things (interact) like click and type (interact).
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Hacker
A computer enthusiast who enjoys learning everything about a computer system and, through clever programming, pushes the system to it's highest possible level of performance. Also known as crackers, these computer hobbyists are skilled programmers with the reputation of having a mischievous bent who break into secured computer systems.
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Hacker Ethic
A set of moral principles common to the first generation hacker community. According to hacker ethic, all technical information should, in principle, be freely available to all. However, destroying, altering, or moving data in a way that could cause injury or expense to others is always unethical.
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Hard Drive
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Highlighted
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Hit
The access of a file by a user on a server. Every element of a requested page (graphics, multimedia, etc.) including the HTML file itself is counted as a hit.
For example, if a Web page contains five graphics, then accessing the page generates six hits. Hits used to be a method of determining the amount of traffic a Web site received, however, due to the fact that businesses needed to isolate the exact number of times a page was requested (in order to charge for advertising), this method was tossed aside in lieu counting the actual HTML page requests.
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HTML
Hypertext Markup Language. The programming language used by web pages. Documents written in HTML are also said to be Hypertext documents. Common "tags" or codes, allow text formatting, images to be include d in a web page, or links.
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HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
The protocol that tells the server what to send to the client, so the client can view Web pages, FTP sites, or other areas of the net.
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HTTPS
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Home Page
The first or "front" page on a Web site that serves as the starting point for navigation. Where the site's information actually begins. Also known as the Welcome page. This should not be confused with a buffer page or splash page. One Word or Two when used to refer to something belonging to an individual, person or group of people (a company for instance), or when used to refer to a place you want someone to visit or does not yet exist, the one word version is used -
for example: - "Have you seen our/my homepage?" or "I gotta get a homepage up!". When talking about a Home Page as a piece of a larger Web site with many pages, in navigational directions on the actual Web site or once you have actually arrived at this place as in: "From the Help Page go back to the Home Page" or
"This is our Home Page", the two word version seems to be more applicable. You may also see it written instructionally as just simply "Home" instead of Home Page. Sometimes an Internet service provider will offer a certain amount of disk space on their server for an account to put up their own homepage.
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Host
A computer that functions as the beginning and end point of data transfers. Most commonly known of as the place where your Web site resides. An Internet host has a unique Internet address (IP address) and a unique domain or host name.
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Hyperlink
Programming that lets you jump from one site or source of information to another on a network, notably the World Wide Web.
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Hypertext Document
A file that contains "links" to other files. Web pages are examples of hypertext documents. Hypertext documents use the programming language HTML.
Programming that lets you jump from one site or source of information to another on a network, notably the World Wide Web.
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Icon
A picture on a web page that will take you to different places depending on what part of the image you click on.
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ID
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Index File
Can refer to a file or directory found on a server. The file usually contains information about the directory or Web site as well as access privileges required, dates, and even a list of other indexes (indices). This is usually the first place you check when you're looking for a file. A file called index.html is usually the starting point or home page for a Web site. A server is usually configured to display automatically the index.html or .htm file when a request
for a certain directory comes to the server, therefore, the "default" page that comes up when you type in a URL like http://www.netlingo.com would be http://www.netlingo.com/index.html.
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Information SuperhighwayCyberspace
, the 
