Glossary of Terms

56k Line
A digital phone-line connection capable of carrying 56,000 bits-per-second. At this speed, a megabyte will take about three minutes to transfer. This is four times as fast as a 14,400bps modem.

ASCII (pronounced "ask-ee")
An acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, ASCII is an international standard in which numbers, letters, punctuation marks, symbols and control codes are assigned numbers from 0 to 127. Easily transferred over networks, ASCII is a plain, unadorned text without style or font specifications.

Antivirus Software
A computer program that detects and removes a virus, which is a hostile or malicious code devised to cause damage to the computer system.

Authentication
A software process used to verify the identity of a computer that is trying to access a database through remote communications. Usually done through the use of passwords.

Backlink

Backlinks are incoming links to a website or web page. Backlinks enable you to keep track of other pages on the web that link to your posts. The number of backlinks is an indication of the popularity or importance of that website or page. In basic link terminology, a backlink is any link received by a web node (web page, directory, website, or top level domain) from another web node. Backlinks are also called incoming links, inbound links, inlinks, and inward links.

Search engines often use the number of backlinks that a website has as one of the factors for determining that website's search engine ranking. For example, Google's PageRank algorithm uses backlinks to help determine a site's rank. To see a site's PageRank, you need to use the Google Toolbar for Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, view the bar graph indicating a website's PageRank in Google's directory, or download the PageRank plugin for Mozilla Firefox.

Bandwidth
The range of transmission frequencies a network can use. The greater the bandwidth, the more information that may be transferred over that network at one time. The term bandwidth also broadly includes throughput, meaning the amount of data sent.

Broadband
A transmission method in which the network's range of transmission frequencies is divided into separate channels, and each channel is used to send a different signal. Broadband is often used to send different types of signals simultaneously.

Bps (Bits-Per-Second)
A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another. A 28.8 modem can move 28,800 bits per second.

Browser
A type of software that allows a person to navigate information databases; examples are Internet Explorer, Foxfire, Netscape Navigator and NCSA Mosaic.

Byte
The number of bits used to represent a character.

Bit
A contraction of binary digit, a bit is the smallest unit of information that a computer can hold. Eight bits is equivalent to a byte. The speed at which bits are transmitted (bit rate) is usually expressed as bits per second or bps.

CD-ROM
Compact Disk-Read Only Memory; an optical disk from which information may be read but not written. CD-R or Compact Disk-Recordable refers to computer peripheral disk drives that allow the user to record content onto a blank compact disk.
CGI (Common Gateway Interface)

A set of rules that describe how a web server communicates with another piece of software on the same machine and how the other piece of software (the "CGI program") talks to the web server. Any piece of software can be a CGI program if it handles input and output according to the CGI standard. Usually, a CGI program is a small program that takes data from a web server and does something with it, like putting the content of a form into an e-mail message or turning the data into a database query. You can often see that a CGI program is being used by seeing "cgi-bin" in a URL, but not always.

cgi-bin
The most common name of a directory on a web server in which CGI programs are stored.
The "bin" part of "cgi-bin" is a shorthand version of "binary" because, once upon a time, most programs were referred to as "binaries." In real life, most programs found in cgi-bin directories are text files, scripts that are executed by binaries located elsewhere on the same machine.

Client
1) A computer connected to a network through which it can also be connected to a host, or server.
2) An application or software that performs a specific function, running on the user's workstation, allowing the user access to the network and its servers.

Client-Server
1) An architecture of communications between remote users, known as clients, and a central computer, known as the server. The client has local processing power, and the server provides data via communication lines using well-defined protocols for subsequent processing by the client station. The server can also perform processing at the request of the client. In most cases, the client runs propriety software supplied by the server vendor, without which the client cannot access the server.

2) Client can also refer to a type of application, such as an "email client."

Configuration
This is a general-purpose computer term that can refer to the way a person has her computer set up. It is also used to describe the total combination of hardware components that make up a computer system and the software settings that allow various hardware components of a computer system to communicate with one another.

Cookie
The most common meaning of "cookie" on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a web server to a web browser that the browser software is expected to save and to send back to the server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the server.

Depending on the type of cookie used, and on the browser's settings, the browser may accept or not accept the cookie and may save the cookie for either a short time or a long time. Examples of cookies uses include login or registration information, online "shopping carts" or user surveys. When a server receives a request from the browser that includes a cookie, the server is able to use the information stored in the cookie for a variety of things, such as to customize what is sent back to the user or to track a particular user's requests.

Cookies are typically set to expire after a predetermined amount of time and are typically saved in memory until the browser software is closed down, at which time they may be saved to disk. Cookies *do not* read your hard drive and send your life story to the CIA, but they can be used to gather more information about a user than would be possible without them.

Cyberspace
A term coined by William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer to refer to a near-future computer network where users mentally travel through matrices of data. The term is now used to describe the Internet and the other computer networks.

Database
A set of files created and managed by a common manager program, accessible to others with authorization.

Dial-up Connection
The most popular form of Net connection for the home user, this is a connection from your computer to a host computer over standard telephone lines.

Direct Connection
A permanent connection between your computer system and the Internet. This is sometimes referred to as a leased-line connection because the line is leased from the telephone company.

DNS
An acronym for Domain Name Server, DNS refers to a database of Internet names and addresses that translates the names to the official Internet Protocol numbers and vice versa.

Document
When used in reference to the World Wide Web, a document is any file containing text, media or hyperlinks that can be transferred from an HTTP server to a client program.

Document Window
This is the Web browser's scrollable window in which HTML documents may be viewed.

Download
To transfer to a person's computer a copy of a file that resides on another computer.

DNS (Domain Name System)
The Internet standard for applying names to numerical Internet addresses. Domain names are registered by Internic, and the conversion to IP addresses is done online by Domain Name Servers at the point of access to the Internet, usually through an ISP server.

E-mail
The electronic means of transferring letters, memos and files over the Internet. It is comprised of a mail server at an ISP center and a mail application that resides on the user's computer.

File Transfer Protocol
Commonly referred to as FTP, File Transfer Protocol was one of the original tools built by the creators of the Internet to send research results to their colleagues. FTP allows the transfer of a computer file from one computer account to another around the world.

Firewall
This term refers to security measures designed to protect a networked system from unauthorized or unwelcome access.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
A common Internet protocol used for transferring files from a server to the Internet user. It uses TCP/IP commands.

GIF
This acronym stands for Graphic Interchange Format, a commonly used file compression format developed by CompuServe for transferring graphics files to and from online services.

Home Page
The document displayed when a person first opens your Web browser. Home Page can also refer to the first document a person comes to at a Web site.

Host
The computer that is the destination of a transmission, usually a mainframe or a server, but also in dial-up connections between any two computers.

Hotlists
Lists of frequently used Web locations and URLs (Uniform Resource Locators), also referred to as “Favorites”.

HTML
An acronym for HyperText Markup Language, HTML is the language used to tag various parts of a Web document so that browsing software will know how to display that document's links, text, graphics and attached media.

HTML Document
A document written in HyperText Markup Language.

HTTP
The acronym for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, HTTP is used to link and transfer hypertext documents.

Hypertext
This term describes the system that allows documents to be cross-linked in such a way that the reader can explore related documents by clicking on a highlighted word or symbol.

Interface
The connecting element between two systems in hardware and software. It may apply to a connector, an electronic card, a software program, or a protocol.

Internet
The global network of networks, all utilizing the TCP/IP protocol for communications. Routing of traffic through the World Wide Web is based on routers and routing protocols. As of mid-1997, the Internet had some 50 million users globally. The service is provided by Internet Service Providers (ISP), which establish points-of-presence (POP) for connecting to the network. Due to its ability to enable users to automate many aspects of merchandising transactions, the Internet is considered the commercial platform of the 21st century.

Internic
The US-based authority for assigning domain names or approving them on request from businesses that wish to connect to the Internet. Located on the Internet at http://www.internic.org.

Intranet
The use of Internet tools and protocols for the internal use of corporations for employees. Usually, it provides services like email, document sharing, scheduling, information availability, directories, and database sharing.

IP
The acronym for Internet Protocol, IP refers to the set of communication standards that control communications activity on the Internet. An IP address is the number assigned to any Internet-connected computer.

ISDN
The acronym for Integrated Services Digital Network, ISDN is a telecommunications standard that uses digital transmission technology to support voice, video, and data communications applications over regular telephone lines.

ISOC
This is the acronym for Internet Society, an organization formed to support a worldwide information network. ISOC is the sponsoring body of the Internet Architecture Board.

ISP (Internet Service Provider)
Companies that provide a service for accessing the Internet by establishing a POP and allowing dialing into the network, or through fixed, leased-line connections. There are thousands of ISPs in the US alone, and many thousands more around the world. An ISP establishes agreements with other ISPs to allow the free flow of data between networks globally.

Java
Java is a programming language invented by Sun Microsystems that is specifically designed for writing programs that can be safely downloaded to your computer through the Internet and immediately run without fear of viruses or other harm to your computer or files. Using small Java programs called Applets; Web pages can include functions such as animations, calculators, and other fancy tricks.


JPEG
The acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group, JPEG is an image compression format used to transfer color photographs and images over computer networks. Along with GIF, it's one of the most common ways photos are moved over the Web.

Kilobyte
A thousand bytes.

LAN (Local Area Network)
A computer network limited to the immediate area, usually the same building or floor of a building.

Legacy Database
Accumulated databases of organizations that run on various platforms and are accessible via classic client/server applications. Historically, legacy databases evolved from running on mainframes to servers of NT and UNIX platforms. Recently, the connection of legacy databases to the WWW has been a major area of the Internet's evolution, especially in Intranets.

Links
These are the hypertext connections between Web pages. This is a synonym for hotlinks or hyperlinks.

Live
When used in reference to a World Wide Web file, this term designates an object linked to another layer of information.

Login
Noun: The account name used to gain access to a computer system.
Verb: The act of entering into a computer system.

Megabyte
A million bytes. A thousand kilobytes.

MIME
An acronym for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, MIME is a messaging standard that allows Internet users to exchange e-mail messages enhanced with graphics, video and voice.

Modem
A device connected to your computer and to a phone line that allows the computer to talk to other computers through the phone system. Basically, modems do for computers what a telephone does for humans.

MPEG
The acronym for Moving Pictures Expert Group, MPEG is an international standard for video compression and desktop movie presentation. A special viewing application is needed to run MPEG files on a computer.

Network
Any time you connect two or more computers together so that they can share resources, it's a computer network. Connecting two or more networks together makes an internet.

NIC
The acronym for Network Information Center, NIC is an organization responsible for supplying information for component networks that comprise the Internet.

NOC
The acronym for Network Operations Center, NOC is the organization responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Internet's component networks.

NT
Microsoft operating system used extensively as a communication gateway and also as the server for networked client stations. It is part of the Windows family of operating systems from Microsoft.

Password
A code used to gain access to a locked system. Good passwords contain letters and non-letters and are not simple combinations such as virtue7. A good password might be Hot$1-6.

POP
An acronym for Point of Presence, POP is a service provider's location for connecting to users. Generally, POPs refer to the location where people can dial into the provider's host computer. Most providers have several POPs to allow low-cost access via telephone lines.

Protocol
A set of standards that define how traffic and communications are handled by a computer or network routers.

QuickTime
This is a digital video standard developed for Apple Macintosh computers. Special viewing applications are needed to run QuickTime movies.

Router
A communications device designed to transmit signals via the most efficient route possible.

Search Engines
Search engines allow people find information on the internet using short words or phrases called keyword phrases. What appears after you type in a keyword phrase and hit the enter key is called a search results page.

Shareware
This term refers to software that is available on public networks and BBSs (Bulletin Board Services). Users are asked to remit a small amount to the software developer, but it's on the honor system.

Spam or Spamming
An inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list, USENET, or other networked communications facility as if it was a broadcast medium by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn't ask for it.

T-1
High-speed data line connection. T-1 operates at 1.45 Mbps.

T-3
A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits-per-second. This is more than enough to do full-screen, full-motion video.

Tags
These are formatting codes used in HTML documents. Tags indicate how parts of a document will appear when displayed by browsing software.

TCP/IP
TCP/IP is the basic protocol controlling applications on the Internet; it stands for "transmission control protocol/Internet protocol."

Telnet
Telnet allows a network user on one computer to log on to a computer at a distant location in order to use the software programs or data files on the distant computer. One of the most common uses of Telnet today is to access on-line library catalogs at universities around the world.

TIFF
This is the acronym for Tagged Image File Format, a graphic file format developed by Aldus and Microsoft.
UNIX

A multi-user, multitasking operating system originally developed by AT&T. UNIX is written in the C programming language and, thus, can run on many platforms. Its TCP/IP is used as a common protocol in the Internet. Today, with additional protocols such as SMTP and NFS, it is the most powerful, widely used operating system.

URL
This is the acronym for Uniform Resource Locator, the addressing system used in the World Wide Web and other Internet resources. The URL contains information about the method of access, the server to be accessed, and the path of any file to be accessed.

Usenet
Usenet is a world-wide system of discussion groups, with comments passed among hundreds of thousands of machines. Not all Usenet machines are on the Internet. Usenet is completely decentralized, with over 10,000 discussion areas, called newsgroups.

Webmaster
This term refers to the person in charge of administrating a World Wide Web site.

Web Node
This term is synonymous with Web site or Web server.

Web Page
An HTML document that is accessible on the Web.

Webspace
This term refers to the space created by the World Wide Web.

WWW (World Wide Web)
The term used to describe the Internet as made up of a global number of sites that users may access from anywhere in the world.