Jargon Buster
Address
An address in a unique identifier assigned to a web page. The address
is more commonly referred to as the URL (Uniformed Resource Locator).
ADN
(Advanced Digital Network) Often refers to 56kbps leased line
Applet
A multimedia application written or embedded in the Java language such
as animation or sound, viewable only in a Java-enabled browser such as
Netscape 2.0 or HotJava.
Anonymous FTP
Users may gain access to a remote server using FTP without actually having
an account on that server. The user's email address is usually given
as a password and the user name 'anonymous' is assigned to the user by
systems supporting this service.
Archie
A database of anonymous ftp sites and their contents, "Archie"
keeps track of the entire contents of these sites, and allows users to
search for files on those sites using various different kinds of filename
searches.
Archive
Often compressed, archives are usually large files containing several
smaller files. Commonly used archive file formats are ZIP, TAR, ARJ, LZH,
UC2.
Archive site
Contains archived files of many kinds, available for users to download
either by FTP or email.
ARJ
Allows the user to store one or more files in a compressed format in an
archive file. This saves space both in the compression and in the saving
of disk sector clusters. Particularly strong compressing databases, uncompressed
graphics files, and large documents. Named after the creator, American
programmer Robert Jung.
ARPA
(Advanced Research Projects Agency) US governmental organization responsible
for creating an experimental network which heralded the beginning of the
Internet. Now known as Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency.
ARPAnet
Network created by ARPA in 1969, primarily allowing data transfer between
Government laboratories. (Now defunct).
ASCII
(American Standard Code for Information Interchange) a file containing
only text characters: numbers, letters, and standard punctuation.
ATM
(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) a new communications standard that is currently
in the later stages of development. ATM is designed to transfer voice,
video, and other multimedia data that requires short bursts of large quantities
of data that can survive small losses but must be broadcast in real time.
Attachments
Multimedia files that are 'attached' to an email; can be text, graphics,
sound, video, spreadsheet, database, or even an entire application.
Backbone
A central high-speed network established by a company or organisation
for connecting independent sub-networks.
Bandwidth
In simplistic terms, bandwidth is the amount of information travelling
through a single channel at any one moment in time.
Baud Rate
Speed at which data travels through a modem, measured in bps (bits per
second). Most modems today range from 2400 to over 50,000 bps.
BBS
(Bulletin Board System) a computer system usually run by local users making
files available for downloading and setting up electronic discussion forums.
Binary
Binary data is a direct representation of the bits stored in RAM on a
computer. Much more compact and accurate than ASCII.
Bit
(Binary DigIT) the smallest unit of computerized data, comprising of either
a 1 or 0. A combination of bits can indicate an alphabetic character,
a numeric digit, or perform a signaling, switching or other function.
Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second.
Body
In email terms, the part of the message containing the most textual content,
sandwiched between the Header and the Signature.
Bookmark
Virtual bookmarks work pretty much the same as the real ones. They record
a URL or web page to enable you to refer back to at a later date.
bps
(Bits Per Second) speed at which data transfer is measured.
Browser
(Often called a 'Web Browser') allows the user to search the World Wide
Web and other Internet facilities using a Graphical User Interface. Examples
are Mosaic and Netscape.
Byte
A unit of data, generally formed from 8 bits. Example: 01101010
CERN
(Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire) A Lab located in Geneva,
Switzerland, where the concept for the World Wide Web was first developed.
CGI
(Common Gateway Interface) an interface-creation scripting program that
allows you to make WWW pages on the fly based on information from fill-in
forms, checkboxes, text input etc.
Client
In a Client-Server relationship, the client is a computer running programs
or applications from the server, or accessing files from it.
Compress
The act of discarding redundant or semi-redundant information from a file,
thereby making it smaller.
CompuServe
US Internet Service Provider; one of the oldest and biggest.
Cookie
A Cookie is a piece of software which records information about you. It
holds this information until such time that the server requests it. For
example, if you are browsing around a virtual shop, each time you place
an item in your basket the information is stored by the cookie until you
decide to buy and the server requests the purchase information.
Cybercafe
A cafe or bar allowing customers to explore the World Wide Web whilst
having a drink or snack, usually charged per half-hour of usage.
Daemon
A program that runs in the background whenever needed, carrying out tasks
for the user. They 'sleep' until something comes along which needs their
help; most commonly found on Unix systems.
See Also: Unix
Dialup
'Dialup Access' or a 'Dialup Account' is when a modem is used to gain
access to the Internet via a network.
See Also: Modem
Domain Name
Unique address identifying each site on the Internet, usually of two or
more segments separated by full stops.
Domain Name Server
Computers connected to the Internet whose job it is to keep track of the
IP Addresses and Domain Names of other machines. When called upon, they
take the ASCII Domain Name and convert it to the relevant numeric IP Address.
See Also: IP Address
Domain Name System
Allows users to relate to computers on the Internet by using textual addresses
(eg. www.kingston-internet.net) for ease of use, rather than the IP Address
system.
DOS
(Disk Operating System) simple operating system developed by Microsoft,
allows extensions by other programs.
Download
When you transfer information off a remote machine connected to the Internet
onto your local machine, you are downloading data.
See Also: Upload
Electronic mail or email
Method of communication whereby an electronic message is sent to a remote
location and received by another user at a specific email Address.
See Also: Attachments, Body, Header, Signature
Emoticons
These are the sideways smiles and frowns used in email to indicate emotions.
E.g. :-) would indicate a smile and :-( would indicate a frown!
Ethernet
A type of network cabling allowing theoretical data transfers of up to
10Mb per second.
FAQ
(Frequently Asked Question) Lists of Frequently Asked Questions (and their
answers) covering all manner of topics can be found across the World Wide
Web, allowing the user to search for a query that somebody has already
found the answer to.
FDDI
(Fibre Distributed Data Interface) is a standard for transmitting data
through optical fibre cables at a rate of around 100 million bps.
See Also: Bandwidth, Ethernet, T-1, T-3
Filename extension
Commonly a three or four-letter extension on the end of a file name designating
the file type. There are hundreds in existence, and new ones frequently
being invented. Examples are: .txt (text file), .gif (Graphics Interchange
Format).
Finger
A Unix program which displays information about a particular user or all
users logged on the system, or a remote system.
See Also: Unix
Firewall
Secures a company or organisation's internal network from unauthorised
external access (most commonly in the form of Internet hackers).
Flame
An insulting or derogatory message usually sent via email as punishment
for breach of netiquette. There have been instances of 'Flame Wars', when
other people join in the heated exchanges. In either case, not recommended.
See Also: email, Netiquette
Forms
Certain Browsers support electronic fill-in forms. A form on a Web Page
can be filled in by users all over the world, and the information sent
electronically to the relevant domain site.
Freeware
Software allowed to be distributed free by the author, but often with
certain conditions applying (ie. the software cannot be modified etc).
See Also: Public Domain, Shareware
FTP
(File Transfer Protocol) one of the main ways files are transferred across
the Internet. An FTP Site is that which is provided by a company or organisation
as a depository for all kinds of files which users may download.
FTPmail
The process where email is used to access FTP Sites.
See Also: email
Gateway
The interface between two opposing protocols. By means of software and
hardware a gateway allows connection between otherwise incompatible networks.
See Also: Protocol
GIF
(Graphics Interchange Format) developed by Compuserve, GIF is a platform-independent
file format, used extensively throughout the Internet for graphics files.
Compresses files using a 'lossless' method which ensures picture quality
is not diminished.
See Also: Compuserve
.gif
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) filename extension.
Gigabyte (GB)
A thousand Megabytes.
See Also: Megabyte
Gopher
Internet Gopher is a distributed document search and retrieval system.
It takes a request for information and then scans the Internet for it.
The protocol and software follows a client-server model, and permits users
on a heterogeneous mix of desktop systems to browse, search, and retrieve
documents residing on multiple distributed server machines.
See Also: Protocol
Header
In email terms, this is the part of the message indicating who the sender
is and some other brief details, such as the subject of the message.
See Also: Attachments, Body, email, Signature
hit
As used in reference to the World Wide Web, “hit” means a single request
from a web browser for a single item from a web server; thus in order
for a web browser to display a page that contains 3 graphics, 4 “hits”
would occur at the server: 1 for the HTML page, and one for each of the
3 graphics.
Home Page
On the World Wide Web, this is the main navigation page owned by a company,
organisation, University, individual, etc, from which hyperlinks are made
to other pages on the site (or other sites).
See Also: Hyperlink
Host
You usually connect to a host computer whenever you use the Internet.
HotJava
A Web browser developed by Sun Microsystems expanding traditional browser
capabilities by allowing dynamic functions instead of just static text
and images.
HTML
(HyperText Markup Language) the tagging language used to format Web pages.
Allows pictures and text to be combined to create Web documents, and the
most important feature - hypertext - making it possible for links to be
made between different documents.
See Also: Gif, Jpeg, Tag, World Wide Web
HTTP
(HyperText Transport Protocol) used on the World Wide Web since 1990,
this application-level protocol is essential for the distribution of information
throughout the Web.
Hyperlink
In World Wide Web pages, hyperlinks are highlighted text or images which,
when selected (usually by clicking the mouse button), follow a link to
another page. Hyperlinks can also be used to automatically download other
files as well as sounds and video clips.
See Also: Download
Image Map
An image with clickable 'hot spots', allowing several hyperlinks from
a single image file. For example, the image could be of a country, split
into different areas, each of which could be clickable and hyperlink to
a larger view of that specific area.
See Also: Hyperlink
internet
When spelt with a lower case i, it is a group of two or more networks
connected together.
Internet
With a capital I, it is the collection of all the interconnected networks
in the world, and is often simply referred to as the 'net'.
IP
(Internet Protocol) the main protocol used on the Internet.
See Also: Protocol
IP Address
Unique 4-number code designated to every Domain on the Internet. Each
Domain also has a Domain Name as well as an IP address to make site addresses
easier to remember.
IRC
(Internet Relay Chat) real-time world-wide electronic chat program allowing
the user to communicate with other people across the globe.
ISDN
(Integrated Services Digital Network) Digital telephone line allowing
faster data transfer rates than existing analogue lines. Allows simultaneous
transfer of voice, data and video information.
ISP
(Internet Service Provider) A Company or Organisation, such as Karoo,
dedicated to providing businesses or home users access to the Internet,
usually for a fee.
Jargon
Like all other specialised subjects, the Internet has its own jargon;
a somewhat cryptic language describing technical details. Some jargon
is explained in this glossary.
Java
Developed by Sun Microsystems, Java is a Web programming language supporting
online multimedia effects, such as simple cartoon-like animation, background
music and continuously updated information in Web pages.
JPEG
(Joint Photographic Experts Group) a standard of image compression developed
especially for use on the Internet. Most photographic images can be highly
compressed using this method, without greatly diminishing image quality.
.jpg or .jpeg
Filename extensions given to JPEG graphics files.
Kilobyte
1024 bytes, usually rounded down to a thousand bytes for simplicity.
LAN
(Local Area Network) see below.
Leased Line
A rented, high-speed phone link for private use, available 24 hours a
day.
Link
Link puts the hyper in hyperlink. Links are the connections between hypertext
pages. Every time you click on highlighted text to go to another page
you're following a link.
Local Area Network
Usually referred to as a LAN, this describes a group of computers commonly
in the same building, connected by network cables.
Login
When a user tries to gain access to the Internet through their host computer,
they must Login with their password and User ID.
Mailserver
The computer (and software running on it) that allows sorting and retrieval
of email messages.
See Also: email
Megabyte (MB)
The unit of measurement for a thousand Kilobytes; a million bytes.
MIME
(Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) a format designed originally to
include images, sounds, animations and other types of documents within
Internet mail messages.
Mirror site
An FTP site containing exactly the same files as the site it is mirroring.
Sites may be mirrored several times, often in different countries around
the world. They relieve the load that can be placed on a very popular
FTP site, making it easier for users to gain access and download files
faster.
Modem
(MODulator-DEModulator) allows the transmission of digital information
over an analogue phone line.
Mosaic
Web browser written by a group of people at NCSA. Provides a Graphical
User Interface for accessing data on the World Wide Web.
See Also: Browser
MPEG
(Motion Picture Experts Group) video compression format used for movie
or animation clips on the World Wide Web.
.mpg or .mpeg
Filename extension for MPEG movies.
NCSA
(National Center for Supercomputing Applications) powerful organisation
that launched the Mosaic Web Browser in 1993 for Windows, x-Windows and
Macintosh platforms.
Netiquette
Informal, largely undocumented set of rules designed to make the Web a
polite and civilised 'society'.
Netscape Communications
Creators of Netscape Navigator, one of the most popular Web browsers.
Became notorious after introducing several HTML 'extensions' that were
unsupported by other browsers.
See Also: Browser
Network
Two or more computers linked together and able to share resources constitutes
a network.
Network Time Protocol
Internet protocol ensuring that the correct time is transmitted.
See Also: Protocol
Network time server
Using Network Time Protocol, you access this machine to get the right
time.
Newsgroup
Thousands of Newsgroups exist, distributing information on different subjects
using Usenet.
Newsreader
Program that allows the user to read Newsgroup messages via Usenet.
NIC
(Network Information Center) the location where all the data is organised
for a certain network.
NNTP
(Net News Transport Protocol) Usenet news uses this transfer protocol
for shifting files around the network.
See Also: Usenet
Node
Any single computer connected to a network.
See Also: Network
Offline
When your computer performs an operation when it is not connected to any
other computers, it is working offline.
Online
Your computer is working online when it performs an operation and is connected
to other computers.
Packet
Information moves around the Internet in 'packets'; chunks of data each
with their own destination address. Think of packets as sealed envelopes
containing data, with addresses written on them. They all go through the
system, and usually end up at the correct destination. The more envelopes
the system must handle, the slower the process becomes.
Page
A World Wide Web 'page' is the name given to a basic Web document, such
as the one you are viewing at the moment.
PKZIP or PKUNZIP
Utilities for easily compressing and uncompressing DOS and Windows files.
They use the .zip filename extension.
Plug-In
There are many things that your browser can do such as displaying images
and web pages. Other things are beyond its capabilities and that's where
the plug-ins are introduced. Shockwave and RealAudio are examples of plug-ins
required for audio and video.
POP
(Post Office Protocol) provides a store-and-forward service, intended
to move email on demand from an intermediate server to a single destination
machine, usually a PC or Macintosh.
PPP
(Point to Point Protocol) PPP is a kind of Internet connection that allows
a computer to use Internet protocols to become a part of the Internet.
Requires a modem, a standard telephone line and an account from a service
provider.
Protocol
Method by which computers communicate to each other over the Internet
in order to provide a service.
See Also: FTP, HTTP, IP, NNTP, POP, PPP, SLIP, SMTP, TCP
Public access provider
An organization that provides Internet access for individuals or other
organizations, often for a fee.
Public domain
Refers to software that anybody can use or modify without authorisation.
Resource
A particular object of information provided on the Internet. Can be anything
from a picture through to a video or application.
Router
A special-purpose computer (or software package) that handles the connection
between 2 or more networks. Routers concentrate on looking at the destination
addresses of the packets passing through them and deciding which route
to send them on.
See Also: Network
Scripting language
Series of programmed commands that designate how one computer communicates
with another computer.
Self-extracting
archive
An archived file with the filename extension .exe, indicating that when
downloaded and run, it will be extracted by the decompressing program
around it, without user intervention.
Server
Within a network, a server makes files available to client programs located
on other computers when requested.
Service Provider
The role of a Service Provider is to provide subscribers a gateway to
the Internet.
Shareware
Software distributed freely, but with certain conditions applying to it.
Either the software is released on a trial basis only, and must be registered
after a certain period of time, or in other cases no support can be offered
with the software without registering it. In some cases direct payment
to the author is required.
See Also: Freeware, Public Domain
Signature
The automatic addition of a few lines at the foot of an email. These
usually consist of the sender's email address, full name and other details.
SLIP
(Serial Line Internet Protocol) like PPP, lets you use a modem and phone
lines to connect to the Internet without connecting to a host computer.
Smileys
Characters often used in News messages, emails and on Web Pages to offer
some degree of character or emotion. Example :-)
SMTP
(Simple Mail Transport Protocol) often referred to as sendmail, is designed
to allow the delivery of mail messages to Internet users.
Snail mail
Write a letter. Buy a stamp, put stamp on letter. Walk to the postbox
and post letter. Wait a day or two and hopefully it will have reached
its intended destination...that's s n a i l - m a i l.
Surfing
A popular metaphor used for describing someone exploring the World Wide
Web.
Tag
In HTML terms, a 'tag' is used for marking-up text in various ways so
that it is formatted in a Web document. They are sometimes called 'Markup
Tags'.
See Also: HTML
T-1
Network link used on the Internet allowing speeds of up to 1.54 megabits/second.
See Also: ADN
T-3
Higher speed (45 megabits/second) Network link used on the Internet.
See Also: ADN
TCP
(Transmission Control Protocol) works in conjunction with IP to ensure
that packets reach their intended destinations.
TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) the two fundamental
protocols which form the basis of the Internet.
See Also: Protocol
Telnet
Terminal emulation program allowing an authorised user to access another
computer on the Internet and use that computer as if it were local (when
in reality it could be several thousand miles away).
Terminal
Piece of hardware that allows commands to be sent to a computer, usually
by means of a keyboard and display unit.
Terminal emulator
Allows a PC to emulate several terminal types.
Thread
In a Usenet group, this is a list of messages loosely relating to one
another (using the same 'thread').
Timeout
The facility whereby after a certain period of inactivity the connection
is dropped.
Unix
An Operating System typically written in C, and designed for multi-user
environments. It has TCP/IP built in, and is therefore one of the most
popular operating systems for servers on the Internet.
Upload
Transfer of files off a local computer up to a specified remote computer
(as opposed to download where files are pulled off a remote machine).
See Also: Download
URL
(Uniform Resource Locator) resource addressing scheme of the World Wide
Web. Assists in locating and identification of multimedia resources or
multiple copies of resources.
Usenet
Specialised network linking thousands of newsgroups covering every subject
under the sun.
Veronica
(Very Easy Rodent Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerised Archives) A
resource-discovery system providing access to information resources held
on most ( 99% + ) of the world's gopher servers. In addition to native
gopher data, veronica includes references to many resources provided by
other types of information servers, such as WWW servers, usenet archives,
and telnet-accessible information services.
Virus
A virus is virtual evil. It can hide anywhere where a computer stores
information. They have the ability to transfer from computer to computer
with the use of the Internet and various other networks. A virus can do
a number of things to a recipient such as reformatting hard drives (destroying
data).
WAIS
(Wide Area Information Servers) an architecture for a distributed information
retrieval system. WAIS is based on the client-server model of computation,
and allows users of computers to share information using a common computer-to-computer
protocol.
See Also: Protocol
Wide Area Network (WAN)
Group of computers located geographically apart, usually belonging to
a single company or organisation, connected together using dedicated lines
or by satellite to simulate a local network.
WinSock
(WINdows SOCKets) Windows utility program allowing users connected by
SLIP, PPP or other direct connection to communicate with other computers
on the Internet by TCP/IP.
World Wide Web ('WWW' or
'Web')
Specialised Internet Service allowing users to connect to remote sites,
with information presented as text with hypertext links. These links can
be used to refer to almost all other resources on the Internet. Graphics
can be embedded into Web pages, but can only be viewed using a graphical
Web browser. Other applications supported are sound files and movie files.
See Also: Browser, HTML, Internet
Worm
A search utility on the World Wide Web that locates resources following
user-determined guidelines.
XMODEM
A popular but slow file transfer protocol.
YMODEM
Another file transfer protocol, slightly faster than XMODEM.
.ZIP
Files that have been compressed using the PKZIP program have this filename
extension. They can be decompressed using the PKUNZIP utility.
ZMODEM
The fastest and most popular file transfer protocol, due to its efficiency
and crash recovery properties.
