|
Register for the Painsley Small worlds Award.
Why not join our Mailing List?
Contact us.
| |
A
Access Privileges
A users rights on a host. Typically users are allowed to create or edit files only in
their home directories, though they can run programs from public directories.
Activate
To make a window the active one by clicking on it.
Active Window
The window with the highlighted title bar, where the user is currently interacting with a
program.
ACU
'Automatic Call Unit' Fancy word for a modem.
Addressing
The assignment of unique names or numbers to every node on a network so that information
doesn't get mis-delivered.
ADN
(Advanced Digital Network) -- Usually refers to a 56Kbps leased-line.
Algorithm
The step-by-step process a software program uses to produce results.
Alias
An alternative name used in place of a 'real' one. Rather than using your real name to log
in to a system, you probably use a shorter alias. Commands can also have aliases. For
example, you can create command files on a UNIX system so instead of Typing in 'Is -al' to
see all the files in your directory, you could just type 'dir'.
American Standard Code for Information Interchange
See Also: ASCII
Anonymous FTP
Users may gain access to a remote server using FTP without actually having an account on
that
server. The user's E-mail address is usually given as a password and the user name
'anonymous' is assigned to the user by systems supporting this service. See Also:
E-mail, FTP
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. See
Also: Java, HotJava
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. See Also: ARJ
Archive site
Contains archived files of many kinds, available for users to download either by FTP or
E-mail. See Also: Download, E-mail, FTP
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.
ARPA
(Advanced Research Projects Agency) US governmental organisation 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 E-mail; can be text, graphics, sound, video,
spreadsheet, database, or even an entire application.
Back to top
B
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. See Also: Modem
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. See Also: ASCII
Bit
(Binary DiglT) the smallest unit of computerized data, comprising of either a 1 or O. A
combination of bits can indicate an alphabetic character, a numeric digit, or perform a
signaling, switching or other function. Bandwidth is usally measured in bits-per-second. See
Also: Bandwidth.
BITNET
(Because It's Time NETwork (or Because It's There NETwork)) -- A network of
educational sites separate from the Internet, but e-mail is freely exchanged between BITNET
and the Internet. Listservs, the most popular form of e-mail discussion groups,
originated on BITNET. BITNET machines are usually mainframes running the VMS operating
system, and the network is probably the only international network that is shrinking.
Body
In E-mail terms, the part of the message containing the most textual content, sandwiched
between the Header and the Signature. See Also: E-mail, Header, Signature
bps
(Bits Per Second) speed at which data transfer is measured.
brb
(Be Right Back) -- A shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum.
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. See
Also: Mosaic, Nefscape.
BMI
(By The Way) -- A shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum.
Byte
A unit of data, generally formed from 8 bits. Example: 01101010
Back to top
C
CERN
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.
See Also: Forms
Client
A software program that is used to contact and obtain data from a Server software
program on another computer, often across a great distance. Each Client program is
designed to work with one or more specific kinds of Sen/er programs, and each Sen/er
requires a specific kind of Client. A Web Browser is a specific kind of Client.
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.
Cookies
Are a general mechanism which server side connections (such as CGI scripts) can use to
both store and retrieve information on the client side of the connection. The addition of
a simple, persistent, client-side state significantly extends the capabilities of
Web-based client/server applications.
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.
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk was originally a cultural sub-genre of science fiction taking place in a
not-so-distant, dystopian, over-industrialised society. The term grew out of the work of
William Gibson and Bruce Sterling and has evolved into a cultural label encompassing many
different kinds of human, machine, and punk attitudes. It includes clothing and lifestyle
choices as well. See Also: Cyberspace
Cyberspace
Term originated by author William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer the word
Cyberspace is currently used to describe the whole range of information resources
available through computer networks.
Back to top
D
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 leg.
www.theplanet.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
Back to top
E
Electronic mail or E-mail
Method of communication whereby an electronic message is sent to a remote location and
received by another user at a specific E-mail Address. See Also: Attachments, Body,
Header, Signature
Ethernet
A type of network cabling allowing theoretical data transfers of up to 10Mb per second.
FAO (Frequently Asked Question) Lists of Frequently Asked Questions land 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.
Back to top
F
FDDI
(Fibre Distributed Data Interface) is a standard for transmitting data through optical
fibre cables at a rate of around 100 million bps.
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 organization's internal network from unauthorized external access
(most commonly in the form of Internet hackers).
Flame
An insulting or derogatory message usually sent via E-mail 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: E-mail, 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. See Also: CGI, Browser
Freeware
Software allowed to be distributed free by the author, but often with certain conditions
applying the. 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 organization's as a depository for
all kinds of files which users may download. See Also: Download, Protocol
FTPmail
The process where E-mail is used to access FTP Sites. See Also: E-mail
Back to top
G
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
Back to top
H
Header
In E-mail 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.
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. See Also: Applet,
Java
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
Back to top
I
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 analog lines. Allows simultaneous transfer of voice, data and video
information.
ISP
(Internet Service Provider) A Company or Organisation, such as Planet Online, dedicated to
providing businesses or home users access to the Internet, usually for a fee.
Back to top
J
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 inline
multimedia effects, such as simple cartoon-like animation, background music and
continuously updated information in Web pages. See Also: Applet, HotJava
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.
�jpS or,ipeg
Filename extensions given to JPEG graphics files.
Back to top
K
Kilobyte
1024 bytes, usually rounded down to a thousand bytes for simplicity. LAN (Local Area
Network) see below.
Back to top
L
Leased Line
A rented, high-speed phone link for private use, available 24 hours a day.
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.
Back to top
M
Mailserver
The computer land software running on it) that allows sorting and retrieval of E-mail
messages. See Also: E-mail
Megabyte (MB)
The unit of measurement for a thousand Kilobytes; a million bytes. See Also:
Gigabyte, Kilobyte
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. See Also: Download, FTP
Modem
(MODulator-DEModulator) allows the transmission of digital information over an analog
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.
Back to top
N
NCSA
(National Center for Supercomputing Applications) powerful organisation that launched the
Mosaic Web Browser in 1993 for Windows, x-\l\lindows 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 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
Back to top
O
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.
Back to top
P
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.
POP
(Post Office Protocol) provides a store-and-forward service, intended to move E-mail 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, IF, 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. See Also:
Freeware, Shareware
Back to top
Q
QuicMime
Apple's standard of bringing Animations and sound to the users in an easy way.
Quicktime VR
Same as Quicktime adapted to Virtual Reality You try and think of something that starts
with Q ?????
Back to top
R
Resource
A particular object of information provided on the Internet. Can be anything from a
picture through to a video or application.
Back to top
S
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.
Search Engines
A remotely accessible program that lets you do keyword searches for information on the
Internet. There are several types of search engine; the search may cover titles of
documents, URLs, headers, or the full text. They can be used to locate just about anything
anywhere on the Internet. (Eg. Type in any subject of interest and let the search
engine locate any related sites.)
Server
Within a network, a server makes files available to client programs located on other
computers when requested.
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 E-mail. These usually consist of
the sender's E-mail address, full name and other details. See Also: Body, E-mail,
Header
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. See Also: PPP, Protocol
Smileys
Characters often used in News messages, E-mails and on Web Pages to offer some degree of
character or emotion. Examples :-) ;-) :-)
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 I - m a i I.
Surfing
A popular metaphor used for describing someone exploring the World Wide Web.
Back to top
T
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-l
Network link used on the Internet allowing speeds of up to 1.54 megabits/second.
T-3
Higher speed (45 megabitslsecond) Network link used on the Internet.
TCP
(Transmission Control Protocol) works in conjunction with IP to ensure that
packets reach their intended destinations. See Also: Packet, Protocol
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.
Back to top
U
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 las 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.
Back to top
V
Veronica
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.
Back to top
W
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-cornpute 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. See Also: PPP, SLIP, TCP/IP
World Wide Web ('WW\IIP 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.
Back to top
X, Y, Z
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.
Back to top
|
