ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. World-wide standard for the codes used by computers to represent letters, numbers, punctuation, etc.
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.au format
UNIX sound file format.
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B
Backbone
The major pathways
used to carry traffic on the Internet.
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Bandwidth
Amount of data
which can be sent through a connection. Usually measured in bits
per second.
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Baud
A unit of calculation
for a modem that measures data transmission in bits per second.
A 2400 bits per second modem actually runs at 300 baud, but it moves
4 bits per baud (4 x 300 = 2400 bits per second). See also Bit.
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Binary
A numbering
system which uses only the numbers "1" and "0" e.g. 11001001.
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Bit
Information
represented by the number "1" or the number "0" and transmitted
as a discrete (discontinuous) step rather than as a wave. Digital
information is transmitted as a series of bits, or "1's" and "0's"
strung together in various ways.
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Browser
Software for
navigating the World Wide Web. Allows the user to search for information,
view pages, download files, etc. See also World
Wide Web.
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Browsing
The act of
navigating the World Wide Web.
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C
Case sensitivity
Many Internet
addresses are case sensitive.
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Certificate
See Digital Certificate
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CGI
A Common Gateway
Interface (CGI) is used to run external programs from a World-Wide
Web server. Usually the CGI will generate some HTML which will be
returned to the browser. The returned HTML will frequently be dependant
upon the original request,
e.g., a search results list. See also HTML.
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Channel
In Internet
Relay Chat (IRC) a channel is a virtual arena where users meet to
talk on a particular topic. IRC programs such as the BT Internet
Chat client will allow you to call up a list of all active channels.
See also Internet Relay Chat
(IRC).
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chroot
A UNIX command
to force the root directory to become something other than its default
for the duration of the current process. This may only be executed
by privileged users to provide a process (usually FTP or HTTP) with
access to a restricted section of the file system. The new root
accommodates copies of all the required files and directories. See
also FTP and HTTP.
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Client
A program that
requests data from another computer, called a server. See also Server.
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Compression
Compression
"squeezes" files to save space and transmission time. See also Decompression.
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D
Decompression
Data decompression
is used to restore compressed data to its original form. See also
Compression.
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Digital Certificate
Digital certificates (also called Secure Server IDs) are like virtual electronic fingerprints. Each one is unique and can be used to positively identify the person or object (e.g. a company's Internet server), who owns the certificate by the information contained within it. That information can be trusted, because it is digitally 'signed' by a trusted Certification Authority who check the authenticity of the information to be included in the certificate before they issue it. Digital Certificates provide the proof of identity and deliver critical elements of security which are vital to establish the trust needed to conduct safe communications and transactions with customers, suppliers, partners and employees.
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Domain Name
A domain name
is another way of referring to the Internet address of a computer
or group of computers on the Internet. Whereas an Internet address
is made up of numbers (e.g. 144.2.45.6) and therefore difficult
to remember, a domain name (e.g. btinternet.com) is made up of meaningful
words.
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Download
To download
a file is to move it from one computer to another, usually from
a central host machine to a local machine. See also Upload.
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E
E-mail
Electronic
messages (mail) sent from one computer to another. The messages
are received at the user's e-mail address and stored in their mailbox.
See also Address.
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F
FAQ
Frequently
Asked Questions. Many newsgroups, mailing lists and some WWW sites
have an FAQ list which is posted regularly. FAQs prevent newsgroup
members from having to individually answer common questions. See
also Newsgroup.
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Flame
The Internet
equivalent of verbal abuse.
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Followup
A reply to
a USENET newsgroup article (post). See also Newsgroup
and Post.
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Freeware
Software for
which the author makes no charge. Because the author of the software
is making no money, freeware is usually unsupported. See also Shareware.
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FTP
File Transfer
Protocol. A widely accepted protocol which allow computers of different
types to exchange files. "Anonymous ftp" sites will allow anyone
to download files from them without knowing a password.
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G
GIF
Graphics Interchange
Format. A graphics file format created by the CompuServe online
information service. GIFs work across platforms (Mac, PC and UNIX).
Most Web browsers can display images saved in the GIF format. See
also Browser.
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Gopher
A Gopher site
has a hierarchically organized collection of documents, usually
readable text files.
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H
HTML
HyperText Markup
Language. HTML is the formatting language in which pages on the
World Wide Web are constructed. Browsers interpret HTML and display
the pages appropriately. HTML is a subset of SGML (Standard Generalised
Markup Language). See also Browser.
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http (Hyper
Text Transfer Protocol)
A protocol
which tells a server what to send a client, so that the client can
view Web pages, FTP sites, or other areas on the Internet. See also
Server and Client.
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Hypertext
Documents which
contain embedded links (often underlined or otherwise differentiated
from the rest of the text) which allow the user to easily move among
different parts of the same document, or between documents.
Example: Click
here to jump to the top of the page.
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I
Icon
A graphic symbol
used in a computer program to represent an object or process.
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Internet
A global network
of computers and computer systems which communicate using the Internet
protocol.
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IP address
Every computer
connected to the Internet has a unique IP (Internet Protocol) address
which is its Internet address. Example: 147.150.30.32
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IRC (Internet
Relay Chat)
The live chat
area of the Internet in which real time conversations between two
or more people take place in virtual "rooms" or channels. See also
Channel.
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ISP
Internet Service
Provider.
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ISPA
Internet Service
Provider's Association.
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IWF
Internet Watch
Foundation. A charitable organisation which seeks to rid the Internet
of illegal material such as child pornography. The IWF encourages
the Internet community to report the finding of any such material.
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J
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K
Kb
A unit of computer
measurement. Kb is an abbreviation for kilobyte (1024 bytes). See
also Bit.
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L
Link
An area of
a hypertext document which, when selected, will take the user to
another document or resource. On the World Wide Web, a link (often
underlined) is usually a URL pointing to a file, document, site,
image, or another page. See also Hypertext and URL.
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List
See Mailing
list.
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Listserv
Software that
automatically manages a mailing list, receiving posts and followups
and sending groups of them out to all subscribers of the list. See
also E-mail, Mailing List, Newsgroup, Post, Followup.
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M
Mail
Generic term
for information transported on the Internet using one of the various
mail protocols. Often used to distinguish mail from news. See also
E-mail and Newsgroup.
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Mailing list
A topic-oriented
conference like a USENET newsgroup except that the messages are
distributed by private e-mail. Typically, the Internet user would
subscribe to a list by sending e-mail to the Listserv. Messages
in the group arrive in the users' mailbox, and posts and followups
are sent to the Listserv to be forwarded on to other members of
the group. See also Listserv, E-mail, Newsgroup.
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Megabyte
A measure of
computer memory equal to 1,048,576 bytes, each of which in turn
is equal to eight bits, which is the smallest unit of data in the
digital system and is symbolized by the number 1 or the number 0.
See also Bit.
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MIME (Multipurpose
Internet Mail Extension)
An extension
that lets you transmit non-text data (like graphics, audio, video)
via e-mail. See also E-mail.
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N
Network
A system of
hardware and software that is connected so as to be accessed by
individual users who share the same information and resources, and
who may be geographically distant from each other.
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News
Generic term
for information transported on the Internet using the nntp (Network
News Transport Protocol). Often used to distinguish news from mail.
See also E-mail and Newsgroup.
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Newsgroup
A USENET newsgroup
is a discussion forum where participants read and post comments
on an agreed topic.
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Newsreader
Software for
reading and posting articles (posts) and followups to a USENET newsgroup.
See also Newsgroup
and Post.
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Node
Any device
connected to a computer network as well as the point at which the
devices are connected. See also Network.
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O
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P
Page
See Web
page.
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POP
A POP (Point
of Presence) is the modem which the Internet user dials from their
computer to gain access to the Internet.
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Post
The term for
an original USENET or mailing list article. Used as a verb, to "post"
means to submit an article for publication on USENET in one or more
newsgroups or to one or more mailing list. If sent to more than
one newsgroup or list the post is said to be"cross-posted". If the
newsgroup is moderated, the moderator decides if the post will appear;
otherwise the post appears automatically. See also Mailing
list, Newsgroup.
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Q
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R
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S
Search engine
Software which
scans the World Wide Web, collecting titles and words from Web pages
which are stored in a database. The user enters key words to search
for; these are compared against the contents of the database with
the results of the search (e.g relevant Web pages containing the
key words) returned to the user. Alta Vista and Lycos are examples
of search engines. See also World Wide Web.
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Secure Server ID
See Digital Certificate
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Server
A computer
that provides files as shared resources to a computer network. See
also Client.
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Shareware
Copyrighted
software that is sold on a trust basis. Users are expected to pay
the author if they like or use the software.
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Site
A particular
"spot" on the Internet or World Wide Web. Sometimes a single computer,
but may be a network of computers. Examples include: Gopher site,
WWW site, FTP site. See also Gopher,
WWW, ftp.
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SLIP/PPP
Two protocols
for allowing a computer to connect to the Internet through a dial-up
connection, using a modem.
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SSL
SSL (Secure
Sockets Layer) is an open protocol for securing data communications
across networks. Secure Web sites (where you can confidently enter
credit card details, personal details, etc.) are indicated by the
key at the bottom of your browser (normally broken) being joined
together. Also see Digital Certificate
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Surfing
"Jumping" or
navigating from site to site on the Internet. See also Browsing.
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T
TCP/IP (Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)
A set of protocols
which make Internet services possible among computers that do not
belong to the same network.
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TELNET
TELNET lets
Internet users log in to computers around the world that are connected
to the Internet, and to use them as if they were their own.
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Thread
A thread is
a collection of articles within a Newsgroup that follow the same
subject. See also Newsgroup.
U
Upload
To move a file
from one computer to another, usually from a local machine to a
host. See also Download.
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URL
Uniform Resource
Locator. URLs are links to network resources like files, programs,
web sites, web pages, etc. URLs are usually found as links on web
pages, but are turning up more often in posts on USENET and in e-mail
messages. Upper and lower case are often important in URLs. The
URL is usually made up of four parts which specifies the type of
the resource (e.g. gopher, http, ftp), the hostname, followed by
the path at the host site and the name of the document or other
resource.
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USENET
See Newsgroup.
V
Veronica
A search engine
for searching Gopher sites using keyword searching.
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Virus
A computer
virus is a computer program that infects other computer programs
and reproduces itself without the knowledge of the PC user. A virus
may be destructive, and should never be ignored.
W
.wav format
Windows sound
files.
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Web
See World
Wide Web.
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Web Page
A WWW document
designed to be displayed by a browser. Written in a tagging language
called HTML, a web page often contains text, pictures, as well as
links to other web pages or Internet resources.
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W3
See World
Wide Web
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World Wide
Web
A subset of
the Internet which supports hypertext-based documents. See Web page.
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WWW
See World
Wide Web
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X
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Y
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Z