| Glossary of Internet Terms |  |
| Glossary of Internet Terms | |
| 56k line | a digital phone-line connection (leased line) 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 14,400-bps modem. See also: bandwidth, T-1, dedicated connection, leased line, bps |
| anonymous FTP | See: FTP |
| Archie | a tool (software) for finding files stored on anonymous FTP sites. You need to know the exact file name or a substring of it. See also: FTP |
| ARPANet | Advanced Research Projects Agency Network-the precursor to the Internet, developed in the late '60s and early '70s by the U.S. Department of Defense as an experiment in wide-area networking that would survive a nuclear war. See also: Internet |
| ASCII | American Standard Code for Information Interchange-the de facto worldwide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lowercase Latin letters, numbers, punctuation symbols, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes, each of which can be represented by a seven-digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111. |
| AVI | Audio Video Interleaved-a Windows multimedia video format from Microsoft. It interleaves standard waveform audio and digital video frames (bitmaps) to provide 15 fps animation at 160 x 120 x 8 resolution. Requires an add-on viewer for most browsers. See also: Quicktime, MPEG |
| backbone | a high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. The term is relative, as a backbone in a small network will likely be much smaller than many non-backbone lines in a large network. See also: network |
| bandwidth | how much stuff you can send through a connection, usually measured in bits per second. A full page of English text is about 16,000 bits. A fast modem can move about 15,000 bits in one second. Full-motion, full-screen video would require roughly 10,000,000 bits per second, depending on compression. See also: 56k line, bps, bit, T-1 |
| baud | Bits At Unit Density. In common usage, the "baud rate" of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second. Technically, baud is the number of times per second that the carrier signal shifts value. For example, a 1,200 bit-per-second modem actually runs at 300 baud, but it moves four bits per baud (4 x 300 = 1,200 bits per second). See also: modem |
| BBS | Bulletin Board System-a computerized meeting and announcement system that allows people to carry on discussions, upload and download files, and make announcements without the people being connected to the computer at the same time. Many thousands (millions?) of BBS's are in operation around the world. Most are very small, running on a single IBM-clone PC with one or two phone lines. Others are very large, to the point where the line between a BBS and a system like CompuServe gets very hard to draw. |
| bit | Binary DigIT-a single-digit number in base-2; in other words, either a 1 or a 0; the smallest unit of computerized data. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits per second. See also: bandwidth, byte, kilobyte, megabyte |
| BITNET | Because It's Time (or Because It's There) NETwork-a network of educational sites separate from the Internet, although e-mail can be 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. |
| 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. See also: bandwidth, bit |
| browser | a client program (software) that is used for looking at various kinds of Internet resources. See also: client, URL, WWW, Netscape® |
| byte | a set of bits that represents a single character. Usually there are eight bits in a byte, sometimes more, depending on how the measurement is being made. See also: bit, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte |
| CD-ROM | Compact Disc Read-Only Memory-a data storage medium using the same physical format as audio compact discs. It is popular for distribution of software, especially multimedia applications. The maximum capacity is more than 600 megabytes, or the storage equivalent of more than 400 high-density floppy drives. |
| character | a letter, numeral, symbol, punctuation mark, or space. See also: ASCII, byte |
| 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 server programs, and each server requires a specific kind of client. A Web browser is a specific kind of client. See also: browser, server |
| CPU | Central Processing Unit-the main internal component of a computer where executions of instructions are carried out and calculations are performed. |
| cyberspace | term originated by author William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer, currently used to describe the whole range of information resources available through computer networks. |
| dedicated connection | a circuit, typically provided by the telephone company, which continuously connects two or more computers or any other continuous data connection. Such lines are usually used for data transmissions at higher speeds than are possible with dial-up connections. |
| dial-up connection | a temporary, as opposed to dedicated, connection between computers established over a telephone line using modems. |
| domain name server (DNS) | a computer system chiefly used on the Internet for translating domain names into Internet protocol addresses. Every machine connected to the Internet must have access to a DNS for this translation to take place. Some providers offer multiple redundant servers to improve reliability and access time. See also Internet, IP number |
| domain name | the unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain names always have two or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general. A given machine may have more than one domain name, but a given domain name points to only one machine. Usually, all of the machines on a given network will have the same thing as the righthand portion of their domain names; e.g., gateway.gbnetwork.com, mail.gbnetwork.com, www.gbnetwork.com, and so on. It is also possible for a domain name to exist but not be connected to an actual machine, often so that a group or business can have an Internet e-mail address without having to establish a real Internet site. In these cases, some real Internet machine must handle the mail on behalf of the listed domain name. See also: IP number |
| Electronic Mail-messages, usually text, sent from one person to another via computer. E-mail can also be sent automatically to a large number of addresses (mailing list). See also: listserv, maillist | |
| Ethernet | a very common method of networking computers in a LAN. Ethernet will handle about 10,000,000 bits per second and can be used with almost any kind of computer. See also: bandwidth, LAN, TCP/IP |
| FAQ | Frequently Asked Questions-a document that lists and answers the most common questions on a particular subject. There are hundreds of FAQs on the Internet, on subjects as diverse as pet grooming and cryptography. FAQs are usually written by people who have tired of answering the same question over and over. |
| Finger | an Internet software tool for locating people on other Internet sites. Finger is also sometimes used to give access to non-personal information, but the most common use is to see whether a person has an account at a particular Internet site. Some sites do not allow incoming Finger requests, but many do. |
| fire wall | a combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN into two or more parts for security purposes. See also: network, LAN |
| flame | Originally, "flame" meant to carry forth in a passionate manner in the spirit of honorable debate. Flames most often involved the use of flowery language, and "flaming well" was an art form. More recently, "flame" has come to refer to any kind of derogatory comment, no matter how witless or crude. When an online discussion degenerates into a series of personal attacks against the debaters, rather than discussion of their positions, it may be known as a Flame War. |
| freeware | software for which there is no license fee or usage charge, but whose use may be restricted by its owner. Typically it is protected by copyright; you may distribute it without cost and share copies at no charge. See also: shareware |
| FTP | File Transfer Protocol-a very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a special way to log in to another Internet site for the purpose of retrieving and/or sending files. Many Internet sites have established publicly accessible repositories of material that can be obtained using FTP, by logging in using the account name "anonymous." Thus these sites are called anonymous ftp servers. |
| gateway | the technical meaning is a hardware or software set-up that translates between two dissimilar protocols. For example, Prodigy has a gateway that translates between its internal, proprietary e-mail format and Internet e-mail format. Another, sloppier meaning of "gateway" is to describe any mechanism for providing access to another system; e.g., America Online might be called a gateway to the Internet. |
| GB | gigabyte-one billion bytes of data; one thousand megabytes. See also: megabyte, kilobyte, byte |
| GIF | Graphical Interchange Format-Compuserve's low-resolution, compressed graphic format. See also: JPEG |
| Gopher | a widely successful method of making menus of material available over the Internet. Gopher is a client-and-server-style program, which requires that the user have a Gopher client program. Although Gopher spread rapidly across the globe in only a couple of years, it is being largely supplanted by Hypertext, also known as WWW (World Wide Web). There are still thousands of Gopher servers on the Internet, and we can expect they will remain for a while. See also: client, server, WWW, hypertext |
| host | any computer on a network that is a repository for services available to other computers on the network. It is quite common to have one host machine provide several services, such as WWW and USENET. See also: node, network |
| HTML | HyperText Markup Language-the coding language used to create hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web. HTML looks a lot like old-fashioned typesetting code, where you surround a block of text with codes that indicate how it should appear. Additionally, in HTML you can specify that a block of text, or a word, is linked to another file on the Internet. HTML files are meant to be viewed using a World Wide Web client program, such as Mosaic. See also: client, SGML, server, WWW |
| HTTP | HyperText Transport Protocol-the protocol for moving hypertext files across the Internet; requires an HTTP client program on one end and an HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World Wide Web (WWW). See also: client, server, WWW |
| hypertext/ hyperlink | generally, any text that contains links to other documents-words or phrases in the document that can be chosen by a reader and that cause another document to be retrieved and displayed. |
| Internet | the vast collection of interconnected networks that all use the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from the ARPANET of the late '60s and early '70s. The Internet now connects several hundred thousand independent networks into a vast global internet. See also: internet, TCP/IP, ARPANET |
| internet | Any time you connect two or more networks together, you have an internet (with a lowercase i)-as in inter-national or inter-state. See also: Internet, network |
| intranet | a private network inside a company or organization that uses the same kinds of software you would find on the public Internet but that is only for internal use. As the Internet has become more popular, many of the tools used on it are being used in private networks. For example, many companies have Web servers that are available only to employees. Note that an intranet may not actually be an internet-it may simply be a network. See also: internet, Internet, network |
| IP Number | Sometimes called a "dotted quad," this is the number that identifies a particular machine on the Internet. The IP number consists of four parts separated by dots; e.g., 165.113.245.2. Every machine on the Internet has a unique IP number-if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. Most machines also have one or more domain names that are easier for people to remember. See also: domain name, Internet |
| IRC | Internet Relay Chat-basically a huge multi-user live chat facility. A number of major IRC servers around the world are linked to one another. Anyone can create a channel, and anything that anyone types in a given channel is seen by all others in the channel. Private channels can (and are) created for multi-person conference calls. |
| ISDN | Integrated Services Digital Network-basically a way to move more data over existing regular phone lines. ISDN is rapidly becoming available to much of the USA, and in most markets it is priced very comparably to standard analog phone circuits. In theory, it can provide speeds of roughly 128,000 bits per second over regular phone lines. In practice, most people will be limited to 56,000 or 64,000 bits per second. |
| ISP | Internet Service Provider-an institution that provides access to the Internet in some form, usually for money. See also: Internet, dial-up connection, dedicated connection |
| Java | a new 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. Small Java programs (called "Applets") allow Web page designers to include functions such as animations, calculators, and other fancy tricks. We can expect to see a huge variety of features added to the Web using Java, since you can write a Java program to do almost anything a regular computer program can do, then include that Java program in a Web page. |
| JPEG or JPG | Named for the Joint Photographic Experts Group, this is the standard for compression of 24-bit color images. It is "lossy" in that it reduces the file size at the expense of image quality, but it is the preferred method of displaying large or highly detailed graphics on the WWW. See also: GIF |
| kilobyte | a thousand (actually, 1,024 or 210) bytes. See also: byte, bit, megabyte |
| LAN | Local-Area Network-a computer network limited to the immediate area, usually the same building or floor of a building. See also: Ethernet |
| leased line | refers to a phone line that is rented for exclusive 24-hour, seven-day-a-week connectivity from your location to another location. The highest speed data connections require a leased line. See also: 56k line, dedicated connection, T-1, T-3 |
| listserv | the most common kind of maillist. Listservs originated on BITNET, but they are now common on the Internet. See also: BITNET, e-mail, maillist |
| login or logon | Noun: the account name used to gain access to a computer system; not a secret (contrast with password). Verb: the act of entering into a computer system; e.g., "Login to the WELL and then go to the GBN conference." See also: password |
| maillist | (from "mailing list")-a system, usually automated, that allows people to send e-mail to one address, whereupon their message is copied and sent to all of the other subscribers to the maillist. In this way, people who have many different kinds of e-mail access can participate in discussions together. |
| megabyte | a million bytes; a thousand kilobytes. See also: byte, bit, kilobyte, gigabyte |
| MIME | Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions-the standard for attaching non-text files to standard Internet mail messages. Non-text files include graphics, spreadsheets, formatted word-processor documents, sound files, etc. An e-mail program is said to be MIME-compliant if it can both send and receive files using the MIME standard. When non-text files are sent using the MIME standard, they are converted (encoded) into text-although the resulting text is not really readable. Generally speaking, the MIME standard is a way of specifying both the type of file being sent (e.g.; a Quicktime video file) and the method that should be used to turn it back into its original form. The MIME standard is also universally used by Web servers to identify the files they are sending to Web clients. New file formats can be accommodated simply by updating the browsers' lists of pairs of MIME-types and appropriate software for handling each type. See also: browser, client, server |
| modem | MOdulator/DEModulator-a device that you connect 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. |
| Mosaic | the first WWW browser that was available for the Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX with the same interface on all three. Mosaic really started the popularity of the Web. The source code to Mosaic has been licensed by several companies, and there are now several other pieces of software as good as or better than Mosaic (most notably, Netscape®). See also: browser, client, Netscape®, WWW |
| MPEG | Named for the Motion Picture Experts Group, this is the ISO standard for moving images and a common file format for movies on the Internet. See also: AVI, Quicktime |
| netiquette | the etiquette on the Internet. See also: Internet |
| Netscape® | a WWW browser and the name of a company. The Netscape® browser was originally based on the Mosaic program developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). Netscape® has grown in features rapidly and is widely recognized as the best and most popular Web browser. It provides major improvements in speed and interface over other browsers, but has engendered debate by creating new elements for the HTML language used by Web pages-extensions to HTML that are not universally supported. The main author of Netscape®, Mark Andreessen, was hired away from the NCSA by Jim Clark. They founded a company called Mosaic Communications and soon changed the name to Netscape Communications Corporation. Netscape Corporation now also produces Web server software. See also: browser, Mosaic, server, WWW |
| network | Any time you connect two or more computers together so that they can exchange information and share resources, you have a computer network. Connect two or more networks together and you have an internet. See also: internet, Internet, intranet |
| newsgroup | the name for a discussion group on USENET. See also: USENET |
| NIC | Networked Information Center-generally, any office that handles information for a network. The most famous of these on the Internet is the InterNIC, which is where new domain names are registered. |
| node | any single computer connected to a network. See also: network, Internet, internet |
| operating system (OS) | the software that handles basic system chores such as memory management, process scheduling, and input/output; accessed by software through a defined interface. Examples include DOS, Windows '95, Windows NT, and IBM's OS/2. |
| packet switching | the method used to move data around on the Internet. In packet switching, all the data coming out of a machine is broken up into chunks. Each chunk has the addresses of where it came from and where it is going. Chunks of data from many different sources can then co-mingle on the same lines and be sorted and directed to different routes by special machines along the way, allowing many people to use the same lines at the same time. |
| password | a code used to gain access to a locked system. Good passwords contain letters and non-letters and are not simple combinations. See also: login |
| ping | Packet INternet Groper (probably originally contrived to match the submariners' term for a sonar pulse)-a small network message sent by one networked computer to verify the presence of or get the attention of another. |
| POP | This abbreviation has two commonly used meanings: Point of Presence and Post Office Protocol. A Point of Presence usually means a city or location a network can be connected to, often with dial-up phone lines. So if an Internet company says it will soon have a POP in Belgrade, it means that it will soon have a local phone number in Belgrade and/or a place where leased lines can connect to its network. Post Office Protocol refers to the way e-mail software such as Eudora® or Netscape® gets mail from a mail server. When you obtain a SLIP, PPP, or shell account, you almost always get a POP account with it, and it is this POP account that you tell your e-mail software to use to get your mail. See also: SLIP, PPP |
| port | 1. Most generally, a place where information goes into or out of a computer, or both. For example, the serial port on a personal computer is where a modem would be connected. 2. On the Internet, "port" often refers to a number that is part of a URL, appearing after a colon (:) right after the domain name. Every service on an Internet server listens on a particular port number on that server. Most services have standard port numbers; e.g., Web servers normally listen on port 80. Services can also listen on non-standard ports, in which case the port number must be specified in a URL when accessing the server. So you might see a URL of the form gopher://peg.cwis.uci.edu:7000/, which shows a Gopher server running on a non-standard port (the standard Gopher port is 70). 3. Finally, "port," as a verb, also refers to translating a piece of software to bring it from one type of computer system to another (for instance, translating a Windows program so that it will run on a Macintosh). See also: domain name, server, URL |
| posting | (verb: to post)-a single message entered into a network communications system, such as a single message posted to a newsgroup or message board. See also: newsgroup |
| PPP | Point-to-Point Protocol-best known as a protocol that allows a computer to use a regular telephone line and a modem to make TCP/IP connections and thus be really and truly on the Internet. See also: IP number, Internet, SLIP, TCP/IP |
| Quicktime (or .MOV) |
a cross-platform digital movie format defined by Apple Computer for animation and video that can also have tracks of digital audio and external hooks such as MIDI. You can cut, copy, and paste with a Quicktime document as you can with many other file formats. See also: AVI, MPEG |
| RFC | Request For Comments-the name of the result and the process for creating a standard on the Internet. New standards are proposed and published online as a Request For Comments. The Internet Engineering Task Force, a consensus-building body, facilitates the discussion, and eventually a new standard is established. But the reference number/name for the standard retains the acronym RFC; e.g., the official standard for e-mail is RFC 822. |
| router | a special-purpose computer (or software package) that handles the connection between two or more networks. Routers spend all their time looking at the destination addresses of the packets passing through them and deciding which route to send them on. See also: network, packet switching |
| server | a computer or a software package that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a WWW server, or to the machine on which the software is running, as in "Our mail server is down today; that's why e-mail isn't getting out." A single server machine could have several different server software packages running on it, thus providing many different servers to clients on the network. See also: client, network |
| SGML | Standard Generalized Markup Language-an international standard for defining the formatting in text documents; a comprehensive language that defines hypertext links. HTML is a superset of SGML. See also: HTML |
| shareware | software for which the author requests some payment, usually in the accompanying documentation files or in an announcement made by the software itself. Such payment may or may not buy additional support or functionality. See also: freeware |
| SLIP | Serial Line Internet Protocol-a standard for using a regular telephone line (a serial line) and a modem to connect a computer as a real Internet site. SLIP is gradually being replaced by PPP. See also: Internet, PPP |
| SMTP | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol-for sending/retrieving e-mail. Supports the Post Office Protocol 2 or 3 standards for retrieving mail from a mail server. See also: e-mail |
| spam (or spamming) | an inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list, USENET, or other networked communications facility as if it were a broadcast medium (which it is not) by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn't ask for it. The term probably comes from a famous Monty Python skit which featured the word "Spam" repeated over and over. The term may also have come from someone's low opinion of the food product with the same name, which is generally perceived as a generic, content-free waste of resources. (Spam is a registered trademark of Hormel Corporation, for its processed meat product.) Example: Mary spammed 50 USENET groups by posting the same message to each. See also: maillist, USENET |
| sysop | Systems Operator-anyone responsible for the physical operations of a computer system or network resource. A system administrator decides how often backups and maintenance should be performed, and the sysop performs those tasks. |
| T-1 | a leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 1,544,000 bits per second. At maximum theoretical capacity, a T-1 line could move a megabyte in less than 10 seconds. That is still not fast enough for full-screen, full-motion video, for which you need at least 10,000,000 bits per second. T-1 is the fastest speed commonly used to connect networks to the Internet. See also: 56k line, bandwidth, bit, byte, Ethernet, T-3 |
| T-3 | a leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits per second. This is more than fast enough to do full-screen, full-motion video. See also: 56k line, bandwidth, bit, byte, Ethernet, T-1 |
| TCP/IP | Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol-the suite of protocols that defines the Internet. Originally designed for the UNIX operating system, TCP/IP software is now available for every major kind of computer operating system. To be truly on the Internet, your computer must have TCP/IP software. See also: IP number, Internet |
| telnet | the command and program used to login from one Internet site to another. The telnet command/program gets you to the login: prompt of another host. See also: host, login |
| terminal | a device that allows you to send commands to a computer somewhere else. At a minimum, this usually means a keyboard, a display screen, and some simple circuitry. Usually you will use terminal software in a personal computer. The software pretends to be (emulates) a physical terminal and allows you to type commands to a computer somewhere else. |
| terminal server | a special-purpose computer that has places to plug in many modems on one side and a connection to a LAN or host machine on the other side. The terminal server does the work of answering the calls and passes the connections on to the appropriate node. Most terminal servers can provide PPP or SLIP services if connected to the Internet. See also: LAN, modem, host, node, PPP, SLIP |
| URL | Uniform Resource Locator-the standard way to give the address of any resource on the Internet that is part of the World Wide Web (WWW). A URL looks like this: http://www.matisse.net/seminars.html or telnet://well.sf.ca.us or news:new.newusers.questions etc. The most common way to use a URL is to enter it into a WWW browser program, such as Netscape®. See also: browser, WWW |
| USENET | a worldwide system of discussion groups with comments passed among hundreds of thousands of machines. Not all USENET machines are on the Internet (maybe half). USENET is completely decentralized, with more than 10,000 discussion areas, called newsgroups. See also: newsgroup |
| Veronica | Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives. Developed at the University of Nevada, Veronica is a constantly updated database of the names of almost every menu item on thousands of Gopher servers. The Veronica database can be searched from most major Gopher menus. See also: Gopher |
| WAIS | Wide-Area Information Servers-a commercial software package that allows a user to index huge quantities of information and then make those indices searchable across networks such as the Internet. A prominent feature of WAIS is that the search results are ranked (scored) according to how relevant the hits are. Subsequent searches can find more stuff like that last batch and thus refine the search process. |
| WAN | Wide-Area Network-any internet or network that covers an area larger than a single building or campus. See also: Internet, internet, LAN, network |
| WWW | World Wide Web. 1. loosely used, the whole constellation of resources that can be accessed using Gopher, FTP, HTTP, telnet, USENET, WAIS, and some other tools. 2. the universe of hypertext servers (HTTP servers), which are the servers that allow text, graphics, sound files, etc. to be mixed together. See also: browser, FTP, Gopher, HTTP, telnet, URL, WAIS |
Permission has been granted to use this glossary, with credit to Internet Literacy Consultants, for non-commercial educational purposes. For permission to use it in other ways, or to suggest changes and additions, please contact them by telephone or e-mail: admin@matisse.net +1.415.575.1156
| Copyright © 1996-2009, KET | Webmaster |