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ASSLComputer
and Internet related terms
Select a common
Internet or PC term from the dropdown list below.
ASCII
(American Standard Code
for Information Interchange) -- This is the de
facto world-wide standard for the code numbers
used by computers to represent all the upper and
lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation,
etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of
which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number:
0000000 through 1111111.
ASDL
Stands for asynchronous
digital subscriber line. It refers to the high
speed Net connections.
Attachment
If you want to send, say
a Word document to someone by email you include
it with your email message as an attachment.
Backbone
The Internet's "highway"
that serves as an access point for the other computer
networks to join.
Backup
This means keeping a copy
of part or all of the contents on your hard drive.
It pays to keep a copy of important material in
case your computer fails or gets hit by a virus.
Backward
Compatible
This means if you
have an updated version of a program, you can
use files from an older version. It can also relate
to hardware; for example, Playstation 2 can play
games that came out for Playstation 1.
Bandwidth
Think of it as a pipe,
but one through which you can send data. Bigger
bandwidth means you can send more stuff at once.
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.
Beta
Software that is in the
testing stage.
Binary
The computer number system
for computers. Humans use 0 to 10 like the number
of fingers we have, but computers use noughts
and ones. The contraction of this is called a
bit the smallest unit of information a computer
can hold.
Bookmarks
You can save or bookmark
the addresses of Web sites you want to visit again
by clicking on the appropriate place in your Web
browser, eg "favourites" if you're using
the Internet Explorer browser.
Boolean
Logic
A logical maths system
introduced by UK mathematician George Boole in
1847. It's often useful when using search engines.
An example is that if you use the word "and"
in your search it will narrow down the search
to more of what you want.
Bounce
This is when your email
gets returned because of a problem with the address
(you have made a spelling error or the machine
at the other end is malfunctioning).
Broken
Graphic
This refers to a picture
or link on a Web page that for some reason doesn't
work. Sometimes the graphic has been replaced
by a blank square with an X at the top.
Browser
A Client program (software)
that is used to look at various kinds of Internet
resources.
Bug
A glitch. If a piece of
software has such a problem, it'll need the manufacturers
to provide a fix, also known as a patch.
Byte
Combinations of eight
bits, called bytes, represent one character of
data .
Cache
A temporary storage
in your computer. You can empty your Internet
cache of files or lists of Web sites it has stored
while you are surfing the Net.
CGI
(Common Gateway Interface)
A set of rules that describe how a Web Server
communicates with another piece of software on
the same machine, and how the other piece of software
(the “CGI program”) talks to the web
server. Any piece of software can be a CGI program
if it handles input and output according to the
CGI standard.
Usually a CGI program
is a small program that takes data from a web
server and does something with it, like putting
the content of a form into an e-mail message,
or turning the data into a database query.
You can often
see that a CGI program is being used by seeing
“cgi-bin” in a URL, but not always.
CGI-BIN
The most common name of
a directory on a web server in which CGI programs
are stored. The “bin” part of “cgi-bin”
is a shorthand version of “binary”,
because once upon a time, most programs were referred
to as “binaries”. In real life, most
programs found in cgi-bin directories are text
files. Scripts that are executed by binaries located
elsewhere on the same machine.
Click
Often related to a mouse.
You point to something on a Web site and quickly
press your mouse so you can go to the place indicated.
Client
Computer that can
access services over a computer network. The computer
that provides the services is called a server.
Cookies
A cookie is a small
piece of information about your computer, usually
the result of something you clicked on. That information
is stored in a file on your computer's hard drive.
Cookies can also track what parts of a site you
visit or adverts you click on. You can remove
temporary cookies that you collect unknowingly
at sites.
Crash
When your Web browser,
program you're using or the computer itself malfunctions.
Cyberspace
The term 'cyberspace'
was introduced by William Gibson in his short
story 'Burning Chrome'. In 'Neuromancer' and subsequent
novels this term was used to describe virtual
reality interface system to navigate the world-wide
data-network, the 'Matrix'. Gibson said that he
tried hard to find a nice-sounding term, combining
words like 'cyber', 'cryo', 'void' etc.
(see http://www.antonraubenweiss.com/gibson)
Data
This means information.
Data could be words (text), sound or pictures
(graphics).
Database
A program that enables
you or a site to store and manage large amounts
of information, like a long list of email addresses.
Databases we support are: MySQL, Xbase3 (Miva)
Digital
Cash
This is paying in
some way with electronic currency.
Download
Transferring a file
or something like a piece of software from an
Internet Web site to your computer.
Domain
Name System
The system of Internet
names and addresses. When you want to set up a
site youshould get a Domain Name such as www.dreamland.co.nz
Domain Names always
have 2 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. For example,
the Domain Names:
dreamland.co.nz
info@dreamland.co.nz
can all refer to
the same machine, but each Domain Name can refer
to no more than one machine.
Usually, all of
the machines on a given Network will have the
same thing as the right-hand portion of their
Domain Names.
It is also possible for a Domain Name to exist
but not be connected to an actual machine. This
is often done 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.
Email
Stands for electronic
mail and is the way in which you can send messages
or text letters from your computer to someone
else who has an email address.
Encryption
A way of making
data unreadable to everyone except the person
who is supposed to receive it.
FAQ
Stands for frequently
answered questions. You'll find these helpful
documents at some Web sites or news-groups, and
they answer commonly asked questions about a subject.
You can visit our FAQ here.
Firewall
A program that helps
protect your computer or computer system from
unauthorised access.
FTP
(File Transfer Protocol)
-- A very common method of moving files between
two Internet sites. FTP is a special way to login
to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving
and/or sending files. There are many Internet
sites that 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.
Hacker
These days used
to refer to someone who gains unauthorised access
to a computer system
Homepage
The first page you
come to on a Web site, usually named index followed
by file extension, eg .htm .html .mv .cgi etc
etc.
HTML
Stands for hypertext
markup language. It's the computer "language"
used to enable Web pages to be created so your
Web browser can make sense of them.
HTTP
You see this at
the start of Web addresses. Stands for hypertext
transfer protocol and means, transferring of documents
in HTML to the Net so we can access and understand
them.
Internet
Begun in the 1960s,
the Internet was developed in the 1970s as universities
and governments joined together computer networks
so that research could be shared and people could
communicate with each other over the computer.
It has since expanded so we can all use it.
Intranet
A company's internal
Web site accessed only by those within the company
or who have obtained permission to do so. If other
intranets are joined together the result is known
as an extranet.
IP
address
A unique address
assigned to every machine on the Net, usually
consisting of 4 parts separated by dots eg, 216.124.154.154
Every machine that is 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.
ISP
You need to connect
to an Internet Service Provider to get onto the
Net, just as you need to connect to a power company
to get electricity & country. An ISP provides you with a
connection to the Internet.
Kilobyte
One kilobyte is
equal to 1024 bytes. A megabyte is equal to 1,048,576
bytes.
Lag
The time when your
computer doesn't appear to connect to a Web site
and nothing is happening. Also known as hanging.
Linux
An operating system
created by Linus Torvalds, who made the code available
so others could freely develop it as an alternative
to Windows or Mac.
Mail
Server
Software program
that distributes your email which initially goes
via a computer system at your ISP or a Web-based
email company.
Modem
(MOdulator, DEModulator)
The device that enables your computer to connect
to the telephone line and so connect to the Net.
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 email 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.
Besides email software,
the MIME standard is also universally used by
Web Servers to identify the files they are sending
to Web Clients, in this way new file formats can
be accommodated simply by updating the Browsers’
list of pairs of MIME-Types and appropriate software
for handling each type.
Netiquette
The etiquette on
the Internet.
Packet
A group of bits
sent by a modem.
Password
You can stop people
getting into your computer by requiring a password
a string of numbers or letters or both. Also used
on some Web sites so you can access them.
POP
(Point of Presence,
also Post Office Protocol) -- Two commonly used
meanings: Point of Presence and Post Office Protocol.
A Point of Presence usually means a city & country or location
where a network can be connected to, often with
dial up phone lines. So if an Internet company
says they will soon have a POP in Belgrade, it
means that they will soon have a local phone number
in Belgrade and/or a place where leased lines
can connect to their network.
A second meaning,
Post Office Protocol refers to the way e-mail
software such as Eudora 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.
Port
3 meanings. First
and most generally, a place where information
goes into or out of a computer, or both. E.g.
the serial port on a personal computer is where
a modem would be connected.
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:
dreamland.co.nz:7000
Finally, port also
refers to translating a piece of software to bring
it from one type of computer system to another,
e.g. to translate a Windows program so that is
will run on a Macintosh.
PPP
(Point to Point
Protocol) -- Most well 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.
Router
A special-purpose
computer (or software package) that handles the
connection between 2 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.
Security
Certificate
A chunk of information
(often stored as a text file) that is used by
the SSL protocol to establish a secure connection.
Security Certificates
contain information about who it belongs to, who
it was issued by, a unique serial number or other
unique identification, valid dates, and an encrypted
“fingerprint” that can be used to verify
the contents of the certificate.
In order for an
SSL connection to be created both sides must have
a valid Security Certificate.
Search
Engine
Places on the Web
or a section of a Web site where you can find
information on the Web or on the particular site.
Shopping
Cart
Just like in the
supermarket; items selected at an online shop
are stored here prior to purchase. Miva Order
and Miva Merchant both offer a shopping cart system.
Streaming
A feed of audio
and/or video from a Web site that requires no
prior downloading and so cannot be saved in your
computer.
Surfing
The common term
used to describe going from one Web site to another.
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,
e.g. 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.
SMTP
(Simple Mail Transfer
Protocol) -- The main protocol used to send electronic
mail on the Internet. SMTP consists of a set of
rules for how a program sending mail and a program
receiving mail should interact.
Almost all Internet
email is sent and received by clients and servers
using SMTP, thus if one wanted to set up an email
server on the Internet one would look for email
server software that supports SMTP.
Spam
(or Spamming)
An inappropriate
attempt to use a mailing list, or USENET or other
networked communications facility as if it was
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.
E.g. Mary spammed
50 USENET groups by posting the same message to
each.
SQL
(Structured Query
Language) -- A specialized programming language
for sending queries to databases. Most industrial-strength
and many smaller database applications can be
addressed using SQL. Each specific application
will have its own version of SQL implementing
features unique to that application, but all SQL-capable
databases support a common subset of SQL.
SSL
(Secure Sockets
Layer) -- A protocol designed by Netscape Communications
to enable encrypted, authenticated communications
across the Internet.
SSL used mostly
(but not exclusively) in communications between
web browsers and web servers. URL’s that
begin with “https” indicate that an
SSL connection will be used.
SSL provides 3 important
things: Privacy, Authentication, and Message Integrity.
In an SSL connection
each side of the connection must have a Security
Certificate, which each side’s software sends
to the other. Each side then encrypts what it
sends using information from both its own and
the other side’s Certificate, ensuring that
only the intended recipient can de-crypt it, and
that the other side can be sure the data came
from the place it claims to have come from, and
that the message has not been tampered with.
T-3
A leased-line connection
capable of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits-per-second.
This is more than enough to do full-screen, full-motion
video
TCP/IP
(Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol) -- This is 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.
UNIX
A computer operating
system (the basic software running on a computer,
underneath things like word processors and spreadsheets).
UNIX is designed to be used by many people at
the same time (it is multi-user) and has TCP/IP
built-in. It is the most common operating system
for servers on the Internet.
URL
Stands for uniform resource
locator and is the addressing system used by the
Internet so Web sites can be identified. It's
like a telephone number or house address.
WWW
(World Wide Web) -- Frequently
used (incorrectly) when referring to "The
Internet", WWW has two major meanings - First,
loosely used: the whole constellation of resources
that can be accessed using Gopher, FTP, HTTP,
telnet, USENET, WAIS and some other tools. Second,
the universe of hypertext servers (HTTP servers)
which are the servers that allow text, graphics,
sound files, etc. to be mixed together.
The contents of
this page is originated from our partner company
Webfarm.
Copyright 2002 © WebFarm Ltd
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