Adapted from GTE Internetworking BBN website and used by permission

Applet

A small Java program that can be embedded in an HTML page. Applets differ from full-fledged Java applications in that they are not allowed to access certain resources on the local computer, such as files and serial devices (modems, printers, etc.), and are prohibited from communicating with most other computers across a network.

Archive

Storage of document versions, kept for historical or reference purposes. Each document is assigned a version number when entered into an archive.

ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency)

Formerly DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a U.S. government research entity.

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)

The ANSI and ISO supported standard for world-wide representation of upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, special characters, etc., in computerized data transmissions and operations. Includes 128 unique ASCII codes, each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number in the range from 0000000 through 1111111. ASCII text is a subset of the ASCII character set consisting principally of the printable characters. HTML documents are sent as ASCII files with tags that are interpreted by Web browsers to display the content.

Attachment

Refers to a document or file in its native format (Word, Excel, GIF, etc.) that is "attached" to an e-mail message or discussion group posting, or uploaded to a document management system.

Bandwidth

The volume of data that the transmission line can carry. Telephone lines have the lowest electronic bandwidth. Fiber optics have the highest bandwidth.

Baud

A unit of measurement of digital data transmission speed, corresponding to the number of signal transitions per second. Often used for modems and other communications devices. Example a 28,800 baud modem.

Bits

Ones and Zeros. When information is digitized, it is turned into ones and zeros. So all digital information is made up of bits.

bps

Acronym for bits per second. Loosely used as a synonym of baud, but is about data rate, whereas baud is about signaling rate.

BPS, TBPS, GBPS, MBPS, KBPS, TBPS, GBPS, etc.

Refers to data transmission rates. The higher the rate, the more data that can be transmitted. B usually means bytes and b usually bits. There are eight bits in a byte. T is for Tera, G is for Giga, M is for Mega and K is for Kilo. So, K is a thousand bits or bytes. M is a million, G is a billion and T is a trillion.

Browser

Shorthand for Web browser. A program that "reads" hypertext and displays it as formatted text and images. Browsers allow users to view the contents of a site and navigate from one site to another. Netscape and Internet Explorer are browsers commonly used on the World Wide Web.

Bulletin Boards

Areas where users of an interactive service can communicate publicly with other users. Anyone can post a message for all to read; a reply also can be read by everyone.

Bytes

Bytes are typically eight bits put together to create a single computer character.

Cache

Caches come in many types, but they all work the same way They store information where you can get to it fast. A Web browser cache stores the pages, graphics, sounds, and URL's of online places you visit on your hard drive that way, when you go back to the page, everything doesn't have to be downloaded all over again. This speeds things up.

CD-ROM

Compact Disc-Read Only Memory. This is the same disc as the audio compact disc except that it contains optical information, instead of audio information.

Chat

Talking on the Internet in real time, generally by typing messages to a group of people, or private messages to a specific user. "Chat rooms" are groups of people that chat about a specific topic, generally by pointing their chat client at a specific chat server.

Client

A computer or software application that uses the services of another computer or server.

COM port

A contraction of communications used to describe the serial port on a PC. COM is usually used in conjunction with a number, as in COM1, COM2, COM3, or COM4.

Cookie

A small amount of information stored on a client computer by a Web site that is sent back to the site each time the user visits it. The use of cookies to maintain persistent, client-side state information significantly extends the capabilities of Web-based client/server applications.

CPU

Central Processing Unit. This is the most powerful microprocessor chip in your computer. Sometimes the term CPU is used to describe the whole box that contains the chip (along with the motherboard, expansion cards, disk drives, power supply, and so on).

Cyber-

The prefix cyber- is most often used to make whatever word it's attached to seem hip, cool, and connected in some loose way to the world of computers or the Internet.

Cyberspace

A word used loosely to refer to virtual reality, the Internet, the World Wide Web, and many other kinds of computer systems that users become immersed in.

Dial-up

Access to the Internet via a modem and telephone line, which requires that the computer dial a phone number for access. Contrast with leased line.

Discussion group

A general term for an online "bulletin board" where you can leave messages and see responses to messages you have left. Discussion groups generally keep a history of comments made, and often support attachments for messages.

Domain

An Internet domain refers to a networked computer accessible through a host, or domain, name. A domain identity includes a distinguishing suffix. Some important domains suffixes are .com (commercial), .edu (educational, primarily in the U.S.), .net (network operations), .gov (U.S. government), and .mil (US military). Most countries also have a domain. For example, .us (United States), .uk (United Kingdom), .au (Australia). Within the .us domain, there are subdomains for the fifty states, each generally with a name identical to the state's postal abbreviation. Within the .uk domain, there is a .ac.uk subdomain for academic sites and a .co.uk domain for commercial sites.

Download

To obtain a data file or digital good by transmission over a network, typically by following a URL, or using FTP.

Electronic commerce (E-commerce)

The electronic transfer of value across the Internet in exchange for the delivery of a service or product. Electronic commerce integrates communications, data management and security services, allowing enterprises and consumers to freely communicate and make purchases from their selection of vendors.

E-mail (electronic mail)

A method of electronically passing messages from one computer user to another, typically over computer networks.

Emoticon

Clusters of punctuation such as :) and :( that are used to set the tone for the sentence that precedes them.

Encryption

The transformation of data into a form unreadable by anyone without a secret decryption key. Its purpose is to ensure privacy by keeping the information hidden from anyone for whom it was not intended, including those who can see the encrypted data.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

An FAQ file presents collected answers for commonly asked questions about a particular subject.

Flame

A (often) largely personal attack against the author of a posting (an item on a bulletin board). People who post flames are known as "flamers".

Freeware

Freeware is a class of software that you can download, pass around, and distribute without payment. However, it's still copyrighted, so you can't turn around and change it or sell it as your own.

FTP

File transfer protocol is the method used on the Internet to copy a file from one computer to another. Using FTP, you can search through directories on computers around the world, locate a file, and transfer a copy of it to your machine.

Gateway

A computer or process that serves as the single point of contact between two network entities and through which all traffic between the two network entities must therefore pass. A program called on a Web server via the Common Gateway Interface (CGI).

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

A graphical file format, identified by the .gif extension, commonly used on Web pages.

Gigabyte

1,073,741,824 bytes. Abbreviated as GB.

Gopher

A menu-based search service for finding information and resources on the Internet.

Groupware

Software tools and technology to support groups of people working together on a project, often at different sites.

GUI

Graphical User Interface. The front-end interface and navigation design of an application.

Header

A formatting style designated in HTML by a specific tag and used to set titles and subtitles apart from plain text.

Hit

A Web server is said to receive a hit when it receives an HTTP request from a Web client such as a browser. Typical hits occur when a browser sends a request for an HTML page, or an inline graphic that appears on the page.

Home page

The main introductory page for a particular Web site. A home page typically provides an overview of the purpose of a site and includes links to the other resources available at that site.

Hot link

A mechanism for sharing data between two application programs or sites on the Web. Clicking on a hot link in one site takes the user to another site specified by the link (see "image map").

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

Hypertext Markup Language codes data content in hypertext documents for platform-independent presentation. HTML documents are appropriate for delivering information across the World Wide Web. Commonly used file extension for HTML document files.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

HTTP is a client/server protocol for delivering hypertext material across an internet. The stateless protocol allows HTTP servers to respond to requests quickly. See also web, Web server, Web client.

Hyperlink

An active cross-reference from one resource to another. The cross-reference is called active because it is presented in a medium which allows the reader to follow it, for example by mouse-clicking it. A reader can follow hyperlinks in an HTML document using a Web browser, or navigate through online help, or follow hyperlinks between terms defined in a glossary.

Hypertext

Text with hyperlinks. Readers can access the material in a variety of possible sequences, as opposed to more traditional, linear text.

Image Map

HTML information associated with a mapping of "hot spots" to image coordinate information. Clicking a hot spot links that image area to other web-based information.

internet

A group of local area networks (LANs) connected by means of a common communications protocol, such as TCP/IP. Many internets exist in addition to the vast Internet, including self- contained corporate internets, which are called intranets.

Internet

The global network that spans the globe and connects thousands of universities, companies, and other organizations, originally started by ARPA in the early 70s. The Internet hosts the World Wide Web (WWW). Contrast with internet (lowercase).

Internet Protocol (IP)

A particular component of the protocol stack by which networked hosts communicate. A network that uses this protocol is called an internet. The largest and best known internet is the Internet.

Intranet

An IP-based network that is not part of the Internet, but rather, is established for the internal communication purposes of a single company or organization.

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)

An international communications standard for sending voice, data, and video over telephone lines.

ISP (Internet Service Provider)

A commercial enterprise that offers a variety of Internet access services.

Java

A network-oriented programming language invented by Sun Microsystems that is specifically designed for writing programs that can be run on a variety of operating systems.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

The name of the committee that designed the photographic image-compression standard. JPEG is optimized for compressing full-color or gray-scale photographic-type, digital images.

Kermit

This is a protocol for transferring files during direct dial-up communications. Kermit is sound but old and can be very slow.

Link

Shorthand for hyperlink in discussions related to hypertext issues.

Megabyte

A megabyte contains 1,048,576 bytes. In other words, a million bytes is actually less than a megabyte. Abbreviated as MB.

Modem

Modulate/demodulate. Essential telecommunications hardware, which converts digital data into analog or voice-like frequencies that the telephone system can reproduce.

Motherboard

The largest printed circuit board in your computer. It generally houses the CPU chip, the controller circuitry, the bus, and sockets for additional boards, which are called daughterboards.

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)

A scheme originally developed to allow e-mail messages to contain information about their contents, specifically to identify mixed-media content as being plain text, HTML, a GIF image, an MPEG movie, or other formats. MIME has since been adopted as the standard for Web servers to indicate to Web clients the nature of the content being sent in response to a request.

Navigation

Finding one's way through the site.

Newsgroups

Forums on the Internet or on-line services.

Newsreader

A newsreader is a program that lets you read, download, and reply to the newsgroup messages you want. Some automatically handle the encoding of binary file attachments for you.

Path

The directory-like third component of a standard Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

Plug and Play

The Plug and Play standards were developed to simplify the process of adding hardware to PCs. The standard's intention is to conceal unpleasant details, such as IRQ and DMA channels, from people who just want to add a new board, drive, or other chunk of hardware to their system.

Port

A logical channel in a communications system. Each server program, for example, has a unique port number associated with it, defined in the Network Information Service "services" database. HTTP defaults to port 80. HTTPS defaults to port 443. FTP defaults to port 25.

PoP (Point of Presence)

So that your Internet access provider can offer a local dial-up number to give you access to the Net, it either maintains or leases PoPs throughout the areas it serves.

Protocol

A set of formal rules that define how to process data for transmission especially across a network. Low level protocols define the electrical and physical standards to be observed, bit- and byte-ordering and the transmission and error detection and correction of the bit stream. High level protocols deal with the data formatting, including the syntax of messages, the terminal to computer dialogue, character sets, sequencing of messages, etc. HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP are high-level Internet protocols.

Public Domain

Of all the kinds of software or information you can download, public domain has the fewest strings attached. With public domain downloads, there are no copyright restrictions whatsoever.

Push

The delivery of information on the Web that appears to be initiated by the information server rather than by the information user or client, as it usually is. However, the information pushed from a server to a user actually comes as the result of a programmed request from the client.

QuickTime

A method of storing movie and audio files in a digital format.

RAM (Random Access Memory)

Both programs and data are called up from permanent storage and operate in RAM. In general, this means that the more RAM you have, the more able you are to handle large amounts of data and big programs —though in practice, a lot of data in RAM is passed off into slower virtual memory to free up working space.

Refresh rate

The image on your computer monitor doesn't just appear fully formed on the screen's phosphors it's drawn line by line with beams fired from three electron guns at the back of the CRT. The frequency at which they redraw the image is called the refresh rate, and it's an important measure of how steady the image will appear.

Resolution

Resolution is a measure of graphics that's used to describe what a printer can print, a scanner can scan, and a monitor can display.

ROM (Read-only memory)

ROM is a storage chip that typically contains hardwired instructions for use when a computer starts (boots up).

Search engine

A "robot" or "crawler" that goes to every page or representative pages on a Web site, or the whole Web, and creates an index; or, a program that receives your search request, compares it to the entries in the index, and returns results to you.

Serial port

This is the communications port on your computer it's also called the COM or RS-232 port.

Server

Software that processes and fulfills requests from client software. Common servers include HTTP and FTP servers.

Shareware

A try-before-you-buy-software. Shareware is a distribution method rather than a type of software.

Shopping cart

Electronic order form that buyers may use in electronic commerce visit when they wish to select multiple items for possible purchase.

Spam

The act of posting (in this case, sending) inappropriate and unsolicited messages to large numbers of e-mail recipients and Usenet news groups. Also refers to the message itself.

Surf

To browse the Web, especially to visit new pages.

Telnet

A protocol that enables a user on one machine to log onto another networked machine.

Thread

A sequence of responses to an initial message posting.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

A unique address consisting of a string of characters that precisely identifies an Internet resource's type and location. URLs typically have four parts the first identifies the protocol; the second identifies the domain name; the third identifies the directory path, and the fourth identifies the document file name. Sometimes, the URL includes a fifth part known as the anchor name or bookmark, which points to a specific location within the document file. See also absolute URL and relative URL.

User

A computer user who is employing a client browser to access Web resources. In the context of ticketing, each user has a user ID encoded in the ticket.

USENET

A collection of electronic bulletin boards (called newsgroups) set up by subject matter and covering just about every conceivable topic, from molecular biology to nude sunbathing. The newsgroups are organized into hierarchies, such as science (sci), recreation (rec), society (soc), and the miscellaneous category called alternate (alt).

web

A network of HTTP servers. The most talked about web is the World Wide Web (WWW), which is sometimes known as "the Web," but there are many other webs, often called internal webs or intranets, inside of organizations.

Web browser

A Web client designed for interactive use by a person to access the Web. A Web browser takes Uniform Resource Locator (URL)s as input and uses the protocol, server name and path which are specified in the URL, to obtain the specified resource. The resource may be an HTML document, a compressed file, the output of a server interface program (CGI), or any other resource that can be located via a URL.

Webmaster

Person responsible for administering a Web site. Can also be a team of people.

Web page

A document consisting of one or more screens that are displayed via a browser. A Web page is referenced by one URL.

Web server

A program that responds to requests from Web clients. A Web client requests one resource at a time. The resource can be an HTML document, a GIF image, an MPEG movie, or any of the types of resources defined by MIME.

Web site

A virtual location on the Web. A URL that serves as the top-level address of a Web site will be said to point to that Web site's home page. That page serves as a reference point, containing pointers to additional HTML pages or links to other Web sites.

World Wide Web (WWW)

The collection of all the resources (HTML documents, images, and other files, as well as CGI interface programs) accessible on the Internet mainly via HTTP but also via older protocols and mechanisms, such as FTP or Gopher, which are supported by most Web browsers. The emergence of Web browsers has made access to these resources achievable to a broad base of users beyond the more technically savvy traditional users of the Internet who relied on less user-friendly access tools than currently available browsers. Often referred to as "the Web", WWW or W3.

ZIP

An open standard for compression and decompression used widely for PC download archives.