| Internet Terms - Glossary |
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(or Mailing List) A
(usually automated) system 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.
A million bytes.
Actually, technically, 1024 kilobytes.
A specific kind of HTML tag that contains information not normally displayed to the user. Meta tags contain information about the page itself, hence the name ("meta" means "about this subject") Typical uses of Meta tags are to include information for search engines to help them better categorize a page. You can see the Meta tags
in a page if you view the pages' source code.
Originally a standard for defining the types of files attached to standard Internet mail messages. The MIME standard has come to be used in many situations where one computer programs needs to communicate with another program about what kind of file is being sent. For example, HTML
files have a MIME-type of Generally speaking, "to
mirror" is to maintain an exact copy of something. Probably the most common
use of the term on the Internet refers to "mirror sites" which are web
sites, or FTP sites that maintain copies of material originated at
another location, usually in order to provide more widespread access to the
resource. For example, one site might create a library of software, and 5
other sites might maintain mirrors of that library.
A device that connects a
computer to a phone line. A telephone for a computer. A modem allows a
computer to talk to other computers through the phone system. Basically,
modems do for computers what a telephone does for humans.
One of several kinds of
multi-user role-playing environments.
The first WWW browser that was available for the Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX all with the same interface. Mosaic really started the popularity of the Web. The source-code to Mosaic was licensed by several companies and used to create many other web browsers. Mosaic was developed at the
National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), at the University of
Urbana-Champagne in Illinois, USA. The first version was released in late
1993.
A (usually text-based)
multi-user simulation environment. Some are purely for fun and flirting,
others are used for serious software development, or education purposes and
all that lies in between. A significant feature of most MUDs is that users
can create things that stay after they leave and which other users can
interact within their absence, thus allowing a world to be built gradually
and collectively.
One kind of MUD - usually
with little or no violence.
The etiquette on the
Internet.
Derived from the term
citizen, referring to a citizen of the Internet, or someone who uses
networked resources. The term connotes civic responsibility and
participation.
A WWW Browser and
the name of a company. The Netscape (tm) browser was originally based on the
Mosaic program developed at the National Center for Supercomputing
Applications (NCSA).
Any time you connect 2 or
more computers together so that they can share resources, you have a
computer network. Connect 2 or more networks together and you have an
internet.
The name for discussion
groups on USENET.
Generally, any office that
handles information for a network. The most famous of these on the Internet
was the InterNIC, which was where most new domain names were registered
until that process was decentralized to a number of private companies. Also
means "Network Interface card", which is the card in a computer that you
plug a network cable into.
The protocol used by
client and server software to carry USENET postings back
and forth over a TCP/IP network. If you are using any of the
more common software such as Netscape, Nuntius, Internet Explorer,
etc. to participate in newsgroups then you are benefiting from an
NNTP connection.
Any single computer
connected to a network.
Open Source Software is software for which the underlying programming code is available to the users so that they may read it, make changes to it, and build new versions of the software incorporating their changes. There are many types of Open Source Software, mainly differing in the licensing term under which (altered) copies of the source code may (or must be) redistributed. 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 address of where it came from and where it is going. This enables chunks of data from many different sources to co-mingle on the same lines, and be sorted and directed along different routes by special machines along the way. This way many people can use the same lines at the same time. You might think of several
caravans of trucks all using the same road system. to carry materials.
A code used to gain access (login) to a locked system. Good passwords contain letters and non-letters and are not simple combinations such as virtue7. A good password might be: 5%df(29) But don't use that one! To check if a server is
running. From the sound that a sonar systems makes in movies, you know, when
they are searching for a submarine.
A (usually small) piece of
software that adds features to a larger piece of software. Common examples
are plug-ins for the Netscape® browser and web server. Adobe
Photoshop® also uses plug-ins.
PNG is a graphics format
specifically designed for use on the World Wide Web. PNG enable compression
of images without any loss of quality, including high-resolution images.
Another important feature of PNG is that anyone may create software that
works with PNG images without paying any fees - the PNG standard is free of
any licensing costs.
Two commonly used meanings: Point of Presence and Post Office Protocol. A Point of Presence usually means a city 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 a way that e-mail client software such as
Eudora gets mail from a mail server. When you obtain an account from
an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 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. Another protocol called IMAP is replacing
POP for email.
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: gopher://peg.cwis.uci.edu:7000/ This shows a gopher server running on a non-standard port (the standard gopher port is 70). 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.
Usually used as a marketing
term to described a Web site that is or is intended to be the first place
people see when using the Web. Typically a "Portal site" has a catalog of
web sites, a search engine, or both. A Portal site may also offer email and
other service to entice people to use that site as their main "point of
entry" (hence "portal") to the Web.
A single message entered
into a network communications system.
The most common protocol used to connect home computers to the Internet over regular phone lines. Most well known as a
protocol that allows a computer to use a regular telephone line and a
modem to make TCP/IPconnections and thus be really and truly on
the Internet.
On the Internet "protocol"
usually refers to a set of rules that define an exact format for
communication between systems. For example the HTTP protocol defines
the format for communication between web browsers and web servers, the
IMAP protocol defines the format for communication between IMAP email
servers and clients, and the SSL protocol defines a format for
encrypted communications over the Internet. A Proxy Server sits in
between a Client and the "real" Server that a Client is trying
to use. Client's are sometimes configured to use a Proxy Server, usually an
HTTP server. The clients makes all of it's requests from the Proxy
Server, which then makes requests from the "real" server and passes the
result back to the Client. Sometimes the Proxy server will store the results
and give a stored result instead of making a new one (to reduce use of a
Network). Proxy servers are commonly established on Local Area
Networks.
The regular old-fashioned
telephone system.
A set of rules (a sort of language) for creating descriptions of information, especially information available on the World Wide Web. RDF could be used to describe a collection of books, or artists, or a collection of web pages as in the RSS data format which uses RDF to create machine-readable summaries of web sites. RDF is also used in XPFE
applications to define the relationships between different collections of
elements, for example RDF could be used to define the relationship between
the data in a database and the way that data is displayed to a user.
The name of the result and
the process for creating a standard on the Internet. New standards
are proposed and published on the Internet, as a Request For Comments. The
proposal is reviewed by the Internet Engineering Task Force
(http://www.ietf.org/), a consensus-building body that facilitates
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 message formats is RFC 822.
A special-purpose computer
(or software package) that handles the connection between 2 or more
Packet-Switched networks. Routers spend all their time looking at the
source and destination addresses of the packets passing through them
and deciding which route to send them on.
XML-based summary of a web
site, used for syndication, etc.
A version of DSL
where the upload speeds and download speeds are the same.
A (usually web-based) system for searching the information available on the Web. Some search engines work by
automatically searching the contents of other systems and creating a
database of the results. other search engines contains only material
manually approved for inclusion in a database, and some combine the two
approaches.
A chunk of information
(often stored as a text file) that is used by the SSL protocol to
establish a secure connection.
The practice of designing
web pages so that they rank as high as possible in search results from
search engines. 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 can (and often does) have several different server software packages running on it, thus providing many different servers to clients on the network. Sometimes server software
is designed so that additional capabilities can be added to the main program
by adding small programs known as servlets.
A small computer program designed to be add capabilities to a larger piece of server software. Common examples are "Java
servlets", which are small programs written in the Java language and
which are added to a web server. Typically a web server that uses
Java servlets will have many of them, each one designed to handle a very
specific situation, for example one servlet will handle adding items to a
"shopping cart", while a different servlet will handle deleting items from
the "shopping cart."
A standard for using a
regular telephone line (a serial line) and a modem to connect a
computer as a real Internet site. SLIP has largely been replaced by
PPP.
A standard for very
high-speed data transfer.
The main protocol used to
send electronic mail from server to server on the Internet. SMTP is
defined in RFC 821 and modified by many later RFC's.
A set of standards for
communication with devices connected to a TCP/IP network. Examples of
these devices include routers, hubs, and switches. SNMP is defined in
RFC 1089. 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. 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.)
A specialized 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 slightly different version of SQL implementing features unique to that application, but all SQL-capable databases support a common subset of SQL. A example of an SQL statement is: SELECT name, email FROM people_table WHERE country='uk' A protocol designed by
Netscape Communications to enable encrypted, authenticated communications
across the Internet.
Anyone responsible for the
physical operations of a computer system or network resource. For example, a
System Administrator decides how often backups and maintenance should be
performed and the System Operator performs those tasks.
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 lines are commonly used to connect large LANs to the Internet.
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.
This is the suite of
protocols that defines the Internet. Originally designed for the
UNIX operating system, TCP/IP software is now included with every major
kind of computer operating system. To be truly on the Internet, your
computer must have TCP/IP software.
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.
1000 gigabytes.
A device that allows you to
send commands to a computer somewhere else. At a minimum, this usually means
a keyboard and 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.
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. Thus 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.
The last (right-hand) part of a complete Domain Name. For example in the domain name www.matisse.net ".net" is the Top Level Domain. There are a large number of
TLD's, for example .biz, .com, .edu, .gov, .info, .int, .mil, .net, .org,
and a collection of two-letter TLD's corresponding to the standard
two-letter country codes, for example, .us, .ca, .jp, etc.
A computer program is either hidden inside another program or that masquerades as something it is not in order to trick potential users into running it. For example a program that appears to be a game or image file but in reality performs some other function. The term "Trojan Horse" comes from a possibly mythical ruse of war used by the Greeks sometime between 1500 and 1200 B.C. A Trojan Horse computer
program may spread itself by sending copies of itself from the host computer
to other computers, but unlike a virus it will (usually) not infect
other programs.
One of the protocols for
data transfer that is part of the TCP/IP suite of protocols. UDP is a
"stateless" protocol in that UDP makes no provision for acknowledgement of
packets received.
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. Apple computers' Macintosh
operating system, as of version 10 ("Mac OS X"), is based on Unix.
Transferring data (usually
a file) from a the computer you are using to another computer. The opposite
of download.
An address for s resource available on the Internet. The first part of a URI is called the "scheme". the most well known scheme is http, but there are many others. Each URI scheme has its own format for how a URI should appear. Here are examples of URIs using the http, telnet, and news schemes: http://www.matisse.net/files/glossary.html
telnet://well.sf.ca.us
news:new.newusers.questions The term URL is basically
synonymous with URI. URI has replaced URL in technical
specifications.
A URI that is
supposed to be available for along time. For an address to be a URN some
institution is supposed to make a commitment to keep the resource available
at that address.
A world-wide system of
discussion groups, with comments passed among hundreds of thousands of
machines. Not all USENET machines are on the Internet. USENET is
completely decentralized, with over 10,000 discussion areas, called
newsgroups.
A method for converting
files from Binary to ASCII (text) so that they can be sent
across the Internet via email.
Developed at the University of Nevada, Veronica was a constantly updated database of the names of almost every menu item on thousands of gopher servers. The Veronica database could be searched from most major gopher menus. Now made obsolete by
web-based search engines.
A chunk of computer programming code that makes copies of itself without any conscious human intervention. Some viruses do more than simply replicate themselves, they might display messages, install other software or files, delete software of files, etc. A virus requires the
presence of some other program to replicate itself. Typically viruses spread
by attaching themselves to programs and in some cases files, for example the
file formats for Microsoft word processor and spreadsheet programs allow the
inclusion of programs called "macros" which can in some cases be a breeding
ground for viruses.
Usually refers to a
network in which some of the parts are connected using the public
Internet, but the data sent across the Internet is encrypted, so the
entire network is "virtually" private.
A commercial software
package that allows the indexing of huge quantities of information, and then
making 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, and that subsequent
searches can find more stuff like that last batch and thus refine the search
process.
Any internet or
network that covers an area larger than a single building or campus.
Short for "World Wide Web."
A document designed for
viewing in a web browser. Typically written in HTML.
A worm is a virus
that does not infect other programs. It makes copies of itself, and infects
additional computers (typically by making use of network connections) but
does not attach itself to additional programs; however a worm might alter,
install, or destroy files and programs.
World Wide Web (or simply Web for short) is a term 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), more commonly called "web
servers", which are the servers that serve web pages to web
browsers.
A widely used system for defining data formats. XML provides a very rich system to define complex documents and data structures such as invoices, molecular data, news feeds, glossaries, inventory descriptions, real estate properties, etc. As long as a programmer has
the XML definition for a collection of data (often called a "schema") then
they can create a program to reliably process any data formatted according
to those rules.
A suite of technologies
used to create applications that will work and look the same on different
computer operating systems. A widely used XPFE application is the Netscape
web browser in version 7 and later. The primary technologies used in
creating XPFE applications are JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets,
and XUL.
A markup language similar to HTML and based on XML. XUL used to define what the user interface will look like for a particular piece of software. XUL is used to define what buttons, scrollbars, text boxes, and other user-interface items will appear, but it is not used to define how those item will look (e.g. what color they are). The most widely used
example of XUL use is probably in the Mozilla web browser, where the entire
user interface is defined using the XUL language.
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