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A Internet Research Library
anonymous FTP--Using the FTP function of the
Internet anonymously by not logging in with an actual, secret
login ID and password. Often permitted by large, host computers
who are willing to share openly some of the files on their system
to outside users who otherwise would not be able to log in.
Archie--An ancient Internet search tool, not
used much since way back in the good old days of 1994. It's an
archive of filenames maintained at Internet FTP sites. Don't pine
its passing, you didn't miss anything fun--the Web is much more
fun.
B Internet Research Library
bandwidth--The transmission capacity of the
lines that carry the Internet's electronic traffic. Historically,
it's imposed severe limitations on the ability of the Internet to
deliver all that we are demanding it deliver, but fiber-optic
cables will ensure that bandwidth soon will be essentially
limitless and free.
browser--Software that enables users to browse
through the cyberspace of the World Wide Web. Netscape is the
primary Internet browser today.
C Internet Research Library
ClariNet--A commercial news service that
provides tailored news reports via the Internet. You can access
ClariNet news within Usenet newsgroups. There is a whole series
of them, dedicated to a wide range of broad topics. In general,
you can find them on news servers at clari.*.
client/server--Computer technology that
separates computers and their users into two categories: clients
servers. When you want information from a computer on the
Internet, you are a client. The computer that delivers the
information is the server. A server both stores information and
makes it available to any authorized client who requests the
information. You may hear this one frequently, especially if
someone says, "You can't contact us today because our Web
server is down."
D Internet Research Library
dial-in--An Internet account that can connect
any stand-alone PC directly to the Internet. The account is used
by having a PC-based (most often, Windows-based) software
application dial-in to an Internet service provider (ISP). The
software connects with the ISP and establishes a TCP/IP link to
the Internet that enables your software to access Internet
information. The PC that accesses a dial-in connection needs
either a modem to connect via a regular phone line a terminal
adapter (TA) to connect via an ISDN phone line.
E Internet Research Library
e-mail--(Electronic mail) Messages transmitted
over the Internet from user to user. E-mail can contain text, but
also can carry with it files of any type as attachments.
F Internet Research Library
FAQs--(Frequently Asked Questions) Files that
commonly are maintained at Internet sites to answer frequently
asked questions so that experienced users don't have to bear the
annoying burden of hearing newbies repeatedly ask the same
questions. It's good netiquette to check for FAQs and read them.
It's extremely poor netiquette--and a good way to get flamed--to
post questions that already are answered in the FAQ.
Finger--An Internet function that enables one
user to query (finger) the location of another Internet user.
Finger can be applied to any computer on the Internet, if set up
properly. For example, the most famous finger site of all was a
Coke machine at Carnegie-Mellon that students wired to the
Internet so they could finger it and track such important
information as how many bottles of which beverage remained and
how long the bottom bottle in each stack had been in the
machine--so they wouldn't walk all the way to the machine and
find it empty purchase a warm soda. You won't use this, but it
was fun while it lasted. Most sites on which you could use Finger
are shutting it down because it helps hackers crack a system.
firewall--A combination of hardware and software that
protects a local area network (LAN) from Internet hackers. It
separates the network into two more parts and restricts outsiders
to the area "outside" the firewall. Private sensitive
information is kept "inside" the firewall.
flames--Insulting, enraged Internet messages.
The equivalent of schoolyard brawls in cyberspace. Unfortunately,
a good schoolyard brawl would be preferable because at least then
the only people who suffer are the dummies who fight. On the
Internet, everyone suffers as resources are squandered on
ridiculous, infantile behavior. As a representative of a business
organization, you won't be using flames, of course.
FQDN--(Fully Qualified Domain Name) The
"official" name assigned to a computer. Organizations
register names, such as "ibm.com"
"utulsa.edu." They then assign unique names to their
computers, such as "watson5.ibm.com"
"hurricane.cs.utulsa.edu."
FTP--(File Transfer Protocol) The basic Internet
function that enables files to be transferred between computers.
You can use it to download files from a remote, host computer, as
well as to upload files from your computer to a remote, host
computer. (See Anonymous FTP).
G Internet Research Library
gateway--A host computer that connects networks
that communicate in different languages. For example, a gateway
connects a company's local area network to the Internet.
GIF--(Graphics Interchange Format) A graphics
file format that is commonly used on the Internet to provide
graphics images in Web pages.
Gopher--A searching tool that was the primary
tool for finding Internet resources before the World Wide Web
became popular. Gopher now is buried under mountains of WWW
pages--don't bother learning how to use this directly. You
sometimes will find a Web link that takes you to a Gopher site,
but at that point, if you're using Netscape, its usage will be
obvious and actually will look a great deal like the Web.
H Internet Research Library
host--A computer that "hosts" outside
computer users by providing files, services sharing its
resources.
HTML--(Hypertext Markup Language) The basic
language that is used to build hypertext documents on the World
Wide Web. It is used in basic, plain ASCII-text documents, but
when those documents are interpreted (called rendering) by a Web
browser such as Netscape, the document can display formatted
text, color, a variety of fonts, graphic images, special effects,
hypertext jumps to other Internet locations and information
forms.
HTTP--(Hypertext Transfer Protocol) The protocol
(rules) computers use to transfer hypertext documents.
hypertext--Text in a document that contains a
hidden link to other text. You can click a mouse on a hypertext
word and it will take you to the text designated in the link.
Hypertext is used in Windows help programs and CD encyclopedias
to jump to related references elsewhere within the same document.
The wonderful thing about hypertext, however, is its ability to
link--using http over the World Wide Web--to any Web document in
the world, yet still require only a single mouse click to jump
clear around the world.
I Internet Research Library
IP--(Internet Protocol) The rules that provide
basic Internet functions. (See TCP/IP).
IP Number--An Internet address that is a unique number
consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, sometimes called a
"dotted quad." (For example: 198.204.112.1) Every
Internet computer has an IP number and most computers also have
one more Domain Names that are plain language substitutes for the
dotted quad.
IRC--(Internet Relay Chat) Currently an Internet
tool with a limited use that lets users join a "chat"
channel and exchange typed, text messages. Few people have used
IRC, but it is going to create a revolution in communication when
the Internet can provide the bandwidth to carry full-color,
live-action video and audio. Once that occurs, the IRC will
provide full video-conferencing. Even today, while limited for
all practical purposes only to text, the IRC can be a valuable
business conferencing tool, already providing adequate voice
communication.
ISDN--(Integrated Services Digital Network) A
set of communications standards that enable a single phone line
optical cable to carry voice, digital network services and video.
ISDN is intended to eventually replace our standard telephone
system.
ISOC-- (Internet Society) Based in Herndon, Virginia, the
Internet Society promotes the Internet and coordinates standards.
You can visit their Web site to learn more to become a member.
J Internet Research Library
JPEG--(Joint Photographic Experts Group) The
name of the committee that designed the photographic
image-compression standard. JPEG is optimized for compressing
full-color gray-scale photographic-type, digital images. It
doesn't work well on drawn images such as line drawings, and it
does not handle black-and-white images video images.
K Internet Research Library
kbps--(kilobits per second) A speed rating for
computer modems that measures (in units of 1,024 bits) the
maximum number of bits the device can transfer in one second
under ideal conditions.
kBps--(kilobytes per second). Remember, one byte
is eight bits.
L Internet Research Library
leased line--A leased phone line that provides a
full-time, dedicated, direct connection to the Internet.
listserv--An Internet application that automatically
"serves" mailing lists by sending electronic
newsletters to a stored database of Internet user addresses.
Users can handle their own subscribe/unsubscribe actions without
requiring anyone at the server location to personally handle the
transaction.
M Internet Research Library
mailing list--An e-mail based discussion group. Sending
one e-mail message to the mailing list's list server sends mail to all other members of
the group. Users join a mailing list by subscribing. Subscribers
to a mailing list receive messages from all other members. Users
have to unsubscribe from a mailing list to stop receiving
messages forwarded from the group's members.
MIME--(Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) A
set of Internet functions that extends normal e-mail capabilities
and enables computer files to be attached to e-mail. Files sent
by MIME arrive at their destination as exact copies of the
original so that you can send fully-formatted word processing
files, spreadsheets, graphics images and software applications to
other users via simple e-mail.
modem--An electronic device that lets computer
communicate electronically. The name is derived from
"modulator-demodulator" because of their function in
processing data over analog phone lines. These days, some people
have begun to confuse them with Terminal Adapters.
N Internet Research Library
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O Internet Research Library
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P Internet Research Library
POP--(Post Office Protocol) An Internet protocol
that enables a single user to read e-mail from a mail server.
PoP--(Point of Presence) A site that has an
array of telecommunications equipment: modems, digital, leased
lines and Internet routers. An Internet access provider may
operate several regional PoPs to provide Internet connections
within local phone service areas. An alternative is for access
providers to employ virtual PoPs (virtual Points of Presence) in
conjunction with third party provider.
protocols--Computer rules that provide uniform
specifications so that computer hardware and operating systems
can communicate. It's similar to the way that mail, in countries
around the world, is addressed in the same basic format so that
postal workers know where to find the recipient's address, the
sender's return address and the postage stamp. Regardless of the
underlying language, the basic "protocols" remain the
same.
Q Internet Research Library
No entries for this letter
R Internet Research Library
router--A network device that enables the
network to reroute messages it receives that are intended for
other networks. The network with the router receives the message
and sends it on its way exactly as received. In normal
operations, they do not store any of the messages that they pass
through.
S Internet Research Library
shell account--A software application that lets
you use someone else's Internet connection. It's not the same as
having your own, direct Internet connection, but pretty close.
Instead, you connect to a host computer and use the Internet
through the host computer's connection.
signature file--An ASCII text file, maintained
within e-mail programs, that contains a few lines of text for
your signature. The programs automatically attach the file to
your messages so you don't have to repeatedly type a closing.
SLIP/PPP--(Serial Line Internet
Protocol/Point-to-Point Protocol) The basic rules that enable PCS
to connect, usually by dial-up modem, directly to other computers
that provide Internet services.
SMTP--(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) The basic
programming language behind the Internet's e-mail functions.
spam--Anything that nobody wants. Applies
primarily to commercial messages posted across a large number of
Internet Newsgroups, especially when the ad contains nothing of
specific interest to the posted Newsgroup.
T Internet Research Library
T1--An Internet backbone line that carries up to
1.536 million bits per second (1.536Mbps).
T3--An Internet line that carries up to 45
million bits per second (45Mbps).
TA--See "Terminal Adapter."
TCP/IP--(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol) The basic programming foundation that carries computer
messages around the globe via the Internet. Co-created by Vinton
G. Cerf, former president of the Internet Society, and Robert E.
Kahn.
Telnet--An Internet protocol that let you
connect your PC as a remote workstation to a host computer
anywhere in the world and to use that computer as if you were
logged on locally. You often have the ability to use all of the
software and capability on the host computer, even if it's a huge
mainframe.
Terminal
Adapter--An
electronic device that interfaces a PC with an Internet host
computer via an ISDN phone line. Often called "ISDN
modems." However, because they are digital, TAs are not
modems at all. (See modem definition.)
U Internet Research Library
UNIX--The computer operating system that was
used to write most of the programs and protocols that built the
Internet. The need for Unix is rapidly waning and mainstream
users will never need to use a Unix command-line prompt. The name
was created by the programmers who wrote the operating system
because they realized that while they were developing the
operating system they essentially had become eunuchs.
URL--(Uniform Resource Locator) A critical term.
It's your main access channel to Internet sites. Equivalent to
having the phone number of a place you want to call. You
constantly will use URLs with your Internet software applications
to
Usenet--Another name for Internet Newsgroups. A
distributed bulletin board system running on news servers, Unix
hosts, on-line services and bulletin board systems. Collectively,
all the users who post and read articles to newsgroups. The
Usenet is international in scope and is the largest decentralized
information utility. The Usenet includes government agencies,
universities, high schools, organizations of all sizes as well as
millions of stand-alone PCS. Some estimates we found say that
there were 15,000 public newsgroups in 1996, collecting more than
100 megabytes of data daily. But no one really knows.
V Internet Research Library
Veronica--Archie's companion--not really,
because Veronica actually helps you find information on Gopher
menus and within the text of Gopher documents. It's an acronym
for "Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to
Computerized Archives." You probably never will use it,
because Web searches are faster and more extensive.
W Internet Research Library
WAIS--(Wide Area Information Servers) A
distributed information retrieval system that is sponsored by
Apple Computer, Thinking Machines and Dow Jones, Inc.. Users can
locate documents using keyword searches that return a list of
documents, ranked according to the frequency of occurrence of the
search criteria.
WinVN--The most widely used stand-alone
Windows-based Internet Usenet newsgroup reader application. A
powerful program with many useful functions. Now that Netscape
includes built-in newsgroup functions, however, the use of WinVN
is waning except for users with advanced Newsgroup needs. In many
ways, Netscape is a better newsgroup reader for mainstream users.
WinWAIS--(Windows Wide Area Information Servers)
World Wide Web--(WWW) (W3) (the Web) An Internet
client-server distributed information and retrieval system based
upon the hypertext transfer protocol (http) that transfers
hypertext documents across a varied array of computer systems.
The Web was created by the CERN High-Energy Physics Laboratories
in Geneva, Switzerland in 1991. CERN boosted the Web into
international prominence on the Internet.
X Internet Research Library
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Y Internet Research Library
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Z Internet Research Library
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Internet Research Library