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Computer &
Internet Terms |
| In the interest of helping our customers
increase their knowledge, we have included a
list of common computer and internet terms with
their definitions below. Click on the letter
below to jump to words beginning with that
letter. |
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A B
C D
E F
G H I J K L M N O
P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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Account |
A user ID and disk area restricted for the use of a
particular person. Usually password protected. |
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Address |
See e-mail address and host address. |
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AFAIK |
As Far As I Know. An abbreviation used often in online
conversations. |
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Alias |
A short name used to represent a more complicated one. Often
used for mail addresses or host domain names. |
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Archive |
A repository of files available for access at an Internet
site. Also, a collection of files-often a backup of a disk,
or files saved to tape to allow
them to be transferred. |
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ARPANET |
An
experimental communications network funded by the government
that eventually developed into the Internet. |
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Article |
Message submitted to a UseNet newsgroup. Unlike an e-mail
message that goes to a specific person or group of persons,
a newsgroup
message goes to directories (on many machines) that can be
read by any number of people. |
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ASCII |
Data that is limited to letters, numbers, and punctuation.
ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information
Interchange. |
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ATM |
Asynchronous Transfer Mode. A developing technological
advance in communications switching. This technology used
hardware switches to
create a temporary direct path between two destinations so
data can be exchanged at a higher rate. |
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Attribute |
A form of a "command line switch" as applied to tags in the
HTML language. HTML commands or "tags" can be more specific
when
attributes are used. Not all HTML tags utilize attributes. |
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Backbone |
The communications lines of a network that carry a majority
of the traffic. |
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Bandwidth |
The maximum volume of data that can be sent over a
communications network. |
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Bang |
A slang term for an exclamation point. |
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BBS |
Bulletin Board System. A system that allows you to connect
to a computer to upload and download files and leave
messages for other users. |
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Binary |
Data that may contain non-printable characters, including
graphics files, programs, sound files, and ZIP (compressed
file) archives. |
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BinHex |
A program, predominantly used on the Macintosh, that is used
to encode binary files as ASCII so that they can be sent
through e-mail.
BinHex is a data format used for the encoding, as well as
being the name of the program. |
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Bit |
The basic unit of digital communications. There are eight
bits in a byte. |
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Bookmarks |
Term used by some World Wide Web browsers for saving URLs
that you access frequently. Microsoft uses the term
"Favorite Places"
instead of bookmark. |
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Bot (IRC) |
A program that watches an IRC channel and automatically
responds when certain messages are entered. |
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Bounce |
An e-mail message you receive that tells you that an e-mail
message you sent wasn't delivered. Usually contains an error
code and the
contents of the message that weren't delivered. |
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| bps |
bits per second. Units of measure that express the speed at
which data is transferred between computers. |
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Bridge |
A device that connects one physical section of a network to
another, often providing isolation. |
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Browser |
A utility that lets you look through collections of things.
For example, a file browser lets you look through a file
system. Applications that let
you
access the World Wide Web are called Web browsers. |
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BTW |
By The Way. An abbreviation often used in online
conversations. |
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Byte |
A digital storage unit large enough to contain one ASCII
character. Compare to bit. |
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CERN |
CERN The European Laboratory for Particle Physics, where the
World Wide Web was first conceived of and implemented. |
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Channel |
An Internet Relay Chat term that refers to a group of people
discussing a particular topic. |
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CIX |
Commercial Internet Exchange. A consortium of commercial
providers of Internet service. |
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Client
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User of a service. Also often refers to a piece of software
that gets information from a server. |
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Coaxial |
A type of wiring where the signal wire is in the center of a
shielded cable. Compare to twisted pair. |
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Command Line |
Line on a terminal-based interface where you enter commands
to the operating system. Some Internet accounts (usually
called shell
accounts) are command-lined based. |
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Cyberspace |
A term used to refer to the entire collection of sites
accessible electronically. If your computer is attached to
the Internet or another large
network, it exists in cyberspace. |
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Daemon |
A program that runs automatically on a computer to perform a
service for the operating system. |
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DARPA |
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, originally ARPA.
The government agency that funded the research that
developed the
ARPANET. |
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DES |
Data Encryption Standard. An algorithm developed by the
U.S. government to provide security for data transmitted
over a network. |
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Dialup |
A type of connection where you use a modem to connect to
another computer or an Internet provider via phone lines. |
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Digest |
A form of mailing list where a number of messages are
concatenated (linked) and sent out as a single message. |
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Digital |
Type of communication used by computers, consisting of
individual on and off pulses. |
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DNS |
Domain Name System. The system that translates between
Internet IP addresses and Internet host names. |
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DOD |
Department of Defense. A U.S. government agency that
originally sponsored the ARPANET research. |
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Domain |
Highest subdivision of the Internet, for the most part by
country (except in the U.S., where it's by type of
organization, such as educational,commercial,
and government). Usually the last part of a host name; for
example, the domain part of ibm.com is .com, which
represents the domain of commercial sites in the U.S. |
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Download |
To move a file from a remote computer to your local
computer. |
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ECPA |
Electronic Communications Privacy Act. A law that governs
the use and restrictions of electronic communications. |
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E-Mail |
An electronic message delivered from one computer user to
another. Short for electronic mail. |
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E-Mail Address |
An address used to send e-mail to a user on the Internet,
consisting of the user name and host name (and any other
necessary
information, such as a gateway machine). An Internet e-mail
address is usually of the form username@hostname. |
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Encryption |
The process of using a key to scramble a message so that it
can be read only by someone who has the key and knows how to
unscramble
it. |
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Ethernet |
A type of local area network hardware. Many TCP/IP networks
are ethernet based. |
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Eudora |
A popular e-mail application. |
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Expire |
Remove an article from a UserNet newsgroup after a specified
interval. |
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FAQ |
Frequently Asked Question document, often pronounced "fak".
Contains a list of commonly asked questions on a topic. Most
UseNet
newsgroups have a FAQ to introduce new readers to popular
topics in the newsgroup. |
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Favorite Places |
Term used by Internet Explorer when saving URLs that you
access frequently. |
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Finger |
A program that provides information about users on an
Internet host (may include a user's personal information,
such as project affiliation and
schedule). |
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Firewall |
A device placed on a network to prevent unauthorized traffic
from entering the network. |
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Flame |
Communicate in an abusive or absurd manner. Often occurs in
newsgroup posts and e-mail messages. |
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Forms |
Online data entry sheets supported by some World Wide Web
browsers. |
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Frame Relay |
A type of digital data communications protocol. |
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Freeware |
Software that is made available by the author at no cost to
anyone who wants it (although the author retains rights to
the software). |
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FTP |
File Transfer Protocol. An Internet communications protocol
that allows you to transfer files between hosts on the
Internet. |
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FWIW |
For What It's Worth. An abbreviation often used in online
conversations. |
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FYI |
For Your Information. An abbreviation used often in online
conversations. An FYI is also a type of Internet reference
document that contains
answers to basic questions about the Internet. |
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Gateway |
A device that interfaces two networks that use different
protocols. |
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Gigabit |
One billion bits. |
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Gigabyte |
A unit of data storage approximately equal to one billion
bytes of data. |
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GUI |
Graphical User Interface. A computer interface based on
graphical symbols rather than text. Windowing environments
and Macintosh
environments are GUIs. |
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GZip |
A file compression program originally designed to replace
the UNIX compression utility. |
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Hacking |
Originally referred to playing around with computer systems;
now often used to indicate destructive computer activity. |
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Headers |
Lines at the beginning of an e-mail message or newsgroup
post that contain information about the message: its source,
destination, subject,
and
route it took to get there, among other things. |
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