Glossary of Terms

This ever-growing list of common Internet terms is provided to Internet viewers as a free service from Webulant. Enjoy...and stop back!

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

A

Acceptable Use Policy - A set of rules describing which sorts of activities are permitted during the use of a network, server, web site, e-mail or newsgroup.

Account - Just like at a bank, computers used by more than one person use accounts to keep track of (and bill) who's doing what on their system. When you sign up with an Internet Service Provider (ISP), you're given an account name that allows you access.

Acrobat - Acrobat is part of a set of applications developed by Adobe to create and view PDF files. Acrobat is used to create the PDF files, and the freeware Acrobat Reader is used to read the PDF files.

Actionscript - Programming language which enables flash animations to behave and interact in special ways. Actionscript is also used in flash games and to program buttons.

Active-X - A plug-in designed by Microsoft which allows applications, usually written in VB Script, to be embedded in web pages (similar to Java Applets).

Address - An address by which the Internet identifies you so that people can send you mail. It usually looks somthing like username@ispname.net, where username is your username, login name, or account number, and ispname is the Internet's name for the computer or Internet provider you use. Also See: E-mail

ADSL - (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) a communications protocol for connecting computers and other electronic devices to a network, such as the Internet. ADSL offers more bandwidth than current telephone modem connections. ADSL can operate over most existing telephone lines but is currently available in only a few areas and generally costs more.

Also See: DSL

AGP - "Accelerated Graphics Port." , a bus slot designed by Intel that is used for graphics cards.

Aliasing - In Graphic Design, an undesirable side-effect of a sampling process. The most common example is visible pixels when displaying a bitmap at low resolutions.

Alt - Type of newsgroup that discusses alternative-type topics. The alt groups are not official newsgroups, but lots of people read them anyway.

America Online (AOL) - A public Internet provider. If you have an account on AOL, your Internet address is username@aol.com, where username is your account name.

AND (Advanced Digital Network) - Usually refers to a 56Kbps leased-line.

Anonymous FTP - A method of using the FTP program to log on to another computer to copy files, even though you don't have an account on the other computer. When you log on, you enter anonymous as the username and your address as the password, and you get access to publicly available files. Also See: FTP

Anti-Aliasing - In Graphic Design, removing aliased effects in images. On the Internet, it most commonly refers to smoothing jagged curves in graphics that appear on a web page. See: Aliasing

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. The current rule is that an applet can only make an Internet connection to the computer from which the applet was sent.

Also See: HTML , Java

Archive - A file that contains a group of files which have been compressed for efficient storage. You have to use an archive program to get the original files back out. Commonly used programs include compress, tar, cpio, and zip (on UNIX systems), PKZIP (on DOS systems) and WinZIP on Windows based systems. Also See: Zip, WinZip

ARPA - (Advanced Research Projects Agency) A branch of the US Department of Defense that first developed the computer network ARPAnet.

ARPANET - A computer network started in 1969 (the original ancestor of the Internet) and funded by the U.S. Department of Defense; it was dismantled several years ago.

Article - A posting to a newsgroup. That is, a message someone sends to the newsgroup to be readable by everyone who reads the newsgroup.

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.

ASP - ASP (Active Server Pages) is a server side application platform developed by Microsoft utilizing its VB Script programming language. Its advantage is that the code is easier to implement for those who know VB Script. ASP is similar to PHP as it can be embedded into HTML.

ASP.NET - ASP.NET uses Microsoft's ASP.NET Framework to product enterprise-level development projects. More information can be found at: www.asp.net.

ATM - "Asynchronous Transfer Mode, " a network technology that allow for the transfer of data in packets, or cells, of a fixed size. ATM uses 53-byte cells (5 bytes for the address header and 48 bytes for the data). These extremely small cells can be processed through an ATM switch (not an automated teller machine) fast enough to maintain data transfer speeds of over 600 mbps.

ATM was designed for the high-speed transmission of all forms of media from basic graphics to full-motion video. Because the cells are so small, ATM equipment can transmit large amounts of data over a single connection and ensure that no single transmission takes up all the bandwidth. It also allows Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to assign limited bandwidth to each customer.

Attribute - Within HTML element tags, the attribute is like a variable assigned a value such as a filename or html document.

Auto Responder - This feature allows you to set up a document that is automatically emailed to a user who requests information by emailing a selected email address. Commonly used for price lists, additional information, and FAQs.

Automatic Mailing List - A mailing list maintained by a computer program, usually one named LISTSERV or Majordomo. Also See: Mailing List, Spam

B

Backbone - A high-speed cable, telephone line, fiber cable or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. Also See: Network, T1, T3, Bandwidth

Bandwidth - The amount of electronic data that can be transferred through an electronic connection in a given amount of time. For modems connected by telephone to the Internet, the modem's "speed" represents the maximum possible bandwidth of the connection, such 56.6Kps (kilobits per second). Competent web site operators strive to keep the size of web page files low to conserve bandwidth and speed downloading. Also See: Network, T1, T3, Backbone

Batch - A collection of credit card transactions saved for submitting at one time, usually each day. Merchants who do not have real-time verification systems must submit their transactions manually through a POS terminal. Batch fees are charged to encourage a merchant to submit his or her transactions at one time, rather than throughout the day.

Baud - The number of symbols per second that a modem sends down a phone line. Baud is often incorrectly confused with bps (bits per second). A 14,400 bps modem transmits at 2,400 baud, because each of the modem symbols represents 6 bits. In common usage the baud rate of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second. Technically, baud is the number of times per second that the carrier signal shifts value - for example a 1200 bit-per-second modem actually runs at 300 baud, but it moves 4 bits per baud (4 x 300 = 1200 bits per second).

Also See: Bit , Modem

BBS (Bulletin-Board System) - A system that lets people read each other's messages and post new ones. The Usenet system of newsgroups is in effect the world's largest distributed BBS.

BFN - Bye for now. An inanity adopted by the acronym lovers.

Binary File - A file that contains information which does not consist only of text. For example, a binary file might contain an archive, a picture, sounds, a spreadsheet, or a word-processing document (which includes formatting codes in addition to characters).

Binhex (BINary HEXadecimal) - A method for converting non-text files (non-ASCII) into ASCII. This is needed because Internet e-mail can only handle ASCII. Also See: ASCII , MIME

BIOS - "Basic Input/Output System." A program pre-installed on PCs (not on Macs) that the computer uses to start up. The CPU accesses the BIOS even before the operating system is loaded. The BIOS then checks all your hardware connections and locates all your devices. If everything is OK, the BIOS loads the operating system into the computer's memory and finishes the boot-up process.

Bit - The smallest unit of measure for computer data. Bits can be turned on or off and are used in various combinations to represent different kinds of information. Many bits form a byte. Bytes form words.

Bitmap - Lots of teeny, tiny, little dots put together to make a picture. Screens (and paper) are divided into thousands of little, tiny bits, each of which can be turned on or off. These little bits are combined to create graphical representations. GIF and JPG files are the most popular kinds of bitmap files on the Net.

Blog -- (weB LOG) A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog.

Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in cronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominantly.

BPS (Bits Per Second) - A measurement used to describe how fast data is transmitted. Usually used to describe modem speed (not quite the same as baud). A 28.8 modem can move 28,800 bits per second.

Bridge - Something that connects two networks so that they appear to be a single larger network.

Broadband Network - A network that can handle many separate signals at the same time. Broadband networks use different channels to transfer different forms of information, such as data, voice, and video. Your local cable company broadcasts TV, AM, FM, Data and Internet.

Browser - If you are reading this you are likely using a browser. It is a special program that interprets the data and translates it into the text and pictures you read and see over the Internet. Netscape Navigator (by Netscape) and Explorer (by Microsoft) are the best known.

BTW - By the way. E-mail and newsgroups foster their own silly acronyms.

Bulletin Board System - An electronic message system that enables you to read and post messages. Also See: BBS

Byte - A series of bits of a particular length, usually eight. Computer storage is usually measured in bytes.

C

Capture - The submission of a credit card transaction for processing and settlement. POS terminals and real-time processing software capture transactions to submit to merchant account providers or credit card processors.

CERN - A European Particle Physics Lab in Geneva where Tim Bergers-Lee developed a hypertext system that became the World Wide Web.

Certificate Authority - An issuer of Security Certificates used in SSL connections.

See Also: Security Certificate , SSL, Secure Server, Encryption

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 refered 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. Also See: CGI

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. See Also: CGI-Bin

Chargeback - A fee charged by a merchant services provider against a merchant account for transactions that are successfully challenged by a credit card holder. After a charge is disputed and adjudicated in the cardholder's favor, the transaction total and chargeback fees are deducted

from the merchants account.

Chat - Used to talk live to other network users from any and all parts of the world. To do this, you use Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Also See: IRC

Client - A computer that uses the services of another computer (such as Usenet or Gopher or FTP or Archie or the World Wide Web). If your computer is a PC or Macintosh and you dial in to another system, your computer becomes a client of the system you dial in to.

Client/Server Model - A division of labor between computers. Computers that provide a service other computers can use are known as servers. Servers provide such services as FTP or Search Utilities (Search Engines) or connect a user to the World Wide Web. If you don't have these services on your very own machine, you can connect to these machines and use these services and thereby become a client.

Client - A computer that requests and receives data over a network, including the Internet. The most common types of client on the Internet are computers running browsers or email programs.

Co-Location - With normal web hosting accounts, you are leasing space from a server owned by the web hosting company. With co-location, you actually own the server but still connect to the Internet using the same backbone. You are purchasing fast, more reliable connectivity and superior maintenance abilities that a web hosting company can provide. Also See: Dedicated Server

Cold Fusion - A visual tool and application server. Cold Fusion gives you a fast way to build and deploy scalable solutions that integrate browser, server, and database technologies. Cold Fusion is an alternative to PHP and ASP, as it too can be embedded into HTML.

Com - When these letters appear in the last part of an address (www.yourcompany.com) it indicates that the host computer is run by a company rather than by a university or governmental agency.

Commerce Server - Is web server software that runs some of the main functions of an online storefront such as product display, online ordering, inventory management. Works in conjunction with online payment systems to process payments. Also See: SSL, Encryption

Compression Program - Software used to squeeze files together so that they take up less room and are easier to transfer from one location to another. Popular compression programs include ZIP and Stuffit. The opposite of compression is expansion. Also See: Archive, Zip

CompuServe - An on-line information provider that gives you some Internet access. It provides lots of forums, which are similar to newsgroups, including many that provide excellent technical support for a wide range of PC and Mac software. If your CompuServe account number is 7123,456, your Internet address is 7123.456@compuserve.com (notice the period in the account number).

Cookie - The most common meaning of "Cookie" on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser that the Browser software is expected to save and to send back to the Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server. Depending on the type of Cookie used, and the Browser's settings, the Browser may accept or not accept the Cookie, and may save the Cookie for either a short time or a long time.

Cookies might contain information such as login or registration information, online "shopping cart" information, user preferences, etc. When a Server receives a request from a Browser that includes a Cookie, the Server is able to use the information stored in the Cookie. For example, the Server might customize what is sent back to the user, or keep a log of particular user's requests.

Cookies are usually set to expire after a predetermined amount of time and are usually saved in memory until the Browser software is closed down, at which time they may be saved to disk if their "expire time" has not been reached. Cookies do not read your hard drive and send your life story to the CIA, but they can be used to gather more information about a user than would be possible without them. Also See: Browser , Server

Conversion Rate - The number of visitors compared to the
number of sales.

Country Code - The last part of a geographic address, which indicates which country the host computer is in. An address that ends in .ca is Canadian, for example, and one that ends in .us is in the United States. For Example: www.yourcompany.ca

CPM - Cost Per Thousand (Associated with ezine, newsletter and other E-marketing advertising)

Credit Card Processors - ( Third Party Processors) - Merchant service providers that handle the details of processing credit card transactions between merchants, issuing banks, and merchant account providers. Web site operators must first establish their own merchant account before contracting for credit card processing services.

Cyberspace - Term originated by author William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer the word Cyberspace is currently used to describe the whole range of information resources available through computer networks.

D

Daemon - A mysterious little program that runs while you're not looking and takes care of things you would rather not know about.

Database - A file or file system containing organized information and, most commonly, a filing and retrieval system for storing information. Most database software also includes tools for data analysis. Examples of database software include Oracle, Sybase, and Microsoft SQL.

Debit Card - Is a cash substitute for consumers. They look like credit cards, but don't provide credit. Amounts for purchases are debited immediately from the user's bank balance.

Dedicated Server - With normal hosting accounts, you are given a certain amount of disk space on a server with many other web pages on it as well. For a higher price, a web hosting company offers you an entire server completely for your own needs - this generally makes your site run much faster and allows you to be in charge of how your server will operate.

Also See: Co-Location

DHTML - DHTML or Dynamic HTML is simply HTML generated by another application, such as a server side script in Perl or PHP, or client side script written in JavaScript. Dynamic HTML's advantage is the ability to add, change or delete HTML text at the time the page is displayed to the web browser, allowing content manipulation and modification each time a page is displayed.

Digest - A compilation of the messages that have been posted to a mailing list over the past few days. Many people find it more convenient to receive one big message than a bunch of individual ones.

Digital Cash - Otherwise known as electronic cash or e-cash, this is a new currency for the real world and the Internet. E-cash is just a series of numbers, but those digits mean real cash to issuing banks. E-cash is more like real cash than a credit card because it's completely transferable and reusable. Also See: Smart Cards, Digital Signature, Digital Wallet, Digital Coins, Digital Certificate, SSL

Digital Signature - Just as a paper document is authenticated by a signature, an electronic message can be authenticated by a digital signature. Digital signatures are another way to assure the recipient of an electronic message that the message is coming from the right party.

Digital Wallet - Software that stays resident on the hard drive of an online shopper. When they are ready to make a purchase, the "wallet" pops open to reveal payment options. Some "wallets" hold credit cards with encrypted information. Other "wallets" hold digital coins. a consumer account set up to allow e-commerce transactions through a particular credit card processing system. Before the consumer can make a purchase, he or she must first establish an account

with the credit card processor, who provides an ID and password. These can then be used to make purchases at any web site that supports that transaction system. Also See: Digital Cash, Smart Cards, Digital Signature, Digital Coins, Digital Certificate, SSL

Digital Certificates - Are digital Ids used to present credentials online. Digital certificates are issued by companies which act as "trusted third parties." In a SET transaction, the buyer, the merchant and banks for these parties all have digital certificates. Also See: SSL, Encryption, Also See: Digital Cash, Smart Cards, Digital Signature, Digital Wallet, Digital Coins, SSL

Digital Coins - Can be downloaded to a user's hard drive from an account at a bank. When the shopper wants to pay, a "wallet" pops open on their screen. "Coins" are transferred from the shopper's computer to the online merchant's server. The merchant deposits the "coins" in their bank. Also See: Digital Cash, Smart Cards, Digital Signature, Digital Wallet, Digital Certificate, SSL

Directory - A structure, sort of like a file folder (and called a folder in the Macintosh world). A special kind of file used to organize other files. Directories are lists of other files and can contain other directories (known as subdirectories) that contain still more files. UNIX, DOS, and Windows systems all use directory structures. The more stuff you have, the more you need directories in which to organize it. Directories enable you to organize files hierarchically.

Discount Rate - A percentage fee paid to the merchant account provider or ISO for handling an electronic transaction. Most web merchants pay between two and 10 percent of their revenue from online credit card or electronic check orders.

DNS Registration - The web host provider will perform the appropriate registration procedures

with InterNic in order to setup your domain. This is important as errors in your InterNic application can delay processing. You will be responsible for all InterNic fees.

DNS Parking - The web host provider will provide DNS service for a domain without having to have a web site for that domain. Useful for holding a domain that a customer is not yet using.

Domain Name Server - (Name Server or abbreviated as DNS) - A computer on the Internet that translates between Internet domain names, such as webulant.com and Internet numerical addresses, such as 209.89.164.28. They take the form of a series of words separated by periods. The rightmost word is called the zone, specifying the nature of the organization or it's geographical location. Three letter zones denote organizations (e.g. - com for commercial organizations, .edu for educational institutions, .gov for government organizations, net for networks), while two letter zones denote geographical location (e.g. - .au for Australia).

Domain Name - The unique name that identifies an Internet site. 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: amstone.net, glossary.amstone.net, and webdesign.amstone.net 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 (amstone.net in the examples above). 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. Also See: IP Number

Download - To bring software from a remote computer "down" to your computer.

DSL - (Digital Subscriber Line) -- A method for moving data over regular phone lines. A DSL circuit is much faster than a regular phone connection, and the wires coming into the subscriber's premises are the same (copper) wires used for regular phone service. A DSL circuit must be configured to connect two specific locations, similar to a leased line.A commonly discussed configuration of DSL allows downloads at speeds of up to 1.544 megabits (not megabytes) per second, and uploads at speeds of 128 kilobits per second. This arrangement is called ADSL: "Asymmetric" Digital Subscriber Line.

Another common configuration is symmetrical: 384 Kilobits per second in both directions. In theory ADSL allows download speeds of up to 9 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 640 kilobits per second. DSL is now a popular alternative to Leased Lines and ISDN, being faster than ISDN and less costly than traditional Leased Lines. See Also: bit , bps , ISDN , Leased Line

Dumb Terminal - A screen and a keyboard and not much else. It sort of resembles a PC without the computer. Dumb terminals connect to other computers and use their data and their computing.

Dynamic Routing - A method of addressing information on the Internet (not just mail messages, but all information) so that if one route is blocked or broken, the information can take an alternative route. Pretty darned clever. The U.S. Department of Defense built this method into the design of the Internet for the benefit of the military, to resist enemy attack. It's also useful when nonmilitary networks are attacked by errant backhoes.

E

E-Mail - Electronic mail (also called e-mail or just mail) messages sent by way of the Internet to a particular person.

E-Commerce - The processing of economic transactions, such as buying and selling, through electronic communication. E-commerce often refers to transactions occurring on the Internet, such as credit card purchases at web sites.

E-Mail Auto Responder - See Auto Responder

E-Mail Aliasing - See Mail Forwarding

E-Mail POP Account - An email account so that other may send and receive email over the Internet with you. This differs from Email forwarding in that this is an actual email address on your hoster's mail server.

E-Mail Forwarding - See: Mail Forwarding

EDC - (Electronic Data Capture) - The use of a POS terminal for validating and submitting credit card transactions to a merchant account provider or other credit card processor. In online credit card processing, software takes the place of the POS terminal.

Edu - When these letters appear in the last part of an address (for example, in info@mit.edu ), it indicates that the host computer is run by an educational institution, probably a college or university.

Electronic Wallet - Rather than supplying your credit card number every time you want to make an online purchase, electronic wallets allow you to store your credit card information in an

encrypted form and access it from your hard drive when you buy something. Also See: Digital Cash

Electronic Data Interchange - (EDI) - EDI is the transfer of electronic messages from one company to another using a network. Companies use EDI to facilitate business-to-business transactions like purchase orders, purchase confirmations, invoices, and payments.

Encryption - Encryption is a way to secure electronic data transactions by transforming the readable message into an unreadable message. In this way you can guarantee that only the

intended reader can decipher the message.

Ethernet - A cable that connects pieces of a local area network in a particular pattern. Developed by Xerox, it is sometimes called IEEE 802.3, which refers to the standard that defines it. A very common method of networking computers in a LAN. Ethernet will handle about 10,000,000 bits-per-second and can be used with almost any kind of computer.

Eudora - A mail-handling program that runs on the Macintosh and under Windows. Originally a shareware program, it is now sold by Qualcomm.

Euro - The common currency shared by most of the members of the European Union (Britain, Greece and Denmark are not participating). Introduced in January 1999, the Euro will eventually replace national currencies, such as the German Mark, French Franc, and Italian Lira.

Explorer See: Microsoft Explorer, Browser

Extranet - An extranet is the part of a corporate intranet that allows companies to communicate with the intranets of their customers and suppliers, facilitating electronic transactions.

F

Factoring - The purchase of debts owed, or "accounts receivable," in exchange for immediate payment at a discount. In e-commerce, the term is often applied to ISOs that offer to process credit card transactions through their own merchant account, rather than through an account established by the merchant, in exchange for a percentage of the transaction or other fee.

Factoring of credit card debt is illegal.

FAQ - Frequently asked questions. This regularly posted Usenet article answers questions that come up regularly in a newsgroup. Before you ask a question in a newsgroup, make sure that you have read its FAQ because it may well contain the answer. People get annoyed if you ask questions that are answered in the newsgroup's FAQ, because they probably have already answered the question 150 times. FAQs are posted regularly, usually once a week or once a month. To read all the regularly posted FAQs for all newsgroups, read the newsgroup news.answers. To read an entire book of frequently asked questions about the Internet, get Margy's Internet FAQs (IDG Books Worldwide, 1995).

FAX Modem - Modems (fax-data modems) that enable you to send and receive faxes in addition to ordinary computer-type data. Fax is short for facsimile or exact copy, and fax technology uses ordinary phone lines to send copies of printed material from place to place. If you stick fax technology on your computer, what you send may never touch paper. It can go from your computer to theirs or to their fax machine if they don't have a computer.

FDDI - (Fiber Distributed Data Interface)- A standard for transmitting data on optical fiber cables at a rate of around 100,000,000 bits-per-second (10 times as fast as Ethernet, about twice as fast as T-3). See Also: Bandwidth , Ethernet , T-1 , T-3

Finger - An Internet software tool for locating people on other Internet sites. Finger is also sometimes used to give access to non-personal information, but the most common use is to see if a person has an account at a particular Internet site. Many sites do not allow incoming Finger requests, but many do.

Fire Wall - A combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN into two or more parts for security purposes. Also See: Network , LAN, Security

Flame - Originally, flame meant to carry forth in a passionate manner in the spirit of honorable debate. Flames most often involved the use of flowery language and flaming well was an art form. More recently flame has come to refer to any kind of derogatory comment no matter how witless or crude. Also See: Flame War, Flame Mail

Flame Mail - Nasty E-mail or discussion mail received when someone feels they have been slighted by you.

Flame War - When an online discussion degenerates into a series of personal attacks against the debaters, rather than discussion of their positions. A heated exchange. See Also: Flame, Flame Mail

FoxPro - See Visual FoxPro

Frames - A (originally) Netscape extension that allows you to divide your browser window into different, independent sections called frames, each scrollable and assigned their own separate URL. The advantage of frames is it allows the user to navigate a web site in one frame while another frame stays stationary. The static frame usually contains a navigation bar or banner ad. Frames aren't official HTML, but are supported by many browsers including Netscape Navigator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

Front-End - The user interface that appears on a web page, which allows a visitor to the site to interact with dynamic features, including databases, shopping-cart programs, and online purchase processing software.

Frontpage See MS Frontpage

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. Windows FTP and Fetch are FTP examples of FTP software.

G

Gateway - A computer that connects one network with another when the two networks use different protocols. The UUNET computer connects the UUCP network with the Internet, for example, providing a way for mail messages to move between the two networks. Also an older name for what's now called a router

GIF (Graphic Interchange File) - A file type that contains a graphic, photo or other image. GIFs are commonly found on the Web, along with another graphic file format. the JPEG. GIFs tend to take less memory and bandwidth than JPEGs, and can contain animation. JPEGs offer greater image clarity, especially for photo images. Also See: JPEG

Gigabyte - 1000 or 1024 Megabytes, depending on who is measuring. Also See: Byte , Megabyte

Global Kill File - A file that tells your Usenet newsreader which articles you always want to skip. This file applies to all the newsgroups to which you subscribe.

Gopher - A system that lets you find information by using menus (lots of menus).

gov - When these letters appear in the last part of an address (cu.nih.gov, for example), it indicates that the host computer is run by some part of a government body, probably the U.S. federal government, rather than by a company or university. Most gov sites are in the United States.

GUI - (Graphical User Interface) Software that displays the Internet in graphical form

H

Hacker - Computer criminal that are able to gain unauthorized access to "secure" computer systems.

Handshaking - When two computers establish a connection between them leading to an exchange of data.

Hardware - The actual, physical computer and all its wires and friends, such as the printer, the disk drive, and the modem. Pretty useless without software. Also See: Software

Hexadecimal - A numbering system which uses a base of 16 (binary numbers have a base of 2). The first ten digits are 0 to 9. The next six are A to F.

Hit - As used in reference to the World Wide Web, "hit" means a single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server; thus in order for a web browser to display a page that contains 3 graphics, 4 "hits" would occur at the server; 1 for the HTML page, and one for each of the 3 graphics. "Hits" are often used as a very rough measure of load on a server, e.g. "Our server has been getting 300,000 hits per month." Because each "hit" can represent anything from a request for a tiny document (or even a request for a missing document) all the way to a request that requires some significant extra processing (such as a complex search request), the actual load on a machine from 1 hit is almost impossible to define.

Holdback - A portion of the revenue from a merchant's credit card transactions, held in reserve by the merchant account provider to cover possible disputed charges, chargeback fees, and other expenses. After a predetermined time, holdbacks are turned over to the merchant. Note: MAPs

almost never pay interest on holdbacks.

Home Page - (or Homepage) Several meanings. Originally, the web page that your browser is set to use when it starts up. The more common meaning refers to the main web page for a business, organization, person or simply the main page out of a collection of web pages, e.g. "Check out so-and-so's new Home Page." Another sloppier use of the term refers to practically any web page as a "homepage," e.g. "That web site has 65 homepages and none of them are interesting."

Also See: Browser , Web

Host - A computer connected to the Internet that serves your web pages, e-mail, database, e-commerce solution. It may also allow FTP, Also See: FTP

HTML - Hypertext markup language, used in writing pages for the World Wide Web. It lets the text include codes that define fonts, layout, embedded graphics, and hypertext links. Don't worry: You don't have to know anything about it to use the World Wide Web.

HTTP - Hypertext transfer protocol, which is the way World Wide Web pages are transferred over the Net.

HTTPD - (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Daemon) The Web server that allows more advanced aspects of HTML such as forms and imagemaps.

Hypertext - A system of writing and displaying text that enables the text to be linked in multiple ways, to be available at several levels of detail, and to contain links to related documents. The term hypertext was coined in 1969 by Ted Nelson, the computer visionary who dreamed of linking computers and literature and designed his own hypertext system Project Xanadu. Apple's Hypercard was the first software that implemented hypertext on a large scale. The World Wide Web uses hypertext.

I

ICMP - Internet control message protocol, an exceedingly uninteresting low-level protocol that Internet computers use. Used by ping.

Icon - A little picture intended to represent something bigger, such as a program or a choice of action or object.

Imagemap - An inline graphic displayed within an HTML document that is linked to a set of URLs. The user moves to a particular URL by clicking on specific parts of the graphic.

IMO (IMHO) - In my opinion; in my humble opinion.

Inline Graphic - Graphics imbedded within the display of the HTML page.

Interhead - Two heads joined together to provide e-plundering solutions for today's dynamic high seas pirate market.

Internet Society - An organization dedicated to supporting the growth and evolution of the Internet. You can contact them at www.isoc.org

Internet Explorer - Microsoft's Web browser. Also See: Netscape

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) - A system that enables bored undergraduates and, occasionally, other Internet folks to talk to each other in real time (rather than after a delay, as with e-mail messages).

Internet - You still don't know what it is, and you're way back here in the glossary! Yikes - we must have done a terrible job of explaining this stuff. It's an interconnected bunch of computer networks, including networks in all parts of the world.

Internet Protocol - See IP.

Interrupt Character - A key or combination of keys you can press to stop whatever is happening on your computer. You might find that you have started something and don't want to wait for it to finish. Common interrupt characters are Ctrl-C and Ctrl-D. Telnet's usual interrupt character is Ctrl-].

Intranet - A private network inside a company or organization that uses the same kinds of software that you would find on the public Internet, but that is only for internal use. As the Internet has become more popular many of the tools used on the Internet are being used in private networks, for example, many companies have web servers that are available only to employees.

Note that an Intranet may not actually be an internet -- it may simply be a network.

J

Java - Java is a network-oriented programming language invented by Sun Microsystems that is specifically designed for writing programs that can be safely downloaded to your computer through the Internet and immediately run without fear of viruses or other harm to your computer or fil