ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)
ADSL is a modem technology that transforms ordinary phone lines into high-speed digital lines, resulting in extremely fast Internet access. Like ISDN, ADSL uses standard phone lines to deliver high-speed data communications. You can use both voice and data simultaneously - this means you can talk or fax at the same time that you surf the Web. But while ISDN's transmission speed is limited to 64 kbps, ADSL technology can deliver upstream (from the user) speeds of 640 kbps and downstream (to the user) speeds of more than 6 mbps. See also: ISDN
Authentication
An electronic signature; technology that guarantees that an electronic transmission originated from its stated location. It also ensures that digital data transmissions are delivered to the intended receiver. It assures the receiver of the integrity of the message and its source (where or whom it came from). The simplest form of authentication requires a username and password to gain access to a particular account. But authentication protocols can also be based on secret-key encryption, such as DES, or on public-key systems using digital signatures. See also: DES, PAP, CHAP
Back Button
A button on the toolbar which allows you to revisit locations. Click here to see a picture of the Back button and to find out more about how to use it.
Bandwidth
In a general sense, this term describes information-carrying capacity, usually measured in bits per second (bps). It can apply to telephone or network wiring as well as system buses, radio frequency signals, and monitors. On a more human level, the term can describe a person's capacity for dealing with multiple projects ("I'd like to update this database, but I don't have the bandwidth."). Bandwidth is most accurately measured in cycles per second, or hertz (Hz), which is the difference between the lowest and highest frequencies transmitted. But it's also common to use bits or bytes per second instead. See also: memory bandwidth, video bandwidth
Baud (pronounced "bawd")
Most people use baud to describe modem speeds in bits per second--but they're wrong. They may say a 9,600-bps modem transmits at 9,600 baud, but really baud is a measure of how frequently sound changes on a phone line. Modern modems transmit more bits with fewer changes in sound, so baud and bps numbers aren't equal. However, only editors, pedants, and communications engineers now care about the distinction. But if you run into members of these groups, use bps instead of baud. See also: bps, kbps
Bit (Short for binary digit)
A bit is the smallest unit of data in computing, with a value of either 0 or 1. Whenever you see a lowercase b associated with a number, it's likely to be a bit. It can be prefixed with kilo- (for 1,024 bits, or 2 to the 10th power) or mega- (1,024 x 1,024 bits)--and sometimes finds its way into data transfer speeds (such as 14.4 kbps). See also: byte, gigabyte, kbps, megabyte
Bitmap
Any picture you see on the Web (or hot off a scanner, or on a page created with a desktop publishing application) is called a bitmap. As its name suggests, a bitmap is a map of dots--similar to what you see when you look at a newspaper photo under a strong magnifying glass--that looks like a picture when viewed from a distance. Bitmaps come in many file formats (GIF, JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PICT, and PCX, to name a few) and can be read by paint programs and image editors such as Adobe Photoshop. If you zoom in on or try to scale up a bitmap, it will look blocky. Digital pictures that you can easily scale up (such as those created in PostScript, CorelDraw, or CAD formats) are called vector graphics. See also: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PCX, PICT
Bookmark
You can mark an internet site or a web page with an electronic bookmark, making it easy to return to that location later. Accessing a bookmark links your directly to the desired site, without having to click through several screens to get to it. A collection of bookmarks is termed a booklist. Located on the Pull-Down Menu Bar. Click here to see a picture of the Bookmarks Menu and to find out more about how to use it.
Browser
A software program for getting information from the World Wide Web. A browser is an application program that provides a way to look at and interact with all the information on the World Wide Web. The word "browser" seems to have originated prior to the Web as a generic term for user interfaces that let you browse (navigate through and read) text files online. By the time the first Web browser with a graphical user interface was generally available (Mosaic, in 1993), the term seemed to apply to Web content, too. Technically, a Web browser is a client program that uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to make requests of Web servers throughout the Internet on behalf of the browser user. A commercial version of the original browser, Mosaic, is in use. Many of the user interface features in Mosaic, however, went into the first widely-used browser, Netscape Navigator. Microsoft followed with its Microsoft Internet Explorer. Today, these two browsers are the only two browsers that the vast majority of Internet users are aware of. Although the online services, such as America Online, originally had their own browsers, virtually all now offer the Netscape or Microsoft browser. Lynx is a text-only browser for UNIX shell and VMS users. Another recently offered and well-regarded browser is Opera.
While some browsers also support e-mail (indirectly through e-mail Web sites) and the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), a Web browser is not required for those Internet protocols and more specialized client programs are more popular.
Byte (Pronounced "bite")
A byte usually denotes 8 bits (also called an octet or a word), which the computer treats as a single unit, which is used to encode a single character - a letter, number, or symbol. Longer sequences like 16 and 32 bits are also possible. Abbreviated as uppercase B. See also: bit, gigabyte, megabyte
Cable Modem
Speed is something we all want on the Internet, and it also explains the allure of cable modems, which promise speeds of up to 80 times faster than an ISDN line or 6 times faster than a dedicated T1 line (the type of connection most large corporations use). Because cable modems provide Internet access over cable TV networks (which rely primarily on fiber-optic or coaxial cable), they are much faster than modems that use phone lines. But cable modems are expensive--they're expected to cost between $200 and $250 when they hit the retail shelves in mid-1998. And the fees from your local cable company could include a $50 to $100 installation fee, while the service itself costs around $40 per month, if the service is offered at all. Some cable modem testers complain that the service is neither as fast nor as consistent as promised.
Cache (Pronounced "cash")
An area in a computer's memory that stores frequently used data for faster access. Caches come in many types, but they all work the same way: they store information where you can get to it fast. A Web browser cache stores the pages, graphics, sounds, and URLs of online places you visit on your hard drive; that way, when you go back to the page, everything doesn't have to be downloaded all over again. Since disk access is much faster than Internet access, this speeds things up. Of course, disk access is slower than RAM access, so there's also disk caching, which stores information you might need from your hard disk in faster RAM.
CD-ROM (compact disc, *read-only memory )
A compact disc used to store and play back computer data instead of digital audio. It stores data that is read on a computer by laser optics rather than by magnetic means. A CD used with a computer has the same format as those used for listening to music on a CD player. One CD can contain as much as 600 megabytes of data, more than 400 times the capacity of a floppy disk. Unlike a floppy disk, a user cannot "write" data to a CD-ROM (*hence the "read only" attribute) except with a special recording device. CD-ROMs have become a favorite medium for installing programs, since they cost only slightly more to manufacture than floppy disks, and most major software applications come on at least five floppies. Don't sound hopelessly out of touch with technology: use the term CD-ROM to refer to the technology or the discs, but not to the hardware you play the discs on. That's a CD-ROM drive. See also: CD-ROM drive
Chat
To communicate with a person, a group, or a site on the Internet in real time by typing on your keyboard. The words you type appear on the screen(s) of all the other participants in the "chat" and their typing appears on your screen. A chat program allows two or more people to converse with each other no matter where they are geographically. A chat can take place, for example, among people in Tallahassee, Budapest, and Singapore. While most chat software only lets users talk by typing, more advanced products assign avatars, 2D or 3D characters, to each participant. These avatars may even have expressions selected by the chatters. The most advanced products not only use avatars, but also let users with sound cards speak to each other. See also: avatar
Click
To press and immediately release the mouse button. To "click on" something is to position the pointer directly over it and then click.
Client
A program that accessing and displaying information supplied by another program which usually runs on another computer on the internet. Netscape is a client program for accessing and displaying WWW pages
Clock Speed
Clock Speed The speed of the computer's internal clock, measured in megahertz (MHz), which determines how fast the microprocessor can carry out instructions.
Cookie
A small text file on your computer's hard drive that tracks your personal preferences as you surf from site to site. Many Web sites allow you to save a username and password on a cookie to make future visits more convenient. In addition, cookies can help webmasters keep track of user trends. The use of cookies is an industry standard and they are presently used on most major Web sites. Cookies are essential for customers who desire a personalized Web experience. For example, the My Lycos personal start page offers many useful features that are made possible by cookies.
Content
The sum of the text, pictures, sound, data, or other information presented by a website.
CPU (central processing unit)
A highly complex silicon chip ranging from the size of a matchbook to the wallet-sized Intel Xeon--is your computer's brain, taking requests from applications and then processing, or executing, actions, a.k.a. operations. The faster your processor, the more operations it can execute per second. The more operations you have per second, the faster things happen in your applications; thus, games play more smoothly, and spreadsheets calculate more quickly. Sometimes the term CPU is also used to describe the whole box that contains the chip (along with the motherboard, expansion cards, disk drives, power supply, and so on). Both uses are widespread, but only the first is really accurate. See processor.
Cyber
The prefix cyber- is most often used to make whatever word it's attached to seem hip, cool, and connected in some loose way to the world of computers or the Internet. The habit probably started with science fiction writer William Gibson, who coined the term cyberspace. It is the prefix for anything to do with computers or the Internet. For example, put a computer in the corner of a coffee shop, and your favorite café becomes a cybercafe! See also: cyberspace
Cyberspace
The virtual universe of information transmitted by computers programs, audio and video media, telephone and television, wire and satellite. The term "cyberspace was first phrased by science fiction writer William Gibson. He coined the term cyberspace in the perennial favorite novel Neuromancer. Gibson used the word to describe a virtual world of computer networks that his cyberpunk heroes "jacked into." Everyone else uses the word cyberspace loosely to refer to virtual reality, the Internet, the World Wide Web, and many other kinds of computer systems that users become immersed in. It's about as ill-defined a term as information superhighway, but it's much hipper. See also: information superhighway
Desktop Computer
A personal computer that sits on a desk, as opposed to portable types of computers such as a laptop or notebook computer.
Defragmentation
When you use the same file over and over again, writing, rewriting, saving, and deleting parts of it on the same disk, the file becomes fragmented. That means that although you can't tell, your operating system is storing all the data from that file as separate packages of information, distributed on different parts of the disk. Although fragmentation does not lose the information contained in the file, it does eventually slow down access to the file itself, because the OS must search the whole disk to create the sum of the file's parts. Defragmentation collects all those parts into one stream of data again, speeding up your system.
Device Driver
A program that lets peripheral devices communicate with computers. Some device drivers for standard components, such as keyboards or monitors, come with computers. Devices that are added later require the user to install the corresponding drivers.
Dialog Boxes
Any box that appears on your screen requesting an answer to a specific question or completion of an action. For example, when closing a document you will see a dialog box that asks if you want to save the document, if you have not already.
Digital Signature
Forgery is a growing concern among Netizens (inhabitants of cyberspace like you and I). After all, who's to say that a message with your name on it is really from you and not somebody pretending to be you? Digital signatures are a means of proving that a file or email message belongs to a specific person, much as a driver's license proves identity in real life. Digital signatures have the added benefit of verifying that your message has not been tampered with. When you sign a message, a hash function--a computation that leaves a specific code, or "digital fingerprint"--is applied to it. If the fingerprint on the recipient's message doesn't match the original fingerprint, the message has been altered. Digital signatures are often used in combination with strong-encryption software to create a secure channel of communication, in which both privacy and identity are protected. See also: digital certificate, encryption
Directory Bar
A row of buttons near the top of your document window which you can use to discover new and cool Web pages, search for certain topics, concepts and people, and download the latest software. Click here to see a picture of the directory bar and find out more information about each button.
Directory Menu
An item on the Pull-Down Menu Bar. Click here to see a picture of the Directory Menu and to find out more about how to use it.
Domain Name
Looking for a domain name? You'll find it to the right of the @ sign in an email address, or about ten characters into a URL. One the Internet, the name of a computer or group of computers that identifies the electronic (and sometimes geographical) location of the computer for data transmission. The domain name frequently contains the name of an organization and always included either a two- or three-letter suffix that designates either the type of organization or the country of the domain, using different extensions. For example:
Dot Matrix
The measurement of spacing between the color phosphors of a computer screen's display. In plain English, dot pitch is the space, measured in pixels, between dots of the same color in a matrix. The smaller the dot pitch, the better the display. A .28 dot pitch is common, but .25 is better.
Download
To copy a file from another computer to your computer. For instance, you might download the latest version of the Netscape browser from the Web. The process of transmitting information or a file from a remote computer to the user's computer. There are many files, pictures, icons, games, etc. that can be downloaded from the Internet to your computer. HINT: Right click on any picture or icon and chose "Save As" to download a copy to your computer!
Drag
To click down on something and then move the pointer while holding down the mouse button. Try putting the pointer over the box in the scrollbar and hold down the mouse button while moving the mouse up and down the scroll bar. Moving something this way with the mouse is called dragging.
Dropdown Menu
Drop down menus contain a list of answer choices. For example, when you click on 'File' a drop down menu appears with your choices.
DSL
See ADSL
Edit Menu
An item on the Pull-Down Menu Bar. Click here to see a picture of the Edit Menu and to find out more about how to use it.
Email (Short for Electronic Mail)
A way to send messages from one computer to other linked through a network or the Internet. You can send email in several ways--across a local area network, via the Internet, or through an online service like CompuServe or America Online--and you can send it to a single recipient or to a whole slew of them. But all email behaves pretty much the same way: you send it to a virtual mailbox, and the recipient has to pick it up or can use software that does it automatically. Depending on the applications in use by the sender and recipient, it is often possible to send various types of files - for example, word processor documents, graphics, and audio files - as attachments to a message. See also: snail mail, spam
Encryption
The process of scrambling transmitted information. Encryption handily screens data from the eyes of undesired parties and is available in two forms: software encryption, which is widely used and simple to install, and microchip encryption, which is more difficult to install but is faster and more difficult to decode.
FAT32(Stands for 32-bit file allocation table
The FAT of the MS-DOS® format program contains information about which parts of a hard disk are in use, which are not, and which cannot be used because they are faulty. FAT32 is a new version of the Windows® 98 operating system FAT and can support larger disks for more efficient storage.
FAQs (frequently asked questions)
These text files are supposed to answer all the questions a newcomer to an online site might have. Designed to cut down on basic tech support queries, FAQs can be organized in virtually any structure, and they often cover a far wider range of subjects than just basic site orientation. You can either pronounce it "facks" or sound out each letter.
Fax Modem
A type of modem that can send (and in most cases, receive) faxes in addition to transferring data files. Fax modems can't send printed documents unless they are first scanned and saved on your computer as disk files.
File Extension
In filenames, the group of letters after the period is called the file extension. For example, if the filename is command.com, the extension is .com.
File Menu
An item on the Pull-Down Menu Bar. Click here to see a picture of the File Menu and to find out more about how to use it.
Find Button
A button on the toolbar which allows you to search for specific text on the current page.
Firewall
Software intended to prevent unauthorized access to a computer network.
Flame or Flame Mail
An intentionally inflammatory email or posting.
Floppy Disk
A small, magnetically coated, plastic disk used to store and transport computer data. It can hold 1.44 megabytes of information and is called "floppy" because the plastic is flexible.
Forward Button
A button on the toolbar which allows you to revisit locations.
Freeware
Freeware is software you can download, pass around, and distribute without payment. However, it's still copyrighted, so you can't turn around and decompile it or sell it as your own (as you can with a public domain program). See also: public domain, shareware
FTPA
A means of transferring files from one computer to another. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol
Game Pad
A pointing device, like a mouse, used to move an object on a computer screen. Physically, a game pad is a flat, hand-held pad with several control buttons, connected to the computer by a special port. Game pads are often needed for computer games, and an example may be seen in your child's hands as he plays his Nitendo!
GIF (graphics interchange format)
Most color images and backgrounds on the Web are GIF files. This compact file format is ideal for graphics that use only a few colors, and it was once the most popular format for online color photos. However, GIF has lost ground to the JPEG format when it comes to photos. GIF images are limited to 256 colors, but JPEGs can contain up to 16 million colors--and they can look almost as good as a photograph. CompuServe developed GIF in 1987, calling it GIF87, and two years later added new features such as interlacing, transparency, and animation to create the format known as GIF89a. People don't usually distinguish between the two GIF versions, so if someone refers to an image as a "GIF89" rather than simply a "GIF," it's probably animated. See also: interlaced GIF, transparent GIF, JPEG
Gigabyte (GB)
Frequently used to describe the amount of space on a computer hard drive. One billion bytes. See byte.
Gopher
A method for organizing information on the Internet using a system of menus. Items in the menus can be links to other documents, searches, or links to other information services.
Hard Drive
The primary storage device for a personal computer often referred to as a "tower". Measured in gigabytes.
Hardware
The literally "hard" or physical components of a computer system that you can actually touch, such as the processor, monitor, and keyboard, as well as peripherals. In comparison, software - coded programs that instruct the hardware to carry out the tasks of the computer - isn't a physical entity.
History List
While it sounds like something to do with school homework, a history list is actually a drop-down menu in a Web browser that contains a log of the latest document titles and URLs you have visited during your Web session. It's a convenience feature that lets you jump back to where you've been without having to click repeatedly on the Back button.
Home Button
A button on the toolbar which returns you to the home page. Click here to see a picture of the Home button and to find out more about how to use it.
Home Page
Web sites are by nature tangled groups of interconnected pages. To make them easier to navigate, the sites have one or more home pages that you can use for orientation. A home page serves as the site's introduction, starting point, and guide. When designed well it acts as the sites table of contents. Home pages generally contain links to both additional locations (pages) within the site as well as external sites. Depending on the size of a Web site, multiple home pages can exist within the same site. A Web page can also be one that you have designated as your home base. It is usually a page about you or your organization.
Hit
Probably the most misused term in Net vocabulary, a hit can refer to any one of a few different things. If you perform a search using Excite or SHAREWARE.COM, the results are called hits. If you load up a Web page, you've hit the site. However, when people say, "Our Web site had 2,000 hits" (meaning that there were 2,000 visitors, or 1,000 visitors looking at two pages each), that's simply wrong. Technically, a hit is a request made to the Web server. For example, if you look at a Web page that contains ten GIF files, one person visiting one page will make 11 hits on the server: one for the page, and ten for the graphics on the page.
Hot Spot
Another name for link.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
The language used to create links, is essential for the display of documents on the Web. As its name suggests, HTML is a collection of formatting commands that create hypertext documents--Web pages, to be exact. When you point your Web browser to a URL, the browser interprets the HTML commands embedded in the page and uses them to format the page's text and graphic elements. HTML commands cover many types of text formatting (bold and italic text, lists, headline fonts in various sizes, and so on), and also have the ability to include graphics and other nontext elements. Development and maintenance of HTML standards is coordinated by the World Wide Web Consortium
HTTP(hypertext transfer protocol)
This is a set of rules exchanging WWW documents between computers that hold the pages and computers that would like to see the pages. HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol and is the basic protocol for the World Wide Web. It is the protocol used to transmit and receive all data over the World Wide Web. HTTP is the set of rules governing the software that transports HTML documents about the Internet. When you type a URL into your browser, you're actually sending an HTTP request to a Web server for a page of information (that's why URLs all begin with "http://"). HTTP1.1, the latest version, is currently undergoing revisions to make it work more efficiently with TCP/IP. See also: protocol, URL, client, server, TCP/IP
Hyperlink
Hyperlinks are the easy-to-spot underlined words, pictures or phrases you click in World Wide Web documents to jump to another screen or page. Hyperlinks contain HTML-coded references that point to other Web pages, which your browser then jumps to. Also called anchors. See also: anchor
Hypertext
A hypertext document is one that includes links (connections) to other documents. In concept this is similar to including footnotes in a printed document. However, in a hypertext document you can switch to the connected item by clicking on a "hot spot," usually indicated by a different color from the surrounding text. In the World Wide Web links can lead to other documents on the same data server, or might take you to other servers.
Icon
A small picture or image that represents an object, a folder, or a program. Clicking or double-clicking icons launches programs, opens windows, and executes commands. You can see icons on your computer screen (see "desktop")
Ink-Jet Printer
A type of computer printer that creates images by spraying ink droplets from tiny tubes onto paper. Ink-jet printers produce crisp and accurate images in either color or black and white. Image quality is measured in Dots-Per-Inch or DPI and the larger the number the higher the quality. The quality of ink-jet printers is generally close to that of laser-printer standards.
Internet
A super-network. It connects many smaller networks together and allows all the computers to exchange information with each other. To accomplish this all the computers on the Internet have to use a common set of rules for communication. Those rules are called protocols, and the Internet uses a set of protocols called TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). The Internet is like the highway, and the World Wide Web is like a truck that uses that highway to get from place to place. The Internet originated in 1969, in the midst of the Cold War, as a "nuke-proof" communications network. As you might guess, it received most of its early financing from the U.S. defense department. Now, however, it consists of countless networks and computers across the world that allow millions of people to share information. Also referred to as the world-wide-web (www.) or web. The lines that carry the majority of the information are know as the Internet backbone. While the government used to run things, now major Internet service providers (ISPs) such as MCI, GTE, Sprint, UUNET, and ANS own portions of the backbone--a good thing as they have the motivation and the revenue to maintain the quality of these large networks. For answers to commonly asked questions about the Internet, check out : "20 questions: How the Net works." See also: intranet, extranet, browser, ARPAnet
Intranet
A play on the word Internet, an intranet is a restricted-access network that works like the Web, but isn't on it. Usually owned and managed by a corporation, an intranet enables a company to share its resources with its employees without confidential information being made available to everyone with Internet access. Usually a private network within an organization usually intended for the distribution of confidential internal information such as company policies. Intranets frequently use Internet protocols to deliver content. Often protected from the Internet by firewalls.
IP Address(Internet Protocol Address)This address is a unique string of numbers that identifies a computer on the Internet. These numbers are usually shown in groups separated by periods, like this: 123.123.23.2. All resources on the Internet must have an IP address--or else they're not on the Internet at all. See also: IP, VAT
ISDN(Integrated Services Digital Network)
A network that connects telephones and computers digitally. ISDN connections transmit data substantially faster than standard (analog) telephone lines. ISDN is now being replaced by ADSL ( Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line ) and cable modems.
ISP
(Internet Service Provider)
A commercial service that sells access to the Internet to individuals. Usually you connect to your Internet service provider through a modem. Some providers only offer a basic connection to the Internet. Others sell a variety of "value added" services such as discussion forums, tech support, software libraries, news, weather reports, stock prices, plane reservations, even electronic shopping malls. Popular service providers include America Online, CompuServe, and Netcom. A service such as MSN™ Internet access that provides companies and home users with connections to the Internet. See also: "Online Service"
.JPG or JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
(Pronounced jay-peg) A type of graphic file format (usually pictures) suitable for use in Web documents.
Joystick
A pointing device, like a mouse, used to move an object on a computer screen. Physically, a joystick is a vertical rod mounted on a base, often containing one or more control buttons, connected to the computer by a special port. Joysticks are frequently needed for computer games, and sometimes are used in computer-aided design (CAD) systems.
KBPS (Kilobytes Per Second)
Used to rate a modem's data transfer rate. Note that 56k is short for 56,6000 Kilobytes per second.
Laser Printer
A computer printer capable of producing very high-quality images based on technology similar to that of photocopying machines. The images are first "drawn" electronically on a light-sensitive drum then printed with a powered toner that is transferred from the drum onto the paper. Laser printers generally operate faster and produce higher quality images than ink-jet printers.
Link
A word, picture, or other area of a Web page that users can click on to move to another spot in the document or to another document. Words and phrases that are links may be underlined and usually appear in a contrasting color text. The text and underline color may change after you click on the link so you can tell if you've already followed the link. Pictures that are links sometimes have a blue border around them which also may change colors after you click on them. Short for hyperlink, a link is specially coded text (or graphical element) in a Web page that is linked to a different section or element in the Web page, or to another HTML page, document, or file. Usually underlined or in a different color than the surrounding text. Links are activated when the user clicks the mouse on them. The mouse pointer on-screen changes into a hand when it passes over the hyperlink.
Megabyte(MB)
Equal to one million bytes. See "byte"
Megahertz(MHz)
A unit of measurement, one million hertz. In computers, this measurement refers to clock speed, or how fast the computer's microprocessor carries out instructions.
Microprocessor
See "processor"
Moore's Law
Originated by Gordon Moore, one of the founding fathers of the microprocessor computer chip that makes personal computers possible. Moore predicted that the number of transistor - hence the speed and power of the chip - would double approximately every 1 months. His law has held true for nearly 30 years.
MPEG(Moving Pictures Expert Group)
A file format for video and audio content. There are many downloadable multimedia files in this format available on the internet. They are sometimes referred to as movie clips or mini movies. The Moving Picture Experts Group is the name for a set of standards for the compression and playback of digital audio and video. MP3, or MPEG Audio Layer 3, is one of these standards.
Modem(Pronounced "moe-dem")
A modem is a device that transmits data from one computer to another over a telephone connection. The word modem is an abbreviation for "modulator/demodulator." Modulating computer data means changing it from digital to analog form so it can be transmitted by a standard telephone line. Demodulating the data means changing it back into digital form so it can be read and displayed by the computer on the receiving end.
Mother Board
The main printed circuit board, which contains the primary components; the processor and memory sockets, the keyboard controller, and sometimes other control components.
Mouse
A hand-held device that lets you select (by clicking) and move items on your screen. A mouse can come in various shapes, colors and sizes. It is a peripheral device used as a pointing and drawing instrument for interacting with a computer, and consisting of a plastic object (usually a bit smaller than an adults hand), control buttons, and a cable that connects the device to a computer port.
Multimedia
Term for any content that combines text, sound, graphics, and/or video.
Multitasking
The ability to do more than on thing, or operate more than one program, at the same time, such as printing a document while surfing the Internet.
Net
When capitalized, this is an abbreviation for the Internet.
Nethead
Term for individuals, like you and I, who live and work in cyberspace - utilizing email or other features of the Internet, and who are familiar with the terminology and online netiquette.
Netiquette
The combination of net and etiquette, an unwritten code of rules for preserving civility on, and efficient use of, the Internet.
Network
In general, a group of computers set up to communicate with one another. Your network can be a small system that's physically connected by cables or you can connect separate networks together to form larger networks. The Internet, for example, is made up of thousands of individual networks.
Notebook Computer
A small, portable personal computer with an attached, flat screen. Notebook (or laptop) computers usually weigh between five and eight pounds and can run on rechargeable batteries, making them ideal for traveling. Generally speaking, they are capable of the same power and hard-disk capacity of desktop computers, but are more expensive than desktop models with similar power and capacity.
News Groups
Readers post messages, or articles, to newsgroups for other people to read. They can also reply to articles that they read on a newsgroup. It's one way for people like yourself to communicate with millions of people around the world.
Offline
Not connected to the Internet. For instance, with Microsoft Internet Explorer software you can connect to the Internet (go online), download Web pages and documents to your computer, disconnect from the Internet, and then review the documents off line.
Online
Connected to the Internet.
Online Service
A service subscription that provides an easy way to connect to the Internet. Features of an online service might be news reports or financial information, presented in an organized format. Three popular online services are America Online (AOL), CompuServe, and MSN. See also ISP.
Open Button
A button on the toolbar which allows you to open a new location. Click here to see a picture of the Open button and to find out more about how to use it.
Operating System
The master-control software that runs all the activities of your computer. The operating system set the standards for the applications that run on the computer. Commonly Windows98 or better are used today.
PC(Personal Computer)
Originally part of the product description for the IBM Corporation's first self-contained, desktop computer. Today the term PC is used to refer to any personal computer, desktop or laptop.
Peripheral
Any of numerous hardware devices that are not directly a part of a computer but are connected to it and used for various computing functions. Examples of peripherals are a printer, modem, mouse, joystick, game pad, and scanner.
Player
Just like you need a turntable to play records or a cassette deck to play cassette tapes, an MP3 player is the software you need to play the music files you download from the Internet. The Sonique audio player offers great functionality in a sleek package with an endless number of skins.
Playlist
Editing a playlist is a lot like making a digital mix tape - playlists let you create, save, and load lists of songs to play in the order you choose.
Plug and Play
A plug-and-play system automatically detects and configures plug-and-play-compatible add-ons such as sound cards and joy sticks.
Plug-In
Add-ons to MP3 players that can be downloaded separately which extend or enhance the software. For example, some Sonique plug-ins give visual feedback to the music you play.
Pointer
The little icon that moves on the screen when you move the mouse. Its most common shapes are the arrow and the I-beam.
Port
A connecting point, generally on the back of a computer case that acts as a socket for plugging in a peripheral such as a printer, mouse or communication line.
PrintButton
A button on the toolbar which allows you to print the current Web page. Click here to see a picture of the Print button and to find out more about how to use it.
Protocol
A set of standardized rules for exchanging information among computers. Different protocols are used for different kinds of communication. For example, the HyperText Transfer Protocol specifies the rules for communication between World Wide Web servers and browsers. File Transfer Protocol sets the rules for copying files from one computer to another across a network.
Processor
Also known as the central processing unit (CPU). The element of a computer's hardware that does the actual computing. That is, the processor performs the basic mathematical operations underlying all computer functions and controls the carrying out of the functions. It is the processor that interprets and executes instructions given by the user through software programs. In a personal computer, the processor is a single microprocessor chip - for example, the Pentium chip defines a "Pentium computer." Some of the most common brands of computer chips are Intel, AMD, and Cyrix.
Pull Down Menu
A bar at the top of the document window which allows you to open, print, and save pages, set preferences, search for specific words or phrases, and much more. Click here to see a picture of the Pull-Down Menu Bar and to find out more about how to use it.
RAM(Random Access Memory)
A collection of chips that functions as the computer's main workspace, storing data for immediate use. The amount of memory in a computer, measured in megabytes (MB), determines the size and number of programs that can be run at one time, as well as the amount of data that can be processed.
Real Time
The actual time it takes to do something. Real-time interaction takes place without delays or lag time due to processing.
Refresh/Reload Button
A button on the toolbar which allows you to reload the current page. Click here to see a picture of the Reload button and to find out more about how to use it.
Resolution
The degree of sharpness of an image either printed on paper or visible on a computer screen. The higher the resolution, the better. A higher resolution fits more of your file or image onscreen or when printed on paper. Printers measure resolution in dots-per-inch (DPI) where higher numbers are best. The display resolution of a computer screen refers to the number of pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions. The larger the number of pixels, the smaller the image and the more information that will be displayed on the monitor at a given time.
Scroll/Scrolling
To move through the contents of an electronic document in order to see things not currently displayed. It is normally done by using a scroll bar. When there's more text and pictures on a Web page than can fit on the screen you need some way of moving the page up so that you can see what is below. This is called scrolling. You can use the up and down arrow keys or the 'page up' and 'page down' keys on your keyboard to scroll a Web page.
Scroll Bar
The rectangular strip that appears on the right and/or bottom edges of a Web page when there's more information than is currently displayed. It has an up arrow at the top, a grey area with a box in it in the middle, and a down arrow at the bottom. You can click on the gray area or the arrows to scroll to the text that is off the screen. Try it and see.
SCSI
(Small Computer System Interface)
(Pronounced "skuzzy") A standard high-speed parallel interface used for connecting microcomputers to peripheral devices, other computers, and local area networks (LANs).
Search Engine
A software application or service used to locate files on an intranet or the Web. Generally accessed with browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer. A few of the most common Web search engines include MSN, Excite, Yahoo!, WebCrawler, Infoseek, and Lycos. New search engines are added constantly - check out Google.
Server
A computer, or its software, that "serves" other computers on a network by administering files and network operations. The computers served by a server contain client software. A browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, is an example of client software.
Software
Software that is available for a free trial after which the author or developer requests payment if you decide to keep the software. Frequently, shareware is developed by small companies or individual programmers who set out to solve a specific computing problem or develop a novel application. In some cases, when you send payment, you will receive documentation along with the software.
SIMM
(Single In-Line Memory Module)
A narrow printed circuit board that holds memory chips and plugs into a socket on the computer's motherboard.
Site
A collection of related Web pages, usually residing on the same server and interconnected by hotlinks. See "website"
Skins
Like giving your MP3 player a facelift, a skin is an interface enhancement for your player to give it a new look and feel. Skins range from the futuristic to a classic antiqued woodgrain look. There are new Sonique skins being built every day.
Snail Mail
Nethead term for mail sent in the traditional manner - via the U.S. Postal Service. Nicknamed snail mail because the delivery time of a posted letter is slow when compared to the fast delivery of e-mail.
Software
A computer program that performs a specific set of functions of system-maintenance tasks (a utility), or a program used to wirte other programs (a language). A file or files containing instructions that tell the computer what to do.
Spam
Electronic garbage and junk postings, often of a commercial nature, typically sent to many uninterested recipients. SPAM is the electronic equivalent of junk mail.
Streamed Audio
Sound files captured in real time in an audio file or transmitted over the Internet in real time. A plug-in to a Web browser decompresses and plays the data as it is transferred to your computer over the Web. Streaming audio or video eliminates the delay that results when you download an entire file and then play it with a helper application.
Streaming
Media that allows you to play audio or video directly from the Internet, without first saving it to your hard drive. The main advantage is that you can start listening to your selections right away, without having to wait for a file to finish downloading. Two popular streaming formats are Real Audio and SHOUTcast.
Stop Button
A button on the toolbar which allows you to stop a download process. Click here to see a picture of the Stop button and to find out more about how to use it.
String
A set of alphanumeric characters used as input to calculations or searches.
Surf
Slang for "to browse the Internet." Usually refers to browsing aimlessly, rather than seeking out specific content.
SVGA (Super Video Graphics Adapter)
A system that provides high screen resolution and can handle many colors.
TCP/IP
The rules used by computers to communicate via the Internet. TCP/IP stands for transmission control protocol/Internet protocol.
Telecommunications
The transfer of information between computers over telephone lines. Just plug in a modem, fire up some communications software, and you can make contact with the office computer or the Internet.
Title Bar
The top portion of the browser's window that has in it the title of the current Web page being displayed.
Toolbar
A row of buttons at the top of your browser's window which you can use to revisit pages, load images, open locations, print pages, find text, or stop transfers in progress. Click here to see a picture of Netscape's toolbar and find out more information about each button.
Tower, Mid-Tower, Mini-Tower
Terms used to refer to computer cases designed to stand upright on the floor rather than sit flat on a desktop. A mid-tower case is a bit smaller than a tower, and a mini-tower is smaller still.
Uploading
The process of transferring a file from a local computer to a remote computer via a modem or network.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
A URL is the scheme for creating addresses for World Wide Web pages. A URL uniquely identifies a Web page. URLs have three parts: a protocol tag, a server name, and a directory path. Consider the URL http://freecomputertraining.isgreat.net. "http://" tells your browser that this is a hypertext server. " freecomputertraining.isgreat.net " is the Internet's name for the server. The address that specifies the electronic location of an Internet resource (file). A URL usually consists of four parts: protocol, server (or domain), path, and file name - although sometimes there will not be a path or file name. Here's an example of a URL on the World Wide Web; http://FreeComputerTraining.isgreat.net
USB(Universal Serial Bus)
USB is a plug-and-play peripheral connection that provides an instant, easy way of connecting a PC to a PC peripheral device such as a mouse, printer or scanner. USB replaces serial and parallel port connectors with a single standardized plug and port combination. USB also eliminates the need to worry about such things as add-in cards, DIP switch settings or IRQs (interrupt requests).
Video Card
Also called a video display board, a video card is a hardware device within a computer that converts video data into electronic signals. These signals are transmitted to the monitor and used there to create the screen image.
Virus
With reference to computers, a malicious, human-created program that searches out other programs and "infects" them by embedding a copy of itself. When an infected program runs, the virus is activated. A virus may passively reside for a while within a computer, unknown to the user, sometimes spreading to other locations, or it may run immediately. When it runs, it can have a number of effects, ranging from the appearance of annoying but harmless messages on the computer screen to destroying files on the computer's hard disk drive. Computer viruses are spread by the introduction of files into a computer from another computer by disk or over a network (including the Internet). A wise computer user will make sure to have an up-to-date anti-virus program, many of which are available at retail locations or by downloading from numerous internet sites.
VRAM (Virtual Random Access Memory)
Memory, measured in megabytes (MB), devoted to displaying video. The amount of VRAM determines the size and number of colors in graphics that can be displayed at one time, as well as the amount of video data that can be processed.
"The Web"
Short for the World Wide Web (www.)
Webpage
A document on the World Wide Web. It is written in hypertext so it can contain text, pictures, movies, sounds, or links to other Web pages
Web Site
A collection of Web pages on the World Wide Web having to do with a particular topic or organization. Bridging The Divide, for example, is a Web site
Wireless
Any of a class of remote communications that do not use wires, including infrared, cellular, and satellite.
Wizard
An interactive utility (for example a program installation wizard) that guides the user through a complex task. Wizards are frequently experienced as a sequence of dialog boxes with pertinent questions through which the user can move forward and backward.
World Wide Web(www.)
An interconnected set of hypertext documents located throughout the Internet. The documents are kept on computers called servers, which can send the documents to your computer. As of late 1996 the World Wide Web contains over 30,000,000 documents. It is also refered to as the WWW and sometimes just as "The Web"
WYSIWYG
Short for What You See Is What You Get -- that is, the image you see on screen matches what will print on paper. Pronounced "wizzy-wig."
Zip
A term referring to file compression, a process that makes electronic files smaller and therefore easier to transport to another computer. There are several software applications, such as WinZip, that perform this task. There also are detachable peripheral hard drives, called zip drives, that compress information stored on them. These devices are very handy when moving several large files from computer to computer.
