The following is a list we have put together after receiving many emails asking what we mean by certain terms. If there is a term you wish to add to this list, please us. We will find the definition (unless you provide it) and add it to this list.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | X

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

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line): A DSL line where the upload speed is different from the download speed. Usually the download speed is much greater.

Applet: A small Java program that can be embedded in an HTML page.

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Bandwidth: How much stuff you can send through a connection.

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.

Browser: A Client program that is used to look at various kinds of Internet resources.

BTW (By The Way): A shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum.

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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.

cgi-bin: The most common name of a directory on a Web server in which CGI programs are stored.

Client: A software program that is used to contact and obtain data from a Server software program on another computer, often across a great distance. A Web Browser is a specific kind of Client.

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 Browsers' 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. 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.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheet): A standard for specifying the appearance of text and other elements. CSS was developed for use with HTML in Web pages but is also used in other situations, notably in applications built using XPFE. CSS is typically used to provide a single "library" of styles that are used over and over throughout a large number of related documents, as in a Web site. A CSS file might specify that all numbered lists are to appear in italics. By changing that single specification the look of a large number of documents can be easily changed.

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

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DHTML (Dynamic HyperText Markup Language): DHTML refers to Web pages that use a combination of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to create features such as letting the user drag items around on the Web page, some simple kinds of animation, and much more.

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: kdwebpagedesign.com, mail.kdwebpagedesign.com and workshop.kdwebpagedesign.com 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 (kdwebpagedesign.com in the examples above).

Download: Transferring data from another computer to the computer you are using. The opposite of upload.

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. DSL is now a popular alternative to Leased Lines and ISDN, being faster than ISDN and less costly than traditional Leased Lines.

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Email (Electronic Mail): Messages, usually text, sent from one person to another via computer.

Ethernet: A very common method of networking computers in a LAN.

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FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): FAQs are documents that list and answer the most common questions on a particular subject.

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 Network into two or more parts for security purposes.

Flame: 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.

Flame War: When an online discussion degenerates into a series of personal attacks against the debaters, rather than discussion of their positions.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol): A very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a way to login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files. FTP was invented and in wide use long before the advent of the World Wide Web and originally was always used from a text-only interface.

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Gateway: The technical meaning is a hardware or software set-up that translates between two dissimilar protocols, for example America Online has a gateway that translates between its internal, proprietary e-mail format and Internet e-mail format. Another, sloppier meaning of gateway is to describe any mechanism for providing access to another system, e.g. AOL might be called a gateway to the Internet.

GIF (Graphic Interchange Format): A common format for image files. GIF format files of simple images are often smaller than the same file would be if stored in JPEG format, but GIF format does not store photographic images as well as JPEG.

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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.

Home Page or Homepage: 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.

Host: Any computer on a network that is a repository for services available to other computers on the network. It is quite common to have one host machine provide several services, such as SMTP (e-mail) and HTTP (web).

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language): The coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web. HTML looks a lot like old-fashioned typesetting code, where you surround a block of text with codes that indicate how it should appear. The "hyper" in Hypertext comes from the fact that in HTML you can specify that a block of text, or an image, is linked to another file on the Internet. HTML files are meant to be viewed using a "Web Browser". HTML is loosely based on a more comprehensive system for markup called SGML.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol): The protocol for moving hypertext files across the Internet. Requires a HTTP client program on one end, and an HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World Wide Web (WWW).

Hypertext: Generally, any text that contains links to other documents - words or phrases in the document that can be chosen by a reader and which cause another document to be retrieved and displayed.

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IMHO (In My Humble Opinion): A shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum, IMHO indicates that the writer is aware that they are expressing a debatable view, probably on a subject already under discussion. One of many such shorthand's in common use online, especially in discussion forums.

internet (Lower case i): Any time you connect 2 or more networks together, you have an internet - as in inter-national or inter-state.

Internet (Upper case I): The vast collection of inter-connected networks that are connected using the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from the ARPANET of the late 60's and early 70's. The Internet connects tens of thousands of independent networks into a vast global Internet and is probably the largest Wide Area Network in the world.

IP Number (Internet Protocol Number): A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g. 165.113.245.2. Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. Many machines (especially servers) also have one or more Domain Names that are easier for people to remember.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat): Basically a huge multi-user live chat facility. There are a number of major IRC servers around the world which are linked to each other. Anyone can create a channel and anything that anyone types in a given channel is seen by all others in the channel. Private channels can (and are) created for multi-person conference calls.

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network): Basically a way to move more data over existing regular phone lines. ISDN is available to much of the USA and in most markets it is priced very comparably to standard analog phone circuits. It can provide speeds of roughly 128,000 bits-per-second over regular phone lines. In practice, most people will be limited to 56,000 or 64,000 bits-per-second. Unlike DSL, ISDN can be used to connect to many different locations, one at a time, just like a regular telephone call, as long the other location also has ISDN.

ISP (Internet Service Provider): An institution that provides access to the Internet in some form, usually for money.

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Java: Java is a network-friendly programming language invented by Sun Microsystems. Java is often used to build large, complex systems that involve several different computers interacting across networks, for example transaction processing systems. Java is also becoming popular for creating programs that run in small electronic devices, such as mobile telephones. A very common use of Java is to create 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 files. Using small Java programs (called "Applets"), Web pages can include functions such as animations,calculators, and other fancy tricks.

JavaScript: JavaScript is a programming language that is mostly used in web pages, usually to add features that make the web page more interactive. When JavaScript is included in an HTML file it relies upon the browser to interpret the JavaScript. When JavaScript is combined with Cascading Style Sheets(CSS), and later versions of HTML (4.0 and later) the result is often called DHTML.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): JPEG is most commonly mentioned as a format for image files. JPEG format is preferred to the GIF format for photographic images as opposed to line art or simple logo art.

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Login: Noun or a verb. Noun: The account name used to gain access to a computer system. Not a secret (contrast with Password). Verb: the act of connecting to a computer system by giving your credentials (usually your "username" and "password").

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Mail list or Mailing List: A (usually automated) system that allows people to send e-mail to one address, whereupon their message is copied and sent to all of the other subscribers to the Mail list In this way, people who have many different kinds of e-mail access can participate in discussions together.

Meta Tag: A specific kind of HTML tag that contains information not normally displayed to the user. Meta tags contain information about the page itself, hence the name ("meta" means "about this subject"). Typical uses of Meta tags are to include information for search engines to help them better categorize a page. You can see the Meta tags in a page if you view the pages' source code.

Modem (MOdulator, DEModulator): A device that connects a computer to a phone line. A telephone for a computer. A modem allows a computer to talk to other computers through the phone system. Basically, modems do for computers what a telephone does for humans.

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Network: Any time you connect 2 or more computers together so that they can share resources, you have a computer network. Connect 2 or more networks together and you have an Internet.

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Password: A code used to gain access (login) to a locked system. Good passwords contain letters and non-letters and are not simple combinations such as virtue7.

Plug-in: A (usually small) piece of software that adds features to a larger piece of software. Common examples are plug-ins for web browsers.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics): PNG is a graphics format specifically designed for use on the World Wide Web. PNG enable compression of images without any loss of quality, including high-resolution images. Another important feature of PNG is that anyone may create software that works with PNG images without paying any fees - the PNG standard is free of any licensing costs.

POP (Point of Presence, also Post Office Protocol): Two commonly used meanings: Point of Presence and Post Office Protocol. A Point of Presence usually means a city or location where a network can be connected to, often with dial up phone lines. So if an Internet company says they will soon have a POP in Belgrade, it means that they will soon have a local phone number in Belgrade and/or a place where leased lines can connect to their network. A second meaning, Post Office Protocol refers to a way that e-mail client software such as Eudora gets mail from a mail server. When you obtain an account from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) you almost always get a POP account with it, and it is this POP account that you tell your e-mail software to use to get your mail.

Port: 3 meanings. First and most generally, a place where information goes into or out of a computer, or both. E.g. the serial port on a personal computer is where a modem would be connected. On the Internet port often refers to a number that is part of a URL, appearing after a colon (:) right after the domain name. Every service on an Internet server listens on a particular port number on that server. Most services have standard port numbers, e.g. Web servers normally listen on port 80. Services can also listen on non-standard ports, in which case the port number must be specified in a URL when accessing the server, so you might see a URL of the form: gopher://peg.cwis.uci.edu:7000/ This shows a gopher server running on a non-standard port (the standard gopher port is 70). Finally, port also refers to translating a piece of software to bring it from one type of computer system to another, e.g. to translate a Windows program so that is will run on a Macintosh.

Portal: Usually used as a marketing term to described a Web site that is or is intended to be the first place people see when using the Web. Typically a "Portal site" has a catalog of web sites, a search engine, or both. A Portal site may also offer e-mail and other service to entice people to use that site as their main "point of entry" (hence "portal") to the Web.

Posting: A single message entered into a network communications system.

Protocol: On the Internet "protocol" usually refers to a set of rules that define an exact format for communication between systems. For example the HTTP protocol defines the format for communication between web browsers and web servers, the IMAP protocol defines the format for communication between IMAP e-mail servers and clients, and the SSL protocol defines a format for encrypted communications over the Internet. Virtually all Internet protocols are defined in RFC documents.

Proxy Server: A Proxy Server sits in between a Client and the "real" Server that a Client is trying to use. Client's are sometimes configured to use a Proxy Server, usually an HTTP server. The clients makes all of it's requests from the Proxy Server, which then makes requests from the "real" server and passes the result back to the Client. Sometimes the Proxy server will store the results and give a stored result instead of making a new one (to reduce use of a Network). Proxy servers are commonly established on Local Area Networks.

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Router: A special-purpose computer (or software package) that handles the connection between 2 or more Packet-Switched networks. Routers spend all their time looking at the source and destination addresses of the packets passing through them and deciding which route to send them on.

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SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line): A version of DSL where the upload speeds and download speeds are the same.

Search Engine: A (usually web-based) system for searching the information available on the Web. Some search engines work by automatically searching the contents of other systems and creating a database of the results.

Security Certificate: A chunk of information (often stored as a text file) that is used by the SSL protocol to establish a secure connection.

Server: A computer, or a software package, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a WWW server, or to the machine on which the software is running, e.g. "Our mail server is down today, that's why e-mail isn't getting out." A single server machine can (and often does) have several different server software packages running on it, thus providing many different servers to clients on the network. Sometimes server software is designed so that additional capabilities can be added to the main program by adding small programs known as servlets.

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol): The main protocol used to send electronic mail from server to server on the Internet. SMTP is defined in RFC 821 and modified by many later RFC's.

Spam (or Spamming): An inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list, or USENET or other networked communications facility as if it was a broadcast medium (which it is not) by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn't ask for it. The term probably comes from a famous Monty Python skit which featured the word spam repeated over and over. The term may also have come from someone's low opinion of the food product with the same name, which is generally perceived as a generic content-free waste of resources.

SQL (Structured Query Language): A specialized language for sending queries to databases. Most industrial-strength and many smaller database applications can be addressed using SQL. Each specific application will have its own slightly different version of SQL implementing features unique to that application, but all SQL-capable databases support a common subset of SQL.

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T-1: A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 1,544,000 bits-per-second. T-1 lines are commonly used to connect large LANs to the Internet.

T-3: A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits-per-second. This is more than enough to do full-screen, full-motion video.

Telent: The command and program used to login from one Internet site to another. The telnet command/program gets you to the login: prompt of another host.

Terminal: A device that allows you to send commands to a computer somewhere else. At a minimum, this usually means a keyboard and a display screen and some simple circuitry. Usually you will use terminal software in a personal computer - the software pretends to be (emulates) a physical terminal and allows you to type commands to a computer somewhere else.

TLD (Top Level Domain): The last (right-hand) part of a complete Domain Name. For example in the domain name www.kdwebpagedesign.com ".com" is the Top Level Domain. There are a large number of TLD's, for example .nt, .biz, .com, .edu, .gov, .info, .int, .mil, .net, .org, and a collection of two-letter TLD's corresponding to the standard two-letter country codes, for example, .us, .ca, .jp, etc.

Trojan Horse: A computer program is either hidden inside another program or that masquerades as something it is not in order to trick potential users into running it. For example a program that appears to be a game or image file but in reality performs some other function. The term "Trojan Horse" comes from a possibly mythical ruse of war used by the Greeks sometime between 1500 and 1200 B.C. A Trojan Horse computer program may spread itself by sending copies of itself from the host computer to other computers, but unlike a virus it will (usually) not infect other programs.

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Unix: A computer operating system (the basic software running on a computer, underneath things like word processors and spreadsheets). Unix is designed to be used by many people at the same time (it is multi-user) and has TCP/IP built-in. It is the most common operating system for servers on the Internet. Apple computers' Macintosh operating system, as of version 10 ("Mac OS X"), is based on Unix.

Upload: Transferring data from a the computer you are using to another computer. The opposite of download.

RI (Uniform Resource Identifier): An address for resources available on the Internet. The first part of a URI is called the "scheme". The most well known scheme is http, but there are many others. Each URI scheme has its own format for how a URI should appear. Here are examples of URIs using the http (http://www.kdwebpagedesign.com/index.htm), telnet (telnet://kdweb.sf.ca.us), and news schemes (news:new.newusers.questions).

URL (Uniform Resource Locator): The term URL is basically synonymous with URI. URI has replaced URL in technical specifications.

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Virus: A chunk of computer programming code that makes copies of itself without any conscious human intervention. Some viruses do more than simply replicate themselves, they might display messages, install other software or files, delete software of files, etc. A virus requires the presence of some other program to replicate itself. Typically viruses spread by attaching themselves to programs and in some cases files, for example the file formats for Microsoft word processor and spreadsheet programs allow the inclusion of programs called "macros" which can in some cases be a breeding ground for viruses.

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WAN (Wide Area Network): Any internet or network that covers an area larger than a single building or campus.

Web: Short for "World Wide Web".

Web page: A document designed for viewing in a Web browser. Typically written in HTML.

Worm: A worm is a virus that does not infect other programs. It makes copies of itself, and infects additional computers (typically by making use of network connections) but does not attach itself to additional programs; however a worm might alter, install, or destroy files and programs.

WWW (World Wide Web): World Wide Web (or simply Web for short) is a term frequently used (incorrectly) when referring to "The Internet", WWW has two major meanings: First, loosely used: the whole constellation of resources that can be accessed using Gopher, FTP, HTTP,telnet, USENET, WAIS and some other tools. Second, the universe of hypertext servers (HTTP servers), more commonly called "Web servers", which are the servers that serve web pages to web browsers.

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XML (eXtensible Markup Language): A widely used system for defining data formats. XML provides a very rich system to define complex documents and data structures such as invoices, molecular data, news feeds, glossaries, inventory descriptions, real estate properties, etc. As long as a programmer has the XML definition for a collection of data (often called a "schema") then they can create a program to reliably process any data formatted according to those rules.

XUL (eXtensible User-interface Language): A markup language similar to HTML and based on XML. XUL used to define what the user interface will look like for a particular piece of software. XUL is used to define what buttons, scrollbars, text boxes, and other user-interface items will appear, but it is not used to define how those item will look (e.g. what color they are). The most widely used example of XUL use is probably in the Mozilla web browser, where the entire user interface is defined using the XUL language.

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