Internet Terms

What is .......... VoIP?

What is it?

Stands for 'Voice Over Internet Protocol'.

It is a technology that allows you to make telephone calls over a Broadband internet
connection.

Why was it developed?

In a sentence - to save money.

The Internet is designed to send data from one computer to another. It does not care in the
slightest what that data actually is - so it could just as easily represent your voice.

How does it work?

The technology is fairly straight-forward:

a) you speak into a microphone that is connected to a sound card.

b)The sound card has an 'Analogue-to-Digital converter' that translates your speech into a
digital stream.
c)That data is given a destination address and off it goes like any other data stream.
d) The receiving computer has the right VOIP software to convert the incoming data back
into speech

Advantages

1.The advantage of VOIP using the internet is that at its most basic the system is
essentially free as long as you have an Internet connection.
2. The next step-up is to use a VOIP service company such as Skype. They may offer a
free service if you call other subscribers and then charge for other calls.

Disadvantages

a) Both ends have to have the right software and hardware to speak to one another
b) There is no guarantee of quality when using the Internet - no one company owns the
internet, so if a part of it is broken there is no-one to call to fix it.
c) It uses packet-switching so if packets get dropped along the way then voice quality
drops.
d) Even when fully working, it is not as high a quality of voice as a normal telephone
line.
e) It does not work if you have a power-cut, unlike your normal telephone.
f) It may not work for emergency service numbers. Sometimes you just can't tell the
emergency services where you are, so they use some standard telephone location
technology to help locate you. With VOIP this is more difficult.

What is the future.

You can now buy VOIP handsets and adaptors that look like a normal phone instead of
the microphone \ sound card method. You can just plug in the phone to an internet
connection.

There are two things happening:

1) Companies are springing up that offer to connect your VOIP call to any normal
telephone number. Of course the service is then no longer free.

2)The large telecom companies are spending billions, creating their own private IP
networks. If you use their VOIP service then the data gets routed through their private
system so guaranteeing quality of service. The reason they are doing this is not only to
compete with the public Internet companies but using IP and Packet-Switching is more
efficient as all calls create packets that share the same network.
What is Bluetooth?
What is it?

Bluetooth is a type of radio communication and networking protocol combined.

Why was it developed?

It was developed so devices close to one another could exchange data.

By close, we mean within about 10 metres of one another even if there is a wall in-
between.

Advantages of Bluetooth

One advantage with Bluetooth working within a short range is that it only needs a tiny
amount of radio power to work, less than a thousandth' of a Watt. ( A torch light uses
about 1 Watt to light the bulb) so you can see this is a tiny amount of power. This means
it is ideal for battery operated devices such as mobile

phones.
Another advantage of Bluetooth is that it is completely automatic - every Bluetooth
enabled device will sense the presence of another device within range. They can do this
because they share a 'network protocol' that allows them to share data.

Another clever thing about the protocol is that it can reduce interference from other
Bluetooth devices that are also exchanging data nearby. For example if Sam's mobile is
exchanging data with Tom's mobile this will not interfere with Sarah's mobile also
exchanging data with Mary's mobile nearby.

Another very common way of sending data over a short distance is to use Infra-Red. This
is used widely in TV remote controls. The disadvantage of Infra-Red over Bluetooth is
that you must point the control directly at the device.

Examples of how it is used.

A Bluetooth enabled phone will detect phones nearby and provide you with a list of
usernames. You can then send a message, photograph or movie sitting on your phone to
any of the usernames. They, of course, have to accept the offer but the rest of it is
automatic.

Another common use of Bluetooth is 'hand-free' operation of mobiles in the car. You

wear a bluetooth headset that senses your

mobile nearby. This allows you to talk using the mobile, but most importantly, keeping
your hands on the steering wheel!

Bluetooth is also used to exchange files between a PDA and a desktop computer - great
for keeping your diary and work in synch.

Fact 1: Bluetooth enabled medical equipment

Bluetooth enabled medical equipment is being employed by an increasing number of
hospitals around the world, in an effort to improve patient care.

Fact 2: Digital images sent over Bluetooth technology

You can view digital pictures on your television by sending images from laptops or
mobile phones over a Bluetooth connection to a media viewer.
Fact 3: Printing with Bluetooth technology
You can send files from a computer to a printer wirelessly using Bluetooth technology.

Fact 4: Multi-point pairing

Multi-point pairing enables you to simultaneously connect two Bluetooth enabled devices
(e.g. a phone can be connected to both a PC & a pair of headphones).

Storage Size Speed (RPM, Portability Use

MBps)
Magnetic 20Gb - 200 Measured in inches Backing up
tape Gb per second. the school
Relatively slow network
because of its serial overnight
access technique.
Hard disk 40Gb - 250 5600 – 7200 rpm Storing all of
GB your software
applications
and
documents.

Floppy disk 1.44 MB 300 rpm Copying a

small
homework file
to take to
school.
Unlikely to
contain large
images.

CDrom >650 MB Storing

general
software
applications.

Copying fairly
large files to
transfer from
home to
school.
DVD Up to 17 GB Storing a
large
computer
game or a
 movie.

ZIP 100 Mb to 750 2.4 MB/sec Transferring

Mb files between
computers.
Need a
specialist
drive. This
storage media
is not so
commonly
used
nowadays
Flash Drive 32 Mb to Over 5GB/sec Regularly
16GB transferring
files between
home and
school,
possibly with
graphics.

ADSL: (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) - A method for moving data over regular
telephone lines that is much faster than a regular telephone connection. A common
configuration of ADSL would allow a subscriber to download at speeds of up to 1.544
megabits per second, and upload at speeds of up to 128 kilobits per second.

Anonymous FTP: To connect to an FTP server without providing a personal login ID

and password. Often permitted by large host computers who are willing to openly share
some of their system files to outside users who otherwise would not be able to log in.

Applet: A small Java program that can be placed (embedded) in an HTML page. Applets
differ from full-fledged Java applications in that they are not allowed to access files and
serial devices (modems, printers, etc.) on the local computer, and are prohibited from
communicating with other computers across a network.

ARPANet: (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) - The precursor to the

Internet. It was developed in the late 60's by the US Department of Defense as an
experiment in wide-area networking that would survive a nuclear war.
See Also: Internet
ASCII: (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) - The world-wide
standard of code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper- and lower-case
Latin letters, numbers, and punctuation. There are 128 standard ASCII codes, each of
which can be represented by a 7-digit binary number, 0000000 through 1111111.
See Also: Binhex

AU: A common audio file format for UNIX systems (.au).

AVI: (Audio/Video Interleaved) - A common video file format (.avi). Video quality can
be good at smaller resolutions, but files tend to be large.

Backbone: A high-speed line, or series of connections, that forms a major pathway

within a network. This term is relative, as a backbone in a small network may be much
smaller than non-backbone lines in a large network.

Bandwidth: The transmission capacity of the lines that carry the Internet's electronic
traffic. The greater the bandwidth, the more data that can be moved at one time. Lack of
bandwidth can impose severe limitations on the ability of the Internet to quickly deliver
information.

Baud: The baud rate of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second.

BBS: (Bulletin Board System) - An online meeting and information system that allows
people to carry on discussions, make announcements and transfer files. There are
thousands of BBS's around the world, varying in size from those running on a single
machine with only 1 or 2 phone lines, to massive networks such as CompuServe.

Bit: (Binary DigIT) - A bit is the smallest unit of computerized data, comprised of either
a 0 (off) or a 1 (on). Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second.
See Also: Bandwidth, Bps, Byte

BITNET: ('Because It's Time NETwork' or 'Because It's There NETwork') - A network
of educational sites separate from the Internet. Listserv, the most popular form of email
discussion groups, originated on BITNET.

Blog: A contraction of the words web and log, this is an online journal or diary which
includes regular entries of commentaries or a place for expressing you thoughts.

Bps: (Bits per second) - A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to
another. A 28.8 modem can move data at 28,800 bits per second.
Bookmark: A pointer to a Web site of interest. Within browsers, pages can be
"bookmarked" for quick reference, rather than remembering and typing the complete
URL in the address bar.

Browser: A software program that is used to view websites and other Internet resources
on the WWW.

Byte: A set of bits that represent a single character. There are usually 8 bits in a byte.

Cache: A section of memory or the Hard Drive where data can be stored for rapid or
frequent access.

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

CGI: (Common Gateway Interface) - A programming language used to convert data

gathered from a web page into another form. A CGI program might turn the content of a
feedback form into an email message, or search a server's database with user-entered
keywords.

cgi-bin: The most common directory to store CGI programs on a web server. The "bin"
part of "cgi-bin" is an abbreviation of "binary", dating back to when programs were
referred to as "binaries".

ClariNet: A commercial news service dedicated to a wide range of topics that provides
tailored news reports via the Internet. You can access ClariNet news within Usenet
newsgroups.

Clickers: An audience response tool that facilitates interactivity and on the spot
evaluation in the classroom.

Client / Server: Computer technology that separates computers and their users into two
categories. When you want information from a computer on the Internet, you are a client.
The computer that delivers the information is the server. A server both stores information
and makes it available to any authorized client who requests the information.

Cookie: A piece of information (login names, passwords, online "shopping cart" items,
user preferences, etc.) sent by a web server to a web browser and saved to the computer.
These "cookies" can then be used at a later date to restore the information when the web
server is accessed again. Cookies are usually set to expire after a predetermined amount
of time.

Compression: Data files available for upload and download are often compressed in
order to save space and reduce transfer times. Typical file extensions for compressed files
include .zip (DOS/Windows) and .tar (UNIX).

Cyberspace: This term was coined by author William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer.
Cyberspace is currently used to describe the whole range of information available
through computer networks.

Dial-In: An Internet account that connects a PC directly to the Internet. These accounts
use a software application to connect to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and establish a
TCP/IP link to the Internet. To access a dial-in connection, a PC needs either a modem to
connect via a regular phone line or a terminal adapter (TA) to connect via an ISDN phone
line.

Discussion Group: A section within USENET dedicated to a particular topic or interest.

Discussion groups are also known as newsgroups.

DNS: (Domain Name Server) - A computer running a program that converts domain
names into IP addresses and vice versa. Domain Name Servers (also known as Name
Servers) are the backbone of the Internet.

Domain Control Panel: A password access section of our site that Domain Registrants
and Partners use to make domain modifications, receive proprietary scripting code, and
use our management system. Each panel's content is different and will depend on your
status in relation to Registrars.com.

Domain Name: A unique name that identifies an Internet site. A domain name is the
Internet's way of translating a numeric IP address into an easy-to-remember combination
of words and numbers. 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
"example.com", "mail.example.com" and "sales.example.com" can all refer to the same
machine, but each domain name can refer to no more than one machine.

Download: The process of transferring data from a remote computer to a local computer.
When you copy a file from a computer on the Internet to your computer, you are
"downloading" that file.

Ethernet: The common method of networking computers in a LAN, or Local Area

Network. An Ethernet connection will handle about 10,000,000 bits per second.

Email: (Electronic Mail) - Messages sent from one person to another via the Internet.
Email can also be sent to a large number of addresses at once through a Mailing List.

Facebook: A social networking website.

FAQ: (Frequently Asked Questions) - An FAQ is a document that lists and answers the
most common questions on a particular subject. It is considered good netiquette (the
Internet's code of conduct) to check for FAQs and read them.

Finger: An Internet tool for locating people on other sites. Finger can also be 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 site. The most famous finger site was a Coke machine at
Carnegie-Mellon University that students had wired to the Internet. They could then
finger the machine and find out how many bottles remained and how long they had been
in the machine so they wouldn't walk all the way there and find an empty machine or
warm soda.

Firewall: A combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN into two or
more parts for security purposes. A firewall is commonly used to separate a network from
the Internet.

Flame: Originally, to "flame" meant to debate in a passionate manner, often involving

the use of flowery language. More recently, flame has come to refer to any kind of
derogatory or inflammatory 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 a discussion of their positions, it is referred to as a flame
war.

Flickr: An online photo management and sharing application.

FQDN: (Fully Qualified Domain Name) - The official name assigned to an individual
computer. Organizations register names, such as "example.com", then assign unique
names to their computers, such as "mail.example.com".

Freeware: Software that is available for download and unlimited use without charge.

FTP: (File Transfer Protocol) - A common method of moving files between two Internet
sites. Most FTP sites require a login name and password before files can be retrieved or
sent.

Gateway: Hardware or software set up to translate between two different protocols. For
example, Prodigy has a gateway that translates between its internal email format and
Internet email format. Another definition of gateway is any mechanism for providing
access to another system. For example, AOL might be called a gateway to the Internet.

GIF: (Graphics Interchange Format) - A graphics file format commonly used on the
Internet to provide images on Web pages. GIF images are 8-bit (256-color) graphics.

Gigabyte: A thousand (technically 2^10 or 1024) Megabytes.

Gopher: A searching tool that was once the primary tool for finding information on the
Internet before the WWW became popular. Gopher is now buried under massive amounts
of WWW pages.

Helper Application: A program allowing you to view multimedia files (images, audio,
video) that your web browser cannot handle internally. The file must be downloaded
before it will be displayed. There are some plug-ins that allow you to view the file over
the Internet without downloading it first.

Hit: A "hit" is a single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server.
For example, a page displaying 3 graphics would require 4 hits: one for the HTML
document, and one for each of the 3 graphics. "Hits" are often used as a rough measure of
load on a server; however, because each hit can represent a request for anything from a
tiny document to a complex search request, the actual load on a machine from a single hit
is impossible to define.

Home Page (or Homepage): Originally, a home page was the web page that your
browser is set to use when it starts up. The more common definition refers to the main
web page for any business or personal site.
Host: Any computer on a network that is a repository for services available to other
computers on the network. It is common to have one host machine provide several
services, such as WWW and USENET.

HTML: (HyperText Markup Language) - The language used to build hypertext

documents on the WWW. They are nothing more than plain ASCII-text documents
interpreted (or rendered) by a web browser to display formatted text and fonts, color,
graphic images, and links.

HTTP: (HyperText Transfer Protocol) - The protocol for moving hypertext (HTML)
files across the Internet. This requires a HTTP client program on one end and a HTTP
server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used on the
WWW.

Hypertext: Text in a document that contains a link to other text. Hypertext is used in
Windows help programs and CD encyclopedias as well as web pages to link and
reference related information across documents.

IMHO: (In My Humble Opinion) - A shorthand term appended to a comment in an

online forum or email. IMHO indicates that the writer is aware that they are expressing a
debatable or dissenting view.

Information Superhighway: There is some debate about this term. Some claim it refers
to the future, where everyone will have fast, easy access to the Internet and things such as
video conferencing will be widely available. Others claim that the Internet as we already
know it is the Information Superhighway.

Internet: The vast collection of inter-connected networks that evolved from the
ARPANET of the late 60's and early 70's.

Internet Explorer: A web browser developed by Microsoft Corporation to compete with

Netscape.

internet: (Lower case I) An internet is created any time 2 or more networks are
connected together.

Intranet: A network inside a company or organization that uses the same kinds of
software found on the Internet, but is only for internal use. A company web server
available only to employees would be an Intranet.

IP Number: (Internet Protocol Number) - A unique number consisting of 4 parts

separated by dots. 123.45.678.9 could be an IP number. Every machine that is on the
Internet has a unique IP number. Most machines also have one or more domain names
that are easier for people to remember.

IRC: (Internet Relay Chat) - A large multi-user live chat facility. There are a number of
major IRC servers around the world that are linked to each other. Anyone connected to
IRC can create a channel or chat room, and all others in the channel see everything that
everyone types.

ISDN: (Integrated Services Digital Network) - A high-speed way to move data over
existing phone lines. In theory, it can provide speeds of roughly 128,000 bits-per-second;
in practice, most people will be limited to 56,000 or 64,000 bits-per-second.

ISOC: (Internet SOCiety) - Based in Herndon, Virginia, the Internet Society promotes
the Internet and coordinates standards. You can visit their site (http://www.isoc.org/) to
learn more or become a member.

ISP: (Internet Service Provider) - A business that provides access to the Internet and
WWW in some form, usually for pay.

JPG: (Joint Photographic Experts Group) - The name of the committee that designed the
photographic image-compression standard. The format (.jpg) is optimized for
compressing full-color or grayscale photographic images, and does not work well for line
drawings or black-and-white images. JPG images are 24-bit (16.7 million color) graphics.

Kilobyte: A thousand (technically, 2^10 or 1024) bytes.

LAN: (Local Area Network) - A computer network restricted to a limited area, usually
the same building or a floor of a building. Office computers are typically connected to a
LAN.

Learning Management System (LMS): A software application used to create and

deliver content, monitor students participation and assess students performance.

Leased-line: Refers to a telephone line that is rented for an exclusive 24-hour, 7-days-a-
week connection from your location to the Internet. The highest speed data connections
require a leased line.

List server: The most common kind of mailing list. List servers originated on BITNET,
but are now common on the Internet.

Login: The user- or account-name used to gain access to a computer system. Also, the
act of entering or "signing on" to a computer system.

Lurking: To read through mailing lists or newsgroups and get a feel of the topic before
posting your own messages. It is considered good netiquette to "lurk" a while before
joining an online discussion.

Mailing List: An email-based discussion group. Sending one email message to the
mailing list sends email to all other members of the group. Mailing lists are usually joined
by subscribing, and can be left by unsubscribing.

Masking: To conceal a web site's URL in some manner, normally by using a domain
name. For example, if a URL shows up as "http://www.example.com/" but the web site is
actually located at "http://www.somewhere-else.com/example/", that URL is said to be
"masked".

Megabyte: A million bytes or a thousand (technically 2^10 or 1024) kilobytes.

MIDI: (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) - A high-quality audio file format (.mid).

MIME: (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) - The Internet standard for attaching
non-text files to standard email messages. Non-text files can include graphics,
spreadsheets, word-processor documents, sound files, etc. An email program is said to be
"MIME Compliant" if it can both send and receive files using the MIME standard.

Mirror: To "mirror" something is to maintain an exact copy of it. The most common use
of the term on the Internet refers to "mirror sites" which are FTP or web sites that
maintain exact copies of material originally stored at another location. Another common
use of the term "mirror" refers to writing information to more than one hard disk
simultaneously to prevent its loss or destruction.
Modem: (MOdulator, DEModulator) - An electronic device that lets computers
communicate with one another, much as telephones work with people. The name is
derived from "modulator-demodulator" because of their function in processing data over
analog phone lines. Terminal Adapters are often (and mistakenly) referred to as modems.

Mosaic: The first web browser that was available for Macintosh, Windows and UNIX
machines with the same interface for each. The popularity of the WWW began with
Mosaic.

MPEG: (Motion Picture Experts Group) - A video file format (.mpeg) offering excellent
quality in a comparatively small size. Video files found on the Internet are frequently
stored in the MPEG format.

Multimedia: A combination of media types in a single document, such as text, graphics,

audio and video.

MX Records: MX Records are required to be able to send email to domain names

([email protected]), rather than the actual mail server
([email protected]). There are other methods for forwarding messages
from a domain to a mail server, but MX Records are the preferred method.

NCSA: (National Center for Supercomputing Applications) - One of the five original
centers in the Supercomputer Centers Program and a unit of the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. It was founded in 1986, and is responsible for developing Mosaic,
the web browser responsible for launching the multibillion dollar dot-com explosion.

Netiquette: The desired mode of manners and conduct for the Internet.

Netizen: A term referring to a citizen of the Internet, or someone who uses networked
resources. The term connotes civic responsibility and participation.

Netscape: A web browser created by Netscape Communications Corporation. The

Netscape browser was originally based on the Mosaic program developed at the National
Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). It provided major improvements in
speed and interface over other browsers, but also engendered debate by being the first to
create browser-specific elements for HTML.
Network: A network is created any time 2 or more computers are connected together to
share resources. When 2 or more networks are connected, it becomes an internet.

Newsgroup: The name for a discussion group on USENET.

NIC(1): (Networked Information Center) - (Networked Information Center) - Any office

that handles information for a network can be referred to as an NIC. The most famous of
these is the InterNIC, the original ofice of domain registration . Another definition of NIC
is Network Interface Card, which plugs into a computer and adapts the network interface
to the appropriate standard.

NIC(2) (Network Information Center) - a unique ID Code issued by Registrars.com to

identify contact persons associated with a domain name. There can be up to 3 NIC
handles per domain, referred to as 'ADMIN / TECH / BILL', each having its own area of
responsibility.

NNTP: (Network News Transfer Protocol) - The protocol used by client and server
software to move a USENET posting over a TCP/IP network. Most common web
browsers use an NNTP connection to participate in newsgroups.

Node: Any single computer connected to a network.

OC-3 and OC-12: High-speed data links capable of transferring data at 155 and 622
Megabits-per-second respectively. OC-3’s and OC-12’s are replacing T-3’s as the
backbones of the Internet.

Online: When someone is connected to the Internet, they are considered "online".

Packet: A chunk of data. The TCP/IP protocol breaks large data files into smaller
"packets" for transmission over the Internet. When the data reaches its destination, the
protocol makes sure that all packets arrived without error.

Packet Switching: A method of moving data around the Internet that allows many
people to use the same lines at the same time. In packet switching, all data being
transferred from a machine is broken into packets, with each packet having the address of
its origin and destination. This enables packets from different sources to be
simultaneously transferred, sorted and directed on the same line.

Password: A code used to gain access to a locked system. Effective passwords should
contain both letters and non-letters and not be common or easily guessed words.

Ping: A program for determining if another computer is presently connected to the

Internet.

Pixel: Shorthand for "picture element", a pixel is the smallest unit of resolution on a
monitor. It is commonly used as a unit of measurement.

PKZIP: A widely available shareware utility that allows users to compress and
decompress data files.

Plug-in: A small piece of software that adds features to a larger software application.
Common plug-ins are those for web browsers (RealAudio, QuickTime, etc.) or graphics
programs (Kai's Power Tools, DigiMarc, etc.)

Pod casts: A digital media file (can be either audio or video) that is distributed over the
web, computer or handheld devices.

POP: ("Point Of Presence" or "Post Office Protocol") - A Point of Presence usually

refers to a city or location where a network can be connected to. For example, if an
Internet company says they have a POP in Vancouver, this means they have a local
telephone number in Vancouver and/or a place where leased lines can connect to their
network. A second definition, Post Office Protocol, refers to the way email software
(such as Eudora) retrieves mail from a mail server. Almost all SLIP, PPP or shell
accounts come with a POP account as well.

Port: (3 definitions) - First and most frequently, a port is where information goes into
and/or out of a computer, such as the serial port on a PC. Secondly, a "port" often refers
to the number appearing after the colon (:) in a domain name, such as
http://www.example.com:7000/. Thirdly, to "port" something refers to translating a piece
of software from one computer platform to another (for example, from Windows to
Macintosh).
Posting: A single message entered into a newsgroup, mailing list, or other
communications system.

PPP: (Point to Point Protocol) - The protocol that allows a computer to use a phone line
and a modem to make TCP/IP connections and connect to the Internet.

Protocol: Computer rules that provide uniform specifications so that all computer
hardware and operating systems can communicate with each other.

PSTN: (Public Switched Telephone Network) - The regular telephone system.

QuickTime: A common video file format created by Apple Computers. Video files
found on the Internet are often stored in this format, and require a browser plug-in to be
viewed (.mov).

RSS: A web format that provides users with a way of keeping up with changing content
on the web.

Register: To pay a software company for a product to receive the full working copy.
Registration is most often required for shareware programs, which may be partially
disabled or contain "nags" until registered.

RFC: (Request For Comments) - The process for creating a standard on the Internet and
the name of the result. New standards are proposed and published online, as a Request
For Comments. Any new standards that are established retain the acronym RFC. For
example, the official standard for email is RFC 822.

Robot: A program that automatically searches the WWW for files and catalogues the
results.

Router: A computer or software package that handles the connection between 2 or more
networks. Routers spend all their time looking at the destination addresses of the packets
passing through them to decide which route to send them on.

Search Engine: A tool for locating information on the Internet by topic. Popular search
engines include Yahoo, AltaVista, and HotBot.

Second life: An online 3D community built by its Residents which allows users to
socialize and share with each other.
Security Certificate: Information that is used by the SSL protocol to establish a secure
connection. Security Certificates contain information about its ownership, issuer, valid
dates, and an encrypted "fingerprint" that can be used to verify the contents of the
certificate. In order for an SSL connection to be created, both sides must have a valid
Security Certificate.

Server / Client: A computer or software package that provides a specific kind of service
to client software on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software
(such as a WWW server) or to the machine that the software is running on (such as a mail
server). A single server machine may have several different server software packages
running on it.

Skype: A tool that allows users to make free calls and video call over the internet

Shareware: Software that is available on a limited free trial basis. Some shareware
applications are fully featured products, while others may have disabled features to
encourage purchase of the full ("registered") version.

Site: A single web page or a collection of related Web pages.

SLIP: (Serial Line Internet Protocol) - A standard for using a telephone line (or serial
line) and a modem to connect a computer to the Internet. SLIP is gradually being
replaced by PPP.

SMTP: (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) - The main protocol used to send email on the
Internet. STMP consists of a set of rules for how the sending and receiving programs
should interact.

SNMP: (Simple Network Management Protocol) - A set of standards for communicating

with devices connected to a TCP/IP network, such as routers, hubs, and switches.
Software for managing devices via SNMP is available for every kind of commonly used
computer and is often bundled along with the device they are designed to manage.

SRS: (Shared Registry Server) - The central system for all accredited registrars to access
and register/control domain names.

Spam (or Spamming): To send a message or advertisement to a large number of people

who did not request the information, or to repeatedly send the same message to a single
person. "Spamming" is considered very poor Netiquette. CAUCE (The Coalition Against
Unsolicited Commercial Email) is an organization dedicated to removing spam from the
Internet.
SQL: (Structured Query Language) - A specialized programming language for sending
queries to databases. Each application will have its own version of SQL-implementing
features unique to that application, but all SQL-capable databases will support a common
subset of SQL.

SSL: (Secure Sockets Layer) - A protocol designed by Netscape Communications to

enable encrypted, authenticated communication across the Internet. SSL is used mostly,
but not exclusively, in communications between web browsers and web servers. A URL
that begins with "https" instead of "http" indicates an SSL connection will be used.

Subscribe: To become a member of a mailing list, newsgroup, or other online service.

Sysop: (SYStem OPerator) - Someone responsible for the physical operations of a

computer system or network. A System Administrator (or Sysadmin) decides how often
system maintenance should be performed, and the Sysop performs those tasks.

TAR: (Tape ARchive) - A compression format commonly used in the transfer and
storage of files on UNIX computers (.tar).

T-1: A leased-line connection capable of transferring data at 1,544,000 bps. At maximum

capacity, a T-1 line could move a megabyte in less than 10 seconds.

T-3: A leased-line connection capable of transferring data at 44,736,000 bps. This is fast
enough to view full-screen, full-motion video, which requires a transfer rate of at least
10,000,000 bits-per-second.

TCP/IP: (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) - This is the suite of

protocols that defines the Internet. Originally designed for the UNIX operating system,
TCP/IP software is not available for every major computer operating system. To connect
to the Internet, a computer must have TCP/IP software.

Technorati: An Internet search engine for searching blogs (competing with Google and
Yahoo)

Telnet: An Internet protocol allowing a PC to connect to a host computer and use that
computer as if you were locally connected. This often provides the ability to use all the
software and capabilities of the host computer.

Terabyte: A thousand (technically 2^10 or 1024) Gigabytes.

Terminal Adapter: An electronic device that interfaces a PC with a host computer via
an ISDN phone line. They are often called "ISDN modems"; however, because they are
digital, Terminal Adapters are not modems at all.

Terminal Server: A special-purpose computer with places to plug in several modems on

one side, and a connection to a LAN or host machine on the other side. The terminal
server does the work of passing connections on to the appropriate node. Most terminal
servers can provide PPP or SLIP services if connected to the Internet.

Thread: An ongoing message-based conversation on a single subject.

TIFF: (Tag Image File Format) - A popular graphic image file format (.tif).

Trolling: The act of deliberately posting false or inflammatory information in order to

start a flame war or cause aggravation to others.

Twitter: A service for friends, family and co-workers to communicate and stay
connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What
are you doing?

UNIX: The most common operating system for servers on the Internet. UNIX systems
are designed to be used by many people at the same time and have TCP/IP built in.

Upload: The process of transferring data from a local computer to a remote computer.
When you copy a file from your computer to a computer on the Internet, you are
"uploading" that file.

URL: (Uniform Resource Locator) - The standard method of giving the address for any
resource on the WWW. A URL might look like this:
http://www.example.com/examples.html. The most common use of a URL is to enter it in
a web browser to access that page on the Internet.
USENET: A distributed bulletin board system that runs on news servers, UNIX hosts,
online services and bulletin board systems. Collectively, USENET is made up of all the
users who post to and read newsgroup articles. The USENET is the largest decentralized
information utility available today.

UUENCODE: (Unix to Unix Encoding) - A method for converting files from Binary
format to ASCII text so that they can be sent across the Internet via email.

Veronica: (Very Easy Rodent Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives) -

Developed at the University of Nevada, Veronica is a constantly updated database of the
names of almost every menu item on thousands of gopher servers.

WAIS: (Wide Area Information Servers) - A commercial software package that allows
the indexing of huge quantities of information, then makes those indices searchable
across networks and the Internet. A prominent feature of WAIS is the ranking (scoring)
of the search results, according to how relevant the hits are.

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

Web 2.0: The second generation of the web. Also used to refer to the read/write nature
of the web. Include a set of web tools that facilitate information sharing , collaboration,
social networking etc.., on the web.

Webinair: Short for web based seminar, a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar
that is transmitted over the web.

WORM - A destructive computer program that replicates itself throughout your

computer's hard drive and memory. Worms use up the computers resources and pull the
system down. Worms can be spread in mass-e-mailing if the user opens an attachment.

(2) A program that moves through a network and deposits information at each node for
diagnostic purposes or causes idle computers to share some of the processing workload.

WAV: (Waveform Audio) - A common audio file format for DOS and Windows
computers (.wav).

WIKI: A web page or collection of web pages that allows persons with access to easily
modify or edit the content within these pages

WINSOCK: A Microsoft Windows DLL file that provides the interface to TCP/IP
services and allows Windows to use web browsers, FTP programs, and other Internet-
related programs.

WWW: (World Wide Web) - The technical definition of the WWW is the global
network of hypertext (HTTP) servers that allow text, graphics, audio and video files to be
mixed together. The second, more loosely used definition is the entire range of resources
that can be accessed using Gopher, FTP, HTTP, telnet, USENET, WAIS, and other such
tools.

Youtube: A video sharing website where user can upload, view and share video clips.

ZIP: A compressed file format (.zip). Many files available on the Internet are
compressed or "zipped" in order to reduce storage space and transfer times.