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Alias
A name that is substituted for a more complicated name. For example, a simple alias may be used instead of a more complicated mailing address or for a mailing list.

Analog
Describes any information that has been translated into a corresponding physical change, such as electric current - any information may be converted to analog. Technologically inferior to digital because of signal degradation (the signal or data strength is weaker at a distance with analog data).

ANSI
An acronym for American National Standards Institute. The American body responsible for setting telecommunications standards in the US. Unfortunately these often differ from those set by the ISO, the world standards authority.

Applet
A computer program written in Java for transfer over the web.

Archie
A search utility used on the Internet to locate files in FTP sites, these files are generally public domain files that anyone can download.

ARPA
An acronym for Advanced Research Projects Agency.

ARPAnet
Where the Internet began; the Advanced Research Projects Agency (of the U.S. Department of Defense) computer network that was the forerunner of the Internet. Has been replaced by NFSNet.

ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a standard way for computers to use bits and bytes to represent characters. An ASCII file contains simple text without any special formatting codes.

ATM
An acronym for Asynchronous Transfer Mode. A method of transmitting bytes across communications links.

AUP
An acronym for Acceptable Use Policy of the NSF which prevents the use of the NSFnet backbone for purely commercial use.

Avatar
A graphical representation of a person in a chat room. The word comes from Hindu mythology in which spirits come down and inhabit bodies.

Backbone
A network through which other, smaller networks are connected.

Bandwidth
Describes the capacity at which a given communications channel, such as ordinary copper telephone line, can transfer information; increasing bandwidth increases the speed at which data transfer takes place. The greater the bandwidth, the greater amount of data can be transferred.

Baud Rate
A measurement of how quickly a modem transfers data. Although, strictly speaking, this is not the same as bits per second, the two terms are often used interchangeably.

BBS (Bulletin Board System)
A service accessible via modem or other connection through which users may exchange messages privately or post messages to a publicly accessible forum; may or may not have Internet access.

BIOS
Basic Input Output System. This is the basic set of instructions that tell the computer how to act. Most computers have these instructions built into a chip that plugs into the motherboard.

Bit
Short for binary digit; either a 1 or a 0; the smallest unit into which digital information may be broken.

BPS (Bits per Second)
A measure of the speed of data transmission; the number of bits of data that can be transmitted each second. Modems are generally measured by their BPS rate (14.4K - 14400 BPS, 28.8K - 28800 BPS)

Boot up
The process of turning on the computer, which includes a number of functions that are performed automatically every time the power switch is turned on.

Browser
A client software program used to search networks, retrieve copies of files and display them in an easy-to-read, often graphical, format. Browsers such as SPRY Mosaic, Netscape Navigator, and Microsoft Internet Explorer are used to access information on the World Wide Web.

BTW or IMHO
Abbreviation for "By the way" or "in my humble opinion", respectively. Abbreviations such as these are commonly used in email, newsgroups, or listservs.

Bulletin Board System (BBS)
A computer system to which other computers can connect so their users can read and leave messages, or retrieve and leave files.

Byte
A collection of eight BITS.

Chat
A program that connects computers on a network for instantaneous, multi-way communication. People who use chat can type messages for delivery to a server, which displays the messages instantly so that users who are logged on to the chat service can respond immediately. On the Internet, chat is sometimes referred to as Internet Relay Chat (IRC).

CIX
An acronym for Commercial Information Exchange.

Client
A software program that provides access to network resources by working with information stored on a server.

CMOS
Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor. A CMOS computer circuit consumes very little power and is used in computers to keep track of the system setup information, data, time, type of disk and hard drives, etc. that a computer has installed. The CMOS information is powered by the computer's on-board battery. So if the on-board battery fails, the information in CMOS is lost.

Compressed File
Computer files that have been reduced in size by a compression program. Such programs are available for all computer systems.

CPU
Central Processing Unit. This is the brains of the computer. You'll hear computers described in terms of which CPU is installed in them. A 486 computer, and Pentium, a 386DX, etc.

Crash
An unexpected shutdown either of a program or the whole system.; sometimes traumatic, always frustrating ; often fixable by turning off the computer and turning it back on; results in losing any unsaved work. Can also be used in instances of a hard disk physically being damaged.

Cruise
Navigating the Internet by following hyperlinks from one Web site or page to another.

CSCW
This is an acronym for Computer Supported Co-operative Work, more commonly called groupware. See also Lotus Notes.

Cyberspace
A term coined by author William Gibson. It describes the imaginary space in which computer users travel when "surfing" the Internet.

Daemon
In UNIX, a program running all the time in the "background" (that is, unseen by users), providing special services when required. An example of a daemon is biff, which lets you know when mail arrives.

DARPA
US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (now ARPA). One of the bodies which `created' the concept of the Internet and funded the development of Internet facilities for many years.

Dedicated Line
A telephone line that is leased from the telephone company and used for one purpose only. In the early days of the Internet, it was a line dedicated to a server.

Dial-in Direct Connection
An Internet connection that is accessed by dialing in to a computer through a telephone line. Once connected, your computer acts as if it were an Internet host. This type of service is often called SLIP, CSLIP or PPP.

Dial-up Service
A common Internet term for a dial-on terminal connection.

Digital
Terms used to describe any information that has been translated into a corresponding series of 1s and 0s; any information - text, sound, image, color, may be digitized.

Discussion Board
A forum on a Web site for the discussion of a specific topic or set of related topics.

Domain Names
A name given to a host computer on the Internet. E-mail names are good examples of domain names (i.e., anyname@netcom.com).

Dot
Short for the "period" usually heard in a reference to a url -- "www.webtrail.com"

Download
The process of transferring information from one computer to another, usually from a server to a client. You download a file from another computer to yours.

EDI
An acronym for Electronic Data Interchange. Also referred to as electronic commerce.

Electronic Commerce
The transacting of business electronically rather than via paper.

E-mail (Electronic Mail)
A means of sending typed messages from one computer to another, over a network or the Internet.

Emoticon
Emoticons, or smileys :-) , are used to convey emotion. The expressions and inflections of voice we use to convey emotion, irony, sarcasm, etc. when talking are lost when communicating over the Internet. To make up for that, a system of symbols has developed which uses common keyboard marks.

FAQ
Frequently Asked Question. This is often a file which new users can refer to when using a new service or piece of Internet software. It contains answers to frequently asked questions, hence the name.

File Transport Protocol (FTP)
A service for moving an electronic file of any type from one computer to another over the Internet.

Flame Mail
An excessively angry or rancorous message, generally containing personal insults, sent through e-mail.

Flamer
Someone who writes flame mail. Flamee should be obvious.

Floppy Disk
A removable storage medium that is used in conjunction with a floppy drive, usually 5.25-inch or 3.5-inch in size.

Forum
The dedicated area where people come together to discuss issues, hobbies, or news. Also called newsgroups.

Freeware
Software provided free by its originator. See shareware.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
An area or document dedicated to answering common questions.

GB (Gigabyte)
1,000 Megabytes. A measure storage space. Hard Drives now are measured in GB capacity.

GIF (Graphic Interchange Format)
One of two popular systems used to compress the size of image files so they require less bandwidth to transfer on the Web.

Gopher
An Internet service for locating and delivering electronic files. The Gopher interface includes a directory tree and a set of menus which can be used for exploring the Internet and downloading files.

GUI
This is an acronym for Graphical User Interface. Examples are Windows and Apple's Macintosh operating system. The concept originated in the early 1970s at Xerox's PARC laboratory.

Hard Disk
The rigid storage medium located within a hard drive; the relatively large storage area where a computer's operating system, applications, and data usually reside.

Helper App
A "helper application" or add-on program particularly for a web browser that increases the functionality and the type of files that the browser can display. Also see Plug-in.

Home Page
The opening page of a World Wide Web document, sometimes called the welcome page.

Host
A computer connected directly to the Internet. A service provider's computer is a host.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
This is an acronym for HyperText Mark-up Language which is used to format information so that it can be structured and made accessible to the World Wide Web (WWW). The language itself is a simplified derivative of SGML, a widely used standard developed in the mid 1980's. The technique employed is to encase the information in special markers (called tags) which tell the WWW applications how the text is to be interpreted.

HTML+
A proposed new standard which will supersede html. It is a superset of html which is designed to extend the capabilities of the language to incorporate better support for multimedia objects in documents.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
The protocol that forms the basis of World Wide Web technology. HTTP is the set of rules governing the software that transports hyperlinked files along the Internet.

Hypergraphic
In a World Wide Web document, a graphic image coded to form a link to another file. As with hypertext, if you click on a hypergraphic, you will jump to the linked file.

Hyperlink
A code which contains an "address," which when clicked, will take you to that address.

Hypermedia
Like hypertext except that the concept is extended to multimedia objects such as graphics, video and audio.

Hypertext
Electronic text coded to provide instant access, via links, to other hypertext (or hypergraphics) elsewhere within a document or in a separate document.

IAB
An acronym for Internet Architecture Board

IANA
An acronym for Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

IDE
Integrated Drive Electronics. An interface used mainly by hard drives and CD-ROM drives to connect to the computer.

IETF
An acronym for Internet Engineering Task Force

Internet
A collection of networks linked together using a common protocol. The global computer network achieved through the interconnection of smaller computer networks around the world.

IP (Internet Protocol)
The standard protocol used by systems communicating across the Internet.

IP Address
A digital code that precisely locates a computer connected to the Internet.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
A software tool that makes it possible to hold real-time keyboard conversations online.

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
Large bandwidth telephone line. Allows you to transfer information quickly.

ISO
An acronym for International Organization for Standardization

ISOC
An acronym for The Internet Society

ISP (Internet Service Provider)
A company that provides a connection to the Internet. Service providers sell access to the network. Services offered differ between ISPs.

ITU
An acronym for International Telecommunication Union

JAVA
A relatively new programming language developed by Sun Microsystems mainly to enhance the "online experience" of the World Wide Web.

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) Graphic Format
A commonly used compression technique for graphics images on the Internet.

K (Kilobyte)
1024 bytes

Kill
An action that can be taken in Usenet to exclude certain words, phrases, subjects, or even specific individual posters, from the list of messages displayed on your screen.

LAN (Local Area Network)
The regional server or servers your computer is connected to. These in turn are connected to other servers creating a network in your office, home, etc.

Listserv
Mailing list that acts as a newsgroup. Messages sent to a listserv address are sent to everyone who has subscribed to the list. Responses are sent back to the listserv address.

Local File
A file stored on the hard disk of your computer, as opposed to a file stored on an Internet server or some other remote computer

Lotus
Lotus Development Corporation the software company responsible for the Notes line of products.

Lurking
Reading chat, forum, newsgroup or listserv messages without responding to them.

MAC
Short for "Macintosh"; the other type of personal computer, manufactured by Apple Computer, not a PC

MAN
An acronym for Metropolitan Area Network.

Megabyte (MB)
1 million bytes. A measure of the quantity of data. A megabyte is a lot when you are talking about files containing simple text messages, but it's not much when you are talking about files containing color photographs.

MBONE
An acronym for Multicast BackbONE, an Internet service which gives public access desktop video communications. The quality is poor with only 3-5 frames per second instead of the 30 frames per second of commercial television. Its advantage is that it avoids all telecommunications costs normally associated with teleconferencing. An interesting innovation is the use of MBONE for audio communications and an electronic "whiteboard" where the computer screen becomes a shared workspace where two physically remote parties can draw on and edit shared documents in real-time.

Microsoft
The computer industry giant responsible for DOS, Windows, Windows 95 and assorted business and personal software. Now challenging Netscape is the web browser market with Internet Explorer.

MIME
An acronym for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions

Modem (Modulator-Demodulator)
A device that converts digital signals from your computer into analog signals for transmission through a phone line, and vice versa (called demodulation).

Mouse
A small, handheld device attached to a computer; when moved across any flat surface (such as a desk), it results in the movement of something on the computer screen called a cursor; includes one or more buttons that allow the user to select graphics or text onscreen.

MOSAIC
A software application which runs on UNIX, PC and Macintosh computers. It is an interface to the WWW.

MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group)
A video file compression system used on the web.

MUD (Multi User Domain)
A game or simulation in which multiple participants can engage simultaneously through their connections to the same Internet server.

NCSA
An acronym for the U.S. National Center for Supercomputing Applications, creator of the first Mosaic (browser) application for the WWW.NCSA - home of Mosaic.

Network
Two or more computers connected to one another fo