TCS - Terms of Enclearment: An Internet Glossary

Terms of Enclearment: An Internet Glossary

by Lawrence J. Magid
From the November 1997 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter

Browser or Web Browser

Software that allows you to access the World Wide Web. The software, which runs on your PC or Macintosh, provides the graphical interface between your computer and the Web. The most popular browser is Netscape Navigator followed by Microsoft Explorer. These programs can be downloaded for free from the Internet. Netscape is available from Windows, Windows 95, UNIX and Macintosh. Microsoft Explorer is available for Windows, Windows 95 and Macintosh.

Cyberspace

A term coined by science fiction author William Gibson to describe the whole range of information resources available through computer networks.

Electronic Mail (E-mail)

Messages sent from one computer to another via a network, online service or the Internet. It generally takes only seconds for a message to reach its destination anywhere in the world. E-mail messages can contain only text or contain programs or data including graphics, word processing files and even audio and video.

FTP

An acronym for File Transfer Protocol -- a very common method of transferring one or more files from one computer to another. FTP is built into most browsers so you don't need to know complex commands to use it.

Gopher

"Gopher," is a menu driven system that links you to other Internet sites around the world. You can access it with special Gopher software or most Web browsers will also allow you to access Gopher menus. In some cases, web sites will automatically link you to gopher sites. When you access Gopher you get a series of menus, one of which lets you connect to other Gophers in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and other locations around the world.

HTTP

Anyone who's used the World Wide Web has seen those web sites that begin with http://. HTTP is abbreviation for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol.

Internet

A global network of networks, the Internet is a system that links computer systems so that they can exchange various types of data including e-mail, video, audio, data and program files, World Wide Web pages and more. The Internet isn't a single computer service. It's a worldwide network of networks that consists of thousands of computers located on every continent. Once you're connected to the Internet you can "cruise the digital highways" to other connected machines. You don't have to pay extra fees or phone charges and, in many cases, you don't need an account on those other computers. That's because many libraries, universities, companies and government agencies allow guests to browse through their data banks, even if the users don't have an account on that system. The World Wide Web, newsgroups, e-mail and FTP are all part of the Internet.

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

A company that provides users with access to the Internet, usually for a fee. Unlike an online service, an ISP doesn't necessarily provide additional content but does provide dial up access and, in most cases, technical support for its users.

Java

Java is a programming language developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. to create executable content (i.e. self-running applications) that can be easily distributed through networks like the World Wide Web. Developers use Java to create special programs called "applets" that can be incorporated in a web page to make it interactive.

Local Area Network (LAN)

A network of computers that is typically located within a company, a department or a campus. They are not necessarily connected to computers outside the facility though a LAN can be connected to other computers via the Internet.

Microsoft Explorer (see Browser)

Netscape Navigator (see Browser)

Online

The process of "going online." When you connect your computer to another computer, usually via a phone line, it's known as "going online." The term typically refers to connecting your machine to an online service or the Internet though it can also be used to refer to connecting to a local area network.

Online Service or Online Service Provider

An information service that provides dial up access as well as proprietary information. Examples include America Online, CompuServe, Prodigy and the Microsoft Network. Major online services all provide e-mail, forums where users can exchange information and ideas. These days all major online services also provide access to the Internet including Internet e-mail and World Wide Web access.

Protocol

A protocol is the standard or set of rules that two computers use to communicate with each other. Also known as a communications protocol or network protocol, this is a set of standards that assures that different network products or programs can work together. Any product that uses a given protocol should work with any other product using the same protocol.

Search Engine

A search engine is a type of software that creates indexes of databases or Internet sites based on the titles of files, key words, or the full text of files. The search engine has an interface that allows you to type what you're looking for into a blank field. It then gives you a list of the results of the search. When you use a search engine on the Web, the results are presented to you in hypertext, which means you can click on any item in the list to get the actual file Leading search engines include Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com, Alta Vista (http://altavista.digital.com/) and Excite (http://www.excite.com/). A directory of popular search engines can be found at http://www.larrysworld.com/searching.html.

URL

An abbreviation for Universal Resource Locator, it is an addressing scheme. A URL is just an address. The URL for the Los Angeles Times, for example, is http://www.latimes.com.

Web page

A single "page" on a web site. A page may be longer than a single screen (you may have to scroll down to read its entire contents). A web site can consist of multiple pages.

World Wide Web

The part of the Internet that provides access to documents and pages through "hypertext links." Users can jump from one document to another by clicking on a link even if they documents are stored on different computers on the Internet. World Wide Web documents often contain graphics and sometimes audio, animation or video. They are created using a language called HTML. Web sites generally have a Home Page which typically links to other pages on that and other Web sites.

Copyright 1996 by Lawrence J. Magid. Reprinted by permission.

Lawrence J. Magid is a syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times, Editor-at-Large for CMP Media's PC Group and columnist for HomePC and Computer Currents. His web site, "Larry's World" (http://www.larrysworld.com) contains numerous articles about computing and the Internet. His e-mail address is magid@latimes.com.


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