Resources - Internet Terminology

Here is an assortment of general terms to get you started. Below you will find additional links of HUGE glossaries for your further exploration.

Please click on the categories to your right to go to that resource section.

ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line carries high speed data over ordinary phone lines. It is up to 70 times as fast as a 28.8 modem, and can be used concurrently with voice over the same line. It is called "asymmetric" because download speeds to the subscriber are faster than upload speeds from the subscriber.
animated GIF - a GIF graphic file, which consists of two or more images shown in a timed sequence to give the effect of motion.
bandwidth - measures the amount of information that can be transmitted over a connector. The higher the bandwidth, the more info gets transmitted.

banner ad - a typically rectangular advertisement placed on a website either above, below or on the sides of a website's main content and is linked to the advertiser's own website. Banners can be complex, using Flash technology, as well as simpler ads with text, animated graphics or sound.
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.
bookmarks/favourites - a list of urls that you like to frequent, that you have saved on your browser.
browser - the software you use to surf. It' s like your car that you are driving down the information superhighway.
cache - the place on YOUR computer where the files you are viewing have gone when you 'hit' a website.
CGI - Common Gateway Interface is a method used by www pages to communicate with programs run on the web server.
chat room - You can chat online in real time in these rooms. Many to choose from.
cookie - with cookies, a website can find out things about you and can store them. It can find out your preferences. Some websites know that you are there.
cyberspace - the network of networks of computers all over the world. A slang term for the Internet.
database - A collection of data records. On web databases, records may consist of web pages, graphics, audio files, newspaper files, books, movies, press releases or almost anything. Records may or may not be further broken into fields. Database records are usually indexed and come with a search interface to find records of interest.
domain name - a unique and registered IP (internet protocol) address. Just like the address to your home is the only one like it in the world. ie. www.mybusiness.com
DNS - the domain name server entry converts the 12-digit IP address to mypage.com.
dynamic HTML (DHTML) - a more powerful model for HTML that allows absolute control of positioning of elements on a page and more powerful control of events. Older browers don't support any or all of the elements of DHTML.
download/upload - what files are doing on the internet. When you take a file from the internet onto your computer you have downloaded it. When you send a file from your computer to somewhere else on the internet you have uploaded.
email - one of the most popular ways (internet protocols) we can send information on the internet.
email client - This is the software that you use to get your mail from the post office (your pop3 server) ie. eudora or outlook express. Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers have built-in email client software (e.g. hotmail).
extranet - a network that supplements a closed intranet by providing access to customers, suppliers, subcontractors, and others outside the organization who have a need for selective information from the organization. It is not accessible to the Internet at large.
FAQ - Acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. FAQ files are collections of common questions and answers for a particular subject area.
Flash - A bandwidth friendly and browser independent vector-graphic animation technology. As long as different browsers are equipped with the necessary plug-ins, Flash animations will look the same. With Flash, users can draw their own animations or import other vector-based images.
FTP file transfer protocol - the Internet protocol that permits you to transfer files between your system and another system.
gif - Graphical Interchange Format is a bitmap graphical format originally developed for CompuServe that is widely used in WWW pages. It is particularly good for text art, cartoon art, poster art, and line drawings- all types with solid colors and distinct lines or borders between different colors. GIF files use a .gif extension.
gui - Graphical User Interface - pronounced "gooey". An operating system interace between the user and the computer based on graphics. GUIs typically use a mouse or other tracking device and icons. First developed by XEROX as an easier way to learn interface than text-based ones, it was adopted by Apple for the Macintosh, Microsoft for Windows, and even for unix systems as XWindows.
hackers - skilled computer users who can be both brilliant and/or a criminal frame of mind. They 'hack' into sites for fun or for nasty reasons.
home page - This can mean two things:
1. the web page that appears when you launch your browser and the page that you return to when you click the 'home' button on your browser.
2. It also refers to the main page of a multi page web site.
html (or htm) - Hypertext Markup Language. Hypertext means documents that are marked-up with anchor tags involving dynamic links to other parts of the same document, or other documents entirely located literally anywhere in the world - as long as the server that houses the document is connected to the World Wide Web.
http - HyperText Transport Protocol. The method by which HTML documents are sent and received over a network. You enter http:// prior to a World Wide Web URL (see next) to tell your own server what you need to retrieve and how it should retrieve it.
hyperlink - A link in a web page that brings you to another location or resource when activated. Hyperlinks usually appear as underlined text and printed in a contrasting color, but they may also appear as graphics, such as buttons to click. Hyperlinks may link to another place in the same page, to a different page, to play an audio or video file, to download a file, to set up a message to an e-mail address, to search a database, to read Usenet newsgroups, and to link to other Internet resources.
hypertext - a language that computers understand that controls the behaviour and appearance of a page on the web.
the internet - the same as cyberspace - the whole of the network of networks of computers all over the world which talk to each other (one-on-one) and hence allow us humans to talk to each other as well. The internet began in the late '60s as part of a US military project. No one owns it, runs it, turns it on or can turn it off.
information super highway - a term coined by Al Gore a longtime ago, to describe the internet.
IPP -Internet Presence Provider. A company that allows individuals or other companies to use their server space to house Internet/WWW documents. Nowadays nearly every ISP is an IPP, so you don't hear this term very often.
ISP - Internet Service Provider. Not very complicated, but with all the other acronyms it can be messy. Whoever provides your access to the Internet (i.e. AOL, Netcom, EarthLink, Telus, Shaw, etc.) is your ISP. Your ISP is also, sometimes, an IPP.
JavaScript - A script language (with little in common with Java) developed by Netscape for writing short programs embedded in a web page. It is supported by Netscape from version 2.0 on and Microsoft and AOL browsers from version 4.0 on. MSIE 3.0 partially supports some features of JavaScript.
JPEG - Joint Photographic Experts Group, a graphical format that is widely used in WWW pages. It is particularly well suited to photographs and 3D or VRML images where there is a continuous range of colors or shades. It is a lossy format that can be reduced in file size by reducing the detail in the image. JPEG files use a .jpg or less commonly, .jpeg or .jpe extension.
link - an active connection to another web page, location in a web page, file, or other Internet resource. Selecting the link takes you to the new location or resource.
meta - a prefix meaning "information about".
meta tag - in HTML or XML, a tag used in the header of a page to provide information about the page. There may be multiple meta tags in a header, each with different information. In current usage, each tag includes the name of the information and the content that supports that name. Commonly used meta tag names are author, description, keywords, date, and copyright.
page - (noun) A document displayed on the web. A page may consist of a single screen or multiple screens reached by scrolling down or to the right.
PDF - Adobe's Page Description Format. It is often used as a format which allows much more complete, controlled layout of a page and its graphics and text than conventional HTML does. It requires a browser plug-in to see a web page in PDF format. Files will usually have a .pdf extension. To create a page in PDF format, you need Adobe Acrobat (not the free Acrobat Reader) or other premium Adobe software.
pixel - one dot on a computer screen. Todays least expensive monitors typically are 800 pixels wide and 600 pixels high. Larger and more expensive monitors range up to 1600 x 1200 pixels and higher.
Plug-in - small additional programs that add to your surfing pleasure like FLASH , RealPlayer, Windows Player, and many more. They enhance your experience online.
POP - Post Office Protocol - A standard for people to download their e-mail to their own computer. A POP (or POP3) server holds peoples e-mail until they download it to their personal computer.
portal - a gateway or entrance to the web. In common usage it has come to describe a starting point page with a hierarchical, topical directory, a search window, and added features like news headlines and stock quotes.
Quick Time - multimedia software from Apple Computer that integrates full-motion video and sound into application programs.
RSS - (Rich Site Summary or RDF Site Summary or Real Simple Syndication) a commonly used protocol for syndication and sharing of content, originally developed to facilitate the syndication of news articles, now widely used to share the contents of blogs. There are RSS "feeds" which are sources of RSS information about web sites, and RSS "readers" which read RSS feeds and display their content to users.
server - a special computer where the files that make up web sites and their special IP addresses live. It serves up websites - it powers them.
spider - a software robot that serves a search engine by exploring the net, collecting web page addresses and page contents, and following links from them to other addresses to collect still more web information. Also known as a worm or crawler.
SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. The method used to send mail on the internet. You use POP3 to get your email, servers use SMTP to move email between themselves. You specify an SMTP server for your outgoing email.
spam - unwanted and unsolicited email.
streaming - this permits audio and video feeds to be played in real time over your computer via the web.
surfing - what we are doing when we travel around on this network of web sites on the internet. Term coined in 1992.
TCP/IP - transmission control protocol. A common method of assigning addresses on a network so that different types of server operating systems can all communicate regardless of any other communications protocol also in effect. In other words, you may be using a PC running Windows XP, connecting to an ISP running UNIX which, in turn, attaches to the Internet. If all three are running TCP-IP (which they are) than they can all talk to each other.
URL - Uniform resource locator - what you type in the address or location bar of your browser in order to go to a web site. This is the structure of a url is http://hostname/path. It is also called the IP address. ie www. mybysiness.com.
All servers on the Internet have a TCP-IP address that consists of a set of four numbers like 124.32.9.76. By assigning a name to the TCP-IP address - or vice versa - the Web becomes easier to use.
virus - small little infectious programs on the internet that can hurt a computer and/or software in many devious ways.
webmaster - someone who creates and maintains websites.
web page - a page of hypertext on the web.
website - a document on the web which is comprised of linked hypertext documents.
web hosting - if you have a web site you have to put your files on a special computer called a server with a hosting company. Usually a hosting company provides better service, speed and price than an ISP for web site hosting. You can also have your site hosted free.
www - The World Wide Web is, in the simplest terms, the graphical interface for the Internet, which is the network itself. If the Internet was DOS, then the WWW is Windows.
world wide web - one of internet protocols on the internet which links millions electronic documents( called websites) written in hypertext (HTML or HTM) to other documents and to themselves. Started in 1992.
zip - a method of file compression originally used with MSDOS and a file extension for files which are zip compressed.

Additional Links - For The Fine Tuning

Babel - a glossary of computer oriented abbreviations and acronyms.
Computeruser.com - a computer users high tech dictionary.
FOLDEC - The Online Dictionary of Computing - a searchable dictionary of acronyms, jargon, programming languages, tools, architecture, operating systems, networking, theory, conventions, standards, mathematics, telecoms, electronics, institutions, companies, projects, products, history, in fact anything to do with computing.
NetLingo - thousands of definitions that easily explain the Internet and the online world of business, technology, and communication.
PC Webopaedia - online dictionary and search engine you need for computer and Internet technology definitions.
The Sharpened Glossary - a dictionary of computer terms with easy-to-understand definitions.
Stimulus.com teaches you very quickly, without lengthy explanation, terms that are used in relation to the internet.
Tech Terms Dictionary - not just definitions of computer terms, but explanations of them as well.
Webmonkey's glossary from A-Z - if you can't find it here it doesn't exist.
What is.com - definitions for thousands of the most current IT-related words.