Commonly Used Terms Related To The Internet - Part II
May 9th, 2001

This week's column is a continuation of last week's topic of definitions of some of the more common terms related to the Internet, and next week's column is going to contain directions for taking a game and customizing it.

Cache  - A temporary storage (buffer) of recently used files. The files contained in the cache open much quicker second and third times because they have already been loaded once and are being held in the cache.
Cookie  - A text-only string that gets entered into the memory of your browser when you visit web sites. Some web sites can track your visits for demographic purposes. Cookies can be used to store information, but they can't be used to *get* information from or about you.
Icon  - A graphic image that can be stored on your computer and is used to represent files and folders.
Internet Explorer  - One of the more well known Internet browsers. Can be used with both the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh platforms.
ISP  - Internet Service Provider. An organization or business that provides access to end users (you and me) to the Internet.
Keyword  - A word contained in a Meta Tag within a web page that can also be searched by online databases and search engines.
Link  - Mouse clickable graphic or text that will take you to another area of the same page or to another web site. Also referred to as a hyperlink. Accessed by clicking onto a link in a web page.
META Tag  - Special tags built into HTML code for Web page designers to use. META Tags sometime contain Keywords, messages, information on which program made the page, instructions to the server, and more.
Mil (.mil)  - These letters appear in the URL of Web pages operated by the military.
Modem  - The device that lets your computer talk to another computer using the phone line. May be built into your computer or be an external piece of equipment, hooked up to your computer. Cable Modem lets your computer connect to a cable television system and connect to a computer network.
MS/DOS  - Microsoft DOS is an older non-graphical operating system that preceded the Microsoft Windows operating system.
Navigate  - To move around on the Internet by following hypertext paths (Links) from document to document.
Netiquette  - The informal set of rules for using the Internet. For instance, typing in all capital letters indicates you are yelling at the reader(s).
Netscape  - One of the more well known Internet browsers. Can be used by Microsoft Windows and Macintosh platforms.
Newbie  - Someone new to the Internet or to computers.
Newsgroup  - A message area set up on the Internet. Groups of people with common interests that exchange information and ideas; also referred to as Listserv (mailing list) and Usenet(newsgroup). A newsgroup can be moderated so that only approved postings can be publicly posted or unmoderated where all messages are distributed to the newsgroup immediately.
Offline  - When a computer is not connected to a host system or the Internet.
Online  - When a computer is connected to a host system or the Internet.
PDF  - Portable Document Format. PDF files are pages that have been converted to Adobe's portable document format (PDF). PDF files are created by Adobe Acrobat from other electronic files or can be converted using many other programs. A PDF file may have originally been created by word processor or desktop publishing software. PDF files are frequently found on government web sites because they can be read by any platform that has downloaded the free Adobe Reader.
Pixel  - The smallest individually controllable element of a video or printed image. A digital image is composed of an array of individual pixels, each of which is assigned a value determining the color or brightness. Pixels form the graphic images found on the web.
Post  - Sending data to a newsgroup or mailing list.
PPP  - Point to Point Protocol An Internet standard for electronically connecting a remote computer to an IP network. PPP is frequently the format that allows your computer to be connected to your internet service provider, through which you get your e-mail.
Program  - A set of instructions or steps telling the computer how to handle a problem or task. For instance, your computer is programmed to shut down when you give the shut down command.
Protocol  - The "language" computers use to talk to each other and share information. There are many standardized protocols that allow computers made by different manufacturers understand and communicate with each other.
Search Engine  - A web site that lets you search the Internet by subject and/or keyword.
Shareware  - Shareware is software available on the Internet which can be downloaded. Shareware is not freeware; if you find it useful, you are asked to send the software developer a "registration" fee.
Snail Mail  - The U.S. Postal service or other form of ground mail. As opposed to e-mail.
SPAM  - Advertising, bulk e-mail, mass e-mail, or repeated posting or mailing of substantially identical messages. The emphasis is on the multiple sending, either many copies to one destination, or one copy to many destinations. When at its worst, it can temporarily shut down a site by clogging it.
TCP/IP  - Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol defines how computers on the Internet communicate with each other. TCP/IP addresses are assigned to computers so that information can be properly sent and received.
Upload  - The process of transferring a file from your computer "up" to the Web, the opposite of download.
URL  - Universal Resource Locator is a web site address on the World Wide Web. http://macobserver.com is the URL for The Mac Observer.
Virus  - A piece of software that is intended to cause intentional damage to a computer or annoyance to its user. Virus' are included inside another program, or are a program by themselves masquerading as another program altogether. They are often contracted when downloading an infected program from the Internet, opening unknown infected e-mail attachments, of running programs off of an infected floppy disk from an unknown source. Macintosh computers are not vulnerable to most virii designed for PC machines and few virus' have been created that will successfully attack a Mac. The exception to this rule is something known as a Word Macro Virus. A Word Macro Virus is created using Microsoft's scripting language and can be embedded inside a Word or Excel document. While not all of these virii are harmful to Macs and PCs at the same time, they can be transmitted by both platforms.
Web Browser  - An application that locates a document on the Internet using an URL, retrieves it, and formats the document for display. Examples: Netscape, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mosaic.
Web Crawler  - A program that searches the Internet for Web sites and extracts descriptive information from them for use by search engines.
 Web Site  - A site on the Internet that is accessed by it's own internet address.
 WWW  - The World Wide Web is a link of pages containing text and graphics which is the most popular subnetwork of the Internet besides e-mail. Also known as the Web. No one owns the World Wide Web, and it is maintained by the owners of the million of Web servers (computers) around the world.
 .ZIP  - A data compression format that is used by those on the dark side. The MAC equivalent is Stuffit. Some Zip files end with an .exe extension, and others end with a .zip extension. .zip files can usually be opened on your Mac with recent versions of Stuffit Expander. .exe files can not be opened on your Mac without using a product like Virtual PC.

If you have any questions, comments, or tips, let me know and I may include them in a future column.