Internet Glossary

What was it? Peer pressure? Nagging kids? The need to "telecommute"? Those incessant commercials hyping the wonders of the web? It doesn't matter. You broke down and got onto the Internet. Now you feel lost in a sea of obscure geek speak terms and indecipherable acronyms. Have no fear.

Everyone experiences this period of discombobulation. Like the new kid in school, you just need to learn the lingo and soon enough you'll be a full-fledged member of the online community. We at Help2Go want to make this transition easier for you. To this end, we've provided the following glossary of Internet-related terms. Some may already be familiar to you, but there are probably a few definitions that will enlighten.

ASCII text: The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is the most common format for text files that are transferred through the Internet. When you download a file from a web site that is composed of alphanumeric characters (letters and numbers), such as a set of instructions, you should be sure that you are transferring it in an ASCII format, rather than binary.

Binary: The two digit ("0" and "1") number system that allows your computer to read and process data. If you are downloading any kind of program or image (any non-text file) from a web site, you must receive it in binary format.

Chat: A real-time dialogue between two or more online users conducted in either a public "chat room" or private session in which all exchanges are typed in and appear on the screen. May be referred to as "Internet Relay Chat" or IRC for short.

Chat Abbreviations: The shorthand of online conversations. Examples include LOL (laughing out loud), BRB (be right back), IMHO (in my humble opinion), and BTW (by the way).

Client/Server: A term that describes the relationship between two computers in which one unit (the client) requests a file or service from another unit (the server). When you visit Help2Go, your computer (client) requests to see the web pages available on a computer (server) at our offices in Washington DC.

Cyber: A prefix used to describe some element of the high-tech or information age. Examples include cyberspace, cybersex, and cybercitizen.

Daemon: Pronounced "demon", a program that runs independently from the operating system and handles routine processes in the background of network transactions.

Dial-up Networking: Dial-up refers to a telephone connection (initiated by a modem) over a network of shared lines. In this system, many users connect to one dial-up server. These connections usually have a time limit. Dial-up networking describes the vast majority of Internet connections. Connections in which a specific line is established for one user are called dedicated network connections.

Download: The process of retrieving a file from a remote computer. The file is copied from the Internet server to your computer, where you can view it and use it. Your computer "downloaded" this glossary web page to your computer so that you could read it.

E-business: Also known as "e-commerce", this term describes any commercial transactions conducted over the web (buying and selling of goods or services).

E-mail: Shortened form of electronic mail, describes the transmission of messages over a public or private network. The majority of traffic over the Internet is in the form of e-mail.

FAQ: Frequently-Asked Questions is usually a file or web page dedicated to answering the basic questions about any topic covered on the Internet. New users are strongly encouraged to read through the FAQ section whenever one is made available to you. It can often save you time and confusion when visiting a new site or trying a new Internet-based service.

Flaming: The practice of electronically abusing another person online through newsgroups, e-mail or chat forums. Flaming is frowned upon and a breach of netiquette.

Form: Any element of a web page that requires a user to enter information to get output from a web server. When you use one of a search engine to find information on the web, you are using a form.

Freeware: Software that is available to anyone in the public domain without cost or copyright restrictions.

FTP: The File Transfer Protocol is the simplest method for moving files between computers on the Internet. You will often hear the terms "upload" and "download" used to describe the transfer of files from a client to a server (upload) or from a server to a client (download). These transactions can take place because the two computers involved are speaking the same language: FTP.

Geek Speak: The language of those who are thoroughly immersed in the computer or technology fields. You're learning it right now!

Hacker: Depending on your point of view, a hacker is either a very talented software programmer or an individual who seeks to circumvent security systems and gain illegal access to networks.

HTML: The Hypertext Markup Language is a set of formatting codes which allows documents to be transferred and viewed by remote computers over the Internet through web browser software (i.e. Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer).

IT (information technology): A broad term used to refer to any form of technology used to create, transfer, or store information in all it's various forms (text, images, sound, multimedia files).

Internet: Now known simply as "the Net", the Internet is the conglomerate of physical resources that allow for the transfer of data from one remote location to another. The Internet comprises all the wiring, computers, and other hardware involved in these transfers.

ISP: An Internet Service Provider is a private company that offers clients access to the Internet through dial-up or dedicated network connections and hosts or builds client's web pages. An ISP owns the hardware needed to connect individual computers to the wider Internet.

IP Address: The 32-bit number that identifies each sender or recipient of data transfers over the Internet. IP addresses are in the form of XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX with each segment having a numerical range of 1 to 256.

Link: In HTML, a link is any text, image, or object on a web page that can be selected to connect a user to some other form of information or service. In most web pages, a link is used to bring up a new section of text, view an image, download a file, or open an entirely new web page on the screen.

Logon/Login: Any process in which a user must provide a specific user name and password to gain access to some remote computer, application, or service (such as e-mail).

Modem: The hardware used to establish connections to an ISP over standard telephone lines. The modems chief role is to convert the digital information of computers into analog signals that can be carried over conventional copper phone lines.

Netiquette: Based on the idea, "treat others as you would like to be treated", netiquette is simply etiquette for the Internet. Rude or boorish behavior in using e-mail, chat and other Internet. services marks a failure to follow netiquette.

Network: Any collection of interconnected points tied together by communication paths (wiring, satellite, wireless broadcasts). A network may be described by its physical size, type of connection, level of access (public or private), or some other distinction.

Newbie: A term applied to any new user of a technology. Don't worry, it's not a derogatory label. Everyone was or will be a newbie at some point.

Newsgroup: The discussion of a specific topic through the exchange of messages at a central Internet. site. Newsgroups are maintained by Usenet, a worldwide network of discussion groups. Newsgroup dialogues are arranged in a hierarchy of posts and replies (called "threads"). Topics covered by newsgroups are incredibly varied, touching on such diverse issues as gourmet cooking, movie genres and mountain climbing.

Plug-in: Any software program used in conjunction with a web browser to enhance a user's visit to a web site. Plug-ins allow web surfers to see movies, animation, and hear sound that has been incorporated into a web page.

POP3: Post Office Protocol 3 is a set of procedures that allows computers to receive e-mail from a central server. The server holds a client's mail until it is requested by a user, who logs in to the POP3 server with a user name and password. POP3 is the most common form of e-mail distribution service on the Internet.

Public Domain: Used to describe software or services that are completely open to public use. The authors intentionally share their work with any interested user. Shareware is one element of public domain software.

RealAudio: RealAudio is a method for delivering continuous or "streaming" sound to a user, rather than require the user to download the entire file before listening to it. RealAudio requires special software to receive and play the sounds. Many radio stations and some television stations offer RealAudio broadcasts of their programming.

Search Engine: A web service in which the queries of users are compared to the entries in a massive index of web pages and then provides the search results. Searches can generate results in a directory format (a la Yahoo!) or by the percentage match between query and the actual web page contents.

SMTP: The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is the set of procedures needed for users to send mail from their networked computer to remote users. The SMTP server accepts a users message and routes it to the chosen destination. SMTP is most-often used in conjunction with POP3 to manage the transfer of e-mail.

Telecommuting: Using telecommunications technology to conduct business from locations outside the traditional office setting.

Unzipping: The process of extracting compressed files from a single archive. To save space, many files that can be downloaded from Internet. servers are in a compressed format (i.e. .ZIP or .RAR) and must be unzipped before they can be accessed by a user. Special software, such as WinZip, is required to unzip an archive.

URL: A Uniform Resource Locator is the address of any file (resource) that can be accessed through the Internet. The resource can be a web page, an image, or even an application or service. The URL for Help2Go's main web page is http://www.help2go.com

Virtual: An overused term that describes some item, service, or other element that reflects or mimics a real version of that thing. Virtual reality, for example, is a computer-generated approximation of a real setting and/or series of events without true physical dimensions.

Webmaster: An individual who creates, maintains, and/or updates the information content of a web site. The webmaster may also be responsible for managing the technology and programming used in making a site accessible through the Internet.

WWW: The World Wide Web is the conglomeration of all material that can be accessed through the Internet. and the community of users accessing that material. The web is distinct from the Internet. in that the net is the hardware and the web is the information conveyed by that hardware.

Y2K: An abbreviation for the Year 2000, identified by many technologically savvy individuals as the point when many critical computer systems will experience operational problems. The extent of these problems is a subject of heated debate within the online community.

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