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analog:  |
continuous gradations
e.g., analog clock with hour, minute, and second hands vs. digital clock with numeric
display
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application: |
computer program
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ASCII: |
American Sign Code for Information Interchange
see 7-bit & 8-bit ASCII
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bandwidth:  |
carrying capacity of a network or modem
greater bandwidth = greater flow of information = greater speed of information transfer
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binary: |
having only two possible, mutually exclusive values
e.g., 1 & 0; on & off; yes & no; true & false
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binary
file: |
file containing extended ASCII or 8-bit ASCII characters (vs. 7-bit ASCII or text files)
usu. program or application file, word processor file, graphic file (picture), etc.
see 8-bit ASCII, 7-bit ASCII, text file
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bit: |
contraction of binary digit
usu. 1 or 0
eight bits = 1 byte (see byte for example)
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bps: |
bits per second
measure of speed for data transmission
usu. 14,400, 28,800, 36,600, or 56,000 bps for telephone modems (usu. 9600 or 14,400 bps
for fax machines)
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bookmark: |
Netscape Navigator - saves currently viewed web page for easy retrieval
called Favorite in Microsoft Internet Explorer
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boolean: |
relating to Internet searches
most common examples are: AND, OR, NOT
follow this link for usage examples
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browser: |
application used to view WWW files &/or web sites
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byte: |
composed of 8 bits
the smallest unit of binary digits used to describe alphanumeric characters
e.g.: a = 01100001, whereas A = 01000001
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cache: |
usu. hidden file located on a user's hard drive storing recently accessed web pages to
save time when web pages are revisited
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client: |
used in relation to server
usu. refers to web browsers which are clients to web servers
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CPU: |
Central Processing Unit, microprocessor
the "brains" of a computer
e.g., Intel, AMD, Motorola, Cyrix, IBM
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directory: |
filing/storage system for hard drives and floppy disks (usu. hierarchical)
also referred to as folder
see URL
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DNS: |
Domain Name System
"human-friendly" naming system for Internet connected computers
matches domain names to IP addresses
e.g., www.bccancer.bc.ca = 204.174.66.178
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domain: |
names of computers attached to the Internet
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download: |
retrieve a file (usu. binary file) from another computer
see upload, FTP
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e-mail: |
electronic mail (also email, Email)
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FAQ |
frequently asked questions
list of answers to frequently asked questions designed to avoid the need to ask those
questions in the first place
failure to read a FAQ may result in being flamed
see flame, netiquette
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flame: |
usu. nasty e-mail due to misunderstandings, rudeness, failure to observe FAQs, etc.
see netiquette
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folder: |
see directory
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FTP: |
File Transfer Protocol
Internet protocol for transferring files (usu. binary files) between computers
see download, upload
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gigabyte: |
1024 megabytes, 1,048,576 kilobytes, or 1,073,741,824 bytes
see byte, kilobyte, megabyte
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gopher: |
text-based Internet menuing protocol
increasingly superseded by the WWW as most web browsers are gopher-enabled
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hit: |
method of counting visits to a web page or site
see Page Views
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homepage: |
welcome or default page for a website
usu. named default or index with .asp, .cgi, .htm, or .html as file name extensions
(e.g., index.html)
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host: |
usu. refers to a website Domain Name
e.g., www.bccancer.bc.ca
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html: |
Hypertext Markup Language
documents with electronic "jump" links within the document or among many
different documents potentially located anywhere on the WWW
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http: |
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
protocol for the World Wide Web
see WWW
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hypertext / hypermedia: |
hypertext, see html
hypermedia refers to the addition of sound, pictures, and video to hypertext files
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interface: |
design of an application, the ergonometrics of software
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Internet: |
global network of computers that use a common communication protocol
see TCP/IP
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IP address: |
the numeric naming scheme for computers connected to the Internet
see DNS
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ISP: |
Internet Service Provider
company providing e-mail and other Internet access to customers
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kilobyte (KB): |
1024 bytes
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LAN: |
Local Area Network
network of computers physically connected by cables and using a networking system such
as Novell
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listserv: |
software/hardware for managing an e-mail discussion group
see mailing list
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login / logon: |
signing on to a computer using a password
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logout: |
signing off a computer
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mailing list: |
list of "subscribers" to a listserv group
see listserv
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megabyte (MB): |
1024 kilobytes or 1,048,576 bytes
e.g., a floppy disk has 1.44 MB of storage space
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memory: |
su. refers to RAM as opposed to hard disk storage capacity
see RAM
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modem: |
contraction of modulator/demodulator
converts digital signals to analog, and vice versa
used to connect a stand-alone computer to a computer network via telephone or cable
vision lines
see bps, analog
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netiquette: |
contraction of internet etiquette
accepted conduct or behaviour (usu. outlined in a FAQ) when participating in a Newsgroup
or Listserve discussion
see FAQ, listserve, newsgroup
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newsgroup: |
discussion group using News Transport Internet Protocol
very similar to e-mail but uses news reader vs. e-mail application software
advantage over e-mail is the ability to follow threads (themes within a discussion)
which are automatically grouped by the news reader software
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online: |
processes occurring whilst connected to a network
e.g., sending e-mail, surfing the WWW
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page view count: |
number of visits to a web page or website
more accurate than "hits" which tend to over-report site visits (one visit to
a single page with four graphics might be counted as five hits but really represents only
one page view)
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path: |
directory structure of hard drives or floppy disks
e.g., location of file(s) on a hard drive or floppy disk
relates to URLs (the path of an html document often follows the domain name)
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post: |
send an e-mail or newsgroup message
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PPP: |
Point to Point Protocol
protocol for connecting a stand-alone computer to a network over a phone line
similar, but usually superior, to SLIP
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query: |
request sent to an Internet search engine
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RAM: |
Random Access Memory
place where stuff is lost if the computer is turned off, crashes, or experiences a power
failure
to be used by the computer, all applications and data need to be loaded from hard drive
or floppy disk into RAM
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search engine: |
software that seeks and indexes information from the Internet, especially information
found on the WWW and/or in newsgroups
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server: |
hardware and software providing programs, data, and information to other computers on a
network
e.g., WWW servers (or web sites)
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SLIP: |
Serial Line Internet Protocol
protocol for connecting a stand-alone computer to a network over a phone line
similar, but usually inferior, to PPP
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surf: |
browse the WWW (usu. aimlessly)
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TCP/IP: |
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
communications protocol of the Internet
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telnet: |
character-based application used to control an application running on another computer
(usu. on a mainframe computer)
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text file: |
file composed solely of ASCII characters
e.g., HTML files, e-mail without file attachments
see ASCII, 7-bit ASCII, 8-bit ASCII
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upload: |
send a file (usu. binary file) to another computer
see download, FTP
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UNIX: |
first operating system used for Internet connected computers
note, uses forward slashes versus back slashes common with DOS/Windows computers (as
with, http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/uctm/)
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URL: |
Universal Resource Locator
Web addressing scheme, e.g., www.bccancer.bc.ca
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usenet: |
another term referring to news groups
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web
page: |
HTML file usu. located on the WWW and viewed via a web browser
usu. consists of a single page which may or may not be very long (when printed may
consist of several pages worth of paper)
websites usu. consist of several web pages
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WWW: |
World Wide Web or Web
one of many Internet protocols
hypertext protocol of the Internet
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zine / e-zine: |
electronic magazine (usu. WWW-based)
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7-bit ASCII: |
128 possible characters one can type from a keyboard
27 = 128 (two to the seventh power)
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8-bit
ASCII: |
256 possible characters
28 = 256 (two to the eighth power)
additional characters often used as control codes by applications such as word
processors
e.g., ASCII characters 13 and 10 create a carriage return and line feed on DOS/Windows
computers but a user cannot see these characters within a word processor document
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