Absolutely. Listed below are some of the most commonly seen and used internet
terminology!
| Term |
Definition |
| Article
|
Internet lingo for a message posted to
the UseNet newsgroups |
| BPS
|
Bits Per Second — This is the rate used
to measure the speed of information through your internet connection.
|
| DNS
|
Domain Name Service — A DNS server is a
dedicated computer on the internet. It translates domain names such as
nni.com or yahoo.com etc. into numerical IP addresses. In this manner a
DNS server is similar to a telephone book where you look up somebody's
name and get his number to call them at. |
| E-Mail
|
Electronic mail. Correspondence between
two or more people. |
| FAQ
|
Frequently Asked Questions — This is a
file or article that contains responses to common questions. |
| Freeware
|
Software that is distributed free of
charge. |
| FTP
|
File Transfer Protocol — This is a method
of transferring files over the internet. |
| Gateway
|
This is a computer that connects an
office LAN (Local Area Network) or commercial online services to the
Internet. |
| HTML
|
Hyper Text Markup Language — This is the
programming language used to create web pages. |
| HTTP
|
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol — This is
the internet protocol used to transfer HTML documents over the internet.
|
| IP Address
|
Internet Protocol Address — This is the
numerical address assigned to your computer when you are connected to
the internet. All computers connected to the internet have one of these
addresses assigned to it. |
| Internet
|
The internet is the Wide Area Network
that connects computers and servers from all over the world to each
other through a series of high speed phone lines. |
| IRC
|
Internet Relay Chat — Real-time text
based chatting. |
| ISP
|
Internet Service Provider — This is a
company who provides customers with access to the Internet. |
| Netiquette
|
This is the proper way of behaving on the
internet. This includes not sending out unsolicited emails, and not
hacking into other computers. |
| Newbie
|
Newbie is a slang term to refer to a new
computer or internet user. |
| Newsgroup
|
This is one of the 40,000 plus electronic
discussion groups on the UseNet. |
| NNTP
|
Network News Transfer Protocol — This is
the method used to transmit UseNet discussion groups over the internet.
|
| Ping
|
Ping is a diagnostic utility used to test
connectivity between one computer and another. This is used to make sure
that you can send and receive data through the internet. |
| POP3
|
Point of Presence — This is the technical
term for the access numbers that you use to connect to the internet.
|
| POP3
|
Post Office Protocol version 3 — This is
the protocol used to transfer your Incoming Mail to your computer. |
| PPP
|
Point to Point Protocol — This is a type
of account that gives you virtually direct access to the internet.
Virtually all ISPs provide service to the internet using this protocol.
|
| Protocol
|
These are rules for transmitting data
over a network. There are different protocols for different jobs. |
| Shareware
|
Shareware is software that is available
for use on a trial basis. Most shareware works on the honor system where
if you use it regularly, you are expected to pay a registration fee.
Some shareware programs are setup to automatically disable itself once
the trial period has expired. |
| SLIP
|
Serial Line Internet Protocol — This is
another type of access to the internet that was used on older computers.
Typically, this connection is no longer used on the modern Internet.
|
| Smiley
|
A symbol made by typing ASCII characters
on your keyboard to resemble a smiley face on its side. :) and ;) are
examples of smileys. |
| SMTP
|
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol — This is
the protocol used to transfer your Outgoing Mail from your computer and
onto the Internet for delivery. |
| Snail-Mail
|
This is an internet slang term that
refers to sending a regular paper letter through the US Postal Service.
|
| Spamming
|
This refers to sending large groups of
unsolicited messages to multiple newsgroups or email addresses. This is
probably the biggest problem facing the modern Internet. |
| T1 or T3
|
High-Speed phone lines that are leased
from a telephone company used to connect Local Area Networks to the
Internet. Most commonly used by corporations and ISPs. |
| TCP/IP
|
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol — This is the protocol used for controlling Internet traffic.
TCP/IP is similar to a traffic cop who tells internet traffic where to
go. |
| Telnet
|
This is a program that allows you to log
into another computer from another location. Telnet uses a text-based
interface. |
| Unix
|
Unix is an operating system that is used
typically on networked computers. Unix typically has advanced security
features to it making it excellent for use as network servers. However,
it is a complex operating system that is typically only used by advanced
users, network administrators and network engineers. |
| URL
|
Universal Resource Locator — This is the
technical term to describe the address of a website. (i.e.
http://www.nni.com) |
| UseNet
|
This is the network that features over
40,000 discussion newsgroups. |
| Web Browser
|
Most of the time this is described as
simply a browser. This is the program that you use to view websites. The
most common web browsers are Internet Explorer and Netscape
Communicator. More than likely, you are using one of these programs
right now to read this FAQ. |
| WWW
|
World Wide Web — This is the network that
contains every website in the world. This term is commonly used
interchangeably with the term for "Internet". However, technically if is
not. The World Wide Web is part of the whole Internet. |
