Glossary Application A program designed to perform a specific function directly for the user or, in some cases, for another application. AppleTalk A Macintosh-specific network protocol for sharing resources (files, printers, etc). Appletalk can use special hardware or run on Ethernet. Bandwidth Bandwidth is a measurement for the rate at which data can be transferred, or in non-digital systems, the range of frequencies available for transmission. Bit (Binary Digit) The smallest unit of information in a computer. Browser Program used for accessing web, gopher and other internet sites. The most well-known browsers are Lynx, Mosaic, and Netscape. Byte (Binary Term) A unit of storage capable of holding 8 bits. Cache A cache is a system for storing frequently accessed information for faster response. Cache memory on your motherboard is extra-fast RAM that keeps a copy of the most recently requested bits from regular RAM. A 'caching proxy web server' keeps the most recently requested web documents stored locally, reducing response time from (often very slow) remote web sites. Cookie A piece of data given to your browser by a web server, so that your browser will hand it back to the server with subsequent requests. First implemented by Netscape. Although there has been some furor over the privacy implications of cookies, they cannot be used to reveal anything about you to the server that you have not already explicitly revealed. Compress To make a file smaller by applying a compression algorithm, usually for the purpose of conserving space or speeding up file transfers. This can also refer to the Unix command to compress a file which appends '.Z' to the filename, '.gz' or to the free GNU enhanced version, zip. Desktop The main Graphical User Interface (GUI) generated by the operating system. Directory The Unix equivalent of Macintosh or MS-Windows 'folder', all files are stored in directories. A directory can be created with the mkdir command and empty directories are removed with rmdir. Domain An internet 'domain' is a subsection of the internet. The primary domains of the internet are.com,.int,.net,.mil, and.org, which refer to Commercial, International, Network, Military, and Simmons College GSLIS 84
Organization. These domains are administered by the Internic. There are also two-letter domains associated with specific countries. Each domain has a primary and secondary Domain Name Server associated with it. DOS Disk Operating System, the basic computer instruction set used to provide an interface to storage and other devices. Also, Denial Of Service, a form of attack in which the goal is to make a computing resource unavailable to legitimate users. See also OS. DSL Digital Subscriber Line. A method of providing connectivity at speeds up to 9Mbps using the existing POTS copper wiring. Ethernet A standard for LAN communications, Ethernet defines the hardware and communications standard for communications at 10Mbps over coax, twisted-pair or fiber. There is also a 'fast Ethernet' standard for both twisted pair and fiber. Ethernet is defined in IEEE 802.3. Finger A Unix command that provides information about users logged in, and can also be used to retrieve the.plan and.project files from a users home directory. Firewall A firewall is used on some networks to provide added security by blocking access to certain services in the private network from the rest of the internet, in the same way that a firewall in a building keeps fire from spreading, an internet firewall keeps hackers from spreading. Floppy Disk A portable magnetic storage medium for computer data. Floppy disks typically hold 1.44 MB of information Font A character set or typeface family denoting a particular size and style, either for on-screen display or printing, usually on a laser or inkjet printer. FTP An Acronym for File Transfer Protocol, a method of retrieving files to your home directory or directly to your computer using SLIP/PPP. There are thousands of FTP sites on the Internet offering files and programs of all kinds. GIF is an acronym for Graphic Interchange Format, developed by CompuServe this is a very popular format for exchanging pictures, it is slowly being replaced by the JPG image format. Gigabyte A measure of electronic holding space. One gigabyte equals 1,073,741,824 bytes. Host Any machine can be a host. The machine you log into is your 'login host', the machine you read news from is a 'news host', etc. HTML Acronym for HyperText Markup Language, the underlying formatting for World-Wide-Web documents. A Primer explaining the format is available for beginners. Simmons College GSLIS 85
HTTP Acronym for HyperText Transport Protocol the system for requesting HTML documents from the World-Wide-Web. Home A directory or WWW page that is 'owned' by a user is often referred to as their 'home directory' or 'home page'. Hard Drive The primary storage location on the computer. Hardware The physical components of the computer system. Icon A graphical image representing a (usually easily recognized) function or control, usually reacts to being selected by performing some useful or entertaining action. A primary feature of most GUIs. Internet A loose confederation of networks around the world, the networks that make up the Internet are connected through several backbone networks. The Internet grew out of the U.S. Government ARPAnet project, and is specifically designed to have no central governing authority or 'root', node. IP Internet Protocol, the standard communications scheme used for internet connected hosts, as specified in RFC 791. ISP Acronym for Internet Service Provider, these are the companies that provide access to end users of the Internet, as opposed to NSPs. There are several lists of regional ISPs, including NetUSA. Java Java is platform-independent object-oriented programming language. Originally developed as 'oak' by Sun Microsystems's Green Project in 1991, Java is superficially very similar to C++, but is unique in many ways. Java interpreters have been ported to every viable computing platform in existence. JPG An variable-compression image format, JPEG supports true color images and glossy compression. The name comes from Joint Pictures Expert Group. Kilobyte A Kilobyte consists of 1,024 bytes. Keyboard An input device used to submit data to the computer. LAN Acronym for Local Area Network, a LAN is a network contained within a single physical site (one or more buildings), as opposed to a WAN. MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface. Extensive documentation is provided by the MMA. Simmons College GSLIS 86
Modem Shorthand for MODulator/DEModulator, a modem allows the transmission of digital information over an analog phone line. A modem dictionary is available that defines all the basic terms. MS/DOS Microsoft DOS, an older non-graphical operating system, predecessor to Microsoft Windows. Megabyte A measure of electronic holding space. One megabyte equals 1,048,576 bytes. Memory The electronic holding place for instructions and data that your computer's microprocessor can reach quickly Menu A list of options from which you can execute commands. Monitor A video or computer display device. Mouse A small hand-controlled input device that relays signals to the computer, which moves a corresponding pointer on the monitor screen. Netscape(tm) A commercial GUI World-Wide-Web browser for X-Windows, MS-Windows and Macintosh, available from Netscape Communications. Newsgroup A message area in the Usenet News, each newsgroup can be either 'moderated' with only postings approved by a moderator publicly posted, or 'unmoderated' where all messages are distributed to the newsgroup immediately. OS Operating System, the basic instruction set used to provide a computer with the routines necessary to communicate with the user and hardware devices. Operating System An application that manages other applications and devices. Output Device Any device that displays information from the computer Parallel Parallel data communications send several bits over the connection (usually multiple physical wires) at once, as opposed to serial links which send one bit at a time. Parallel connections are generally used for printers and for some high speed data connections. 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. Simmons College GSLIS 87
Proxy A proxy is somebody you delegate to do something for you, in the Internet, a 'proxy web server' is often used for hosts behind firewalls. The firewalled host sends a http request to the proxy server, which forwards it to the real web server outside, collects the response, and passes it back to the internal host. Program The Windows OS term for an application. RAM Acronym for Random Access Memory, a form of primary storage that allows direct read and write operations. RAM storage is generally a very high-speed medium that requires constant power to avoid data loss. ROM Acronym for Read-Only Memory, ROM is used for permanent storage, such as system bootstrap routines. Reboot To restart a computer. Server A server provides information or other services to it's clients. Most network protocols are clientserver based. While a server usually refers to an entire machine, it's can also be used to refer to a particular daemon on that machine. SGML Acronym for Standard Generalized Markup Language, a generic grammar used as the basis for many document formats. Additional information on SGML is available from w3.org. Shortcut An icon that points to a particular file, directory or application in Windows OS. Speaker A device that translates computer signals into sound. Telnet A communications protocol for connecting to other computers locally or across the Internet. UNIX A popular multi-user operating system, the name is a play on an even older system, MULTICS. URL An acronym for Uniform Resource Locator, URL's are a standardized format for giving a pointer to information available from gopher, WWW, finger and other servers A Primer explaining the use of URL's is available. Defined in RFC 1738, they were extended to include relative (short) URLs in RFC 1808. USB Universal Serial Bus. A serial communications standard available on new Macintosh and PC systems, this is a 12Mbps bus. The USB standard provides for up to 127 devices on a single bus, there are fewer than a dozen different USB devices on the market. WAN Acronym for Wide Area Network, which is generally a network connecting several physically distant locations, as opposed to a LAN. The Internet is an example of a worldwide WAN. Simmons College GSLIS 88
Window A resizable viewing area on a computer display screen in a system that allows multiple viewing areas as part of a graphical user interface (GUI). Zip A compression and archiving format made popular on the MS-DOS/PC platform with the PKzip software, Zip offers one of the best compression ratios of the popular formats. Simmons College GSLIS 89