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A
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- Address:
- The location of a web site on the
Internet-- also called a "URL." The address of a site can tell you
something of the nature of the information that you will find there.
An address that has ".gov" at the end of the address will belong to
a "government" site. Typing "http://www.nsa.gov" in the location field
will bring you to the National Security Agency web site. Another common
suffix is ".com." Sites with this suffix are generally commercial
sites. See also "Domain Name."
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- AVI:
- A file suffix that denotes a movie
or video clip in a Windows format.
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B
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- BBS:
- Bulletin Board
System. A BBS is a program that runs on a computer that
allows users access to that computer through a
modem.
- Back
Button:
- One of the buttons in
the upper part of the browser window on the strip called
the tool bar. This button will take you to the previous
page that was open in the browser.
- Bookmark:
- A way to save a
location on the Internet by storing the address in a file
in the Netscape browser (the Internet Explorer version of
this is called a "favorite"). This allows the user to go
back to the site at a later date.
- Browser:
- A software program
that allows the user to view and interact with files on
the Internet. "Netscape" and "Internet Explorer" are the
most common programs.
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C
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- CGI:
- Common Gateway
Interface. A standard in programming that allows programs
on servers to interact with the World Wide Web. It is
usually used to handle forms, posting of database
information and e-mail.
- Chat
Room:
- A web site where
users can type messages to one another.
- Choosing:
- Clicking on an object
once with the cursor.
- Clicking:
- Moving the mouse
until the cursor covers the desired object and then
pressing down and quickly releasing the button on the
mouse.
- Cookies:
- Data files sent to a
web browser from a web server. They are used by the web
server to gather information. May be used to tell the
server being accessed who accessed their site last, how
many times the user has been there before, log-in and
registration information, etc.
- Cursor:
- The arrow on the
screen that moves when the user moves the mouse. The
cursor changes to a hand when it passes over a
link.
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D
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- DNS:
- Domain Name System.
The process of translating the domain name of a computer
to its corresponding IP address.
- Domain
Name:
- A site's address or
URL without listing the protocol: "http://www.sbcc.net"
would simply be referred to as "www.sbcc.net."
- Domain
Suffix:
- The last three
letters of an Internet address (such as
"http://www.nsa.gov"). The suffix can be ".edu" for
educational sites, ".gov" for government, ".org" for
non-profit organizations, ".com" for commercial, ".net"
for a site hosted by an Internet service provider, and
".mil" for military. The suffix can be a clue to the kind
of information that might be found on the site.
- Download:
- To transfer files
from a location on the Internet to the user's
computer.
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E
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- E-mail:
- Electronic mail.
Messages sent through a network to other
computers.
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F
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- FAQ:
- Frequently Asked
Questions. A short file that includes questions and
answers most often asked about a given topic.
- FTP:
- File Transfer
Protocol. A common method of storing and transferring
files over the Internet. Many Internet sites have FTP
directories that a user can access to download
information, graphics and other files.
- Field:
- Also known as "text
field." A box on a web page (generally white) where text
may by typed by the user. This is usually for entering
passwords, writing messages (e-mail, chat, bulletin
board), etc.
- Floppy
Disk:
- A computer disk. Can
store text, images and bookmarks up to 1.4 MB.
- Forward
Button:
- A button on the tool
bar for navigating to a page that the user left using the
"Back" button. For instance, if you clicked on the back
button to look at a page that had previously been viewed,
you would press the forward button to resume your
search.
- Frames:
- A way of dividing up
a web page so that different content can displayed in
sections simultaneously. This page uses frames; a side
bar at the left, a top frame and the main content frame
that is displaying this document.
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G
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- GIF:
- Graphic Interchange
Format. An image format for the Internet. Files that have
the ".gif" suffix are pictures. There are other picture
formats as well-- see JPEG.
- Go
Menu:
- A menu in Netscape
that contains a list of all the sites that have been
visited since the start of the search. To view this list,
go to the "Go" menu and click and hold down, scroll down
the list of sites and visit to any of the sites by
selecting it from the menu.
- Gopher:
- A program as well as
type of protocol, it is used for getting and presenting
information in a hierarchical order. Sites that are
accessed this way are known as "gohper sites." The
popularity of this once widely-used program has waned
since the advent of the World Wide Web.
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H
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- HTML:
- Hypertext Markup
Language. The format that web documents use in order to
be understood by the browser. HTML is made up of special
codes or "tags" embedded in the text documents that
define the page's layout, graphics, and hyperlinks to
other pages.
- HTTP:
- HyperText Transfer
Protocol. The protocol used on the Web to request and
transfer Web pages.
- Homepage:
- Also "home page." The
main page or first page of a Web site. Often refers to
the personal site of an individual.
Also can mean the default page that a browser opens with,
or where the brower will return if the "Home" button on
the Navigation toolbar is pressed. This option is set by
the user or facility where the computer is
located.
- Hypertext:
- Text that is
"hyperlinked" (linked) to other Internet documents.
Hypertext is generally easily identified because it is
highlighted, underlined, and it changes the look of the
pointer to a hand when you move the mouse over the linked
text.
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I
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- ISP
- Internet Service
Provider: A company that offers access to the
Internet.
- Internet:
- The Internet is a
huge network made up of networked computers around the
world and includes such things as the World Wide Web,
file directories, e-mail communication.
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J
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- JPEG:
- Joint Photographic
Experts Group, named for the committee that wrote the
standard. A standard file format for images on the web,
especially photographs.
- Java:
- A portable object
oriented progamming language often used for web design.
Java is often used to create dynamic Web page features
like stock tickers, animations, and calculators.
- JavaScript:
- An object oriented
"scripting" language which is used to create dynamic
content on Web pages. A common use for javascript is the
"rollover" effects which change page content when the
mouse cursor runs over a specified image or link.
JavaScript is NOT the same as Java.
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K
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- Keyword:
- A specific word or
topic used in a search engine to return resulting
documents of related information. May be a topic, author
or any other associated term.
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L
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- Link:
- Also known as
"hyperlink." A word or picture on a web page that
provides a shortcut to access another page or web site
when the user clicks on it. The pointer turns from an
arrow to a hand to indicate that the text or image is a
link.
- Location
Field:
- The box below the
tool bar that displays the address of the page you are
looking at in a web browser. Addresses or URL's can also
be typed directly into this field. In Netscape, the
location field has "Location:" written next to it. In
Explorer this area is known as the "Address
Field."
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M
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- MIME:
- Multi-purpose
Internet Mail Extensions. A set of protocols that allows
e-mail programs to include attachments of non-text
data.
- MOO:
- Multi-user
Object-Oriented. A kind of multi-user environment
suitable for online gaming.
- MPEG:
- Motion Picture
Experts Group. A standard format for compressed video
files.
- MUD:
- Multi-User Dimension
(or Dungeon). A multi-user simulation environment in
which users can create objects that others can interact
with even after the creator has left the environment.
Over time, virtual worlds are created in this
fashion.
- Menu
Bar:
- The menu bar is
located on the top of the computer screen on the
Macintosh and on the top of the active window of an IBM
compatible computer. These menus contain commands for
saving, printing, editing, etc.
- Modem:
- Short for
Modulator-Demodulator. A device that converts bytes into
sound (a process known as modulation) which is typically
carried across telephone lines to another modem that
converts it back to bytes (demoduation).
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N
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- Navigation
Toolbar:
- A row of buttons in
the top area of a web browser window that includes the
buttons "Back", "Forward," "Print," "Reload," and
"Stop."
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O
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-
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P
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- Page:
- Also called a "Web
page." A document that can be opened in a Web browser. It
usually contains text, graphics and links to other
pages.
- Plug-In:
- A small, add-on
program used to enhance a larger software program such as
a browser. Allows the browser to display special kinds of
documents and multimedia effects; Some popular examples
are Shockwave for animation and RealAudio for streaming
sound.
- Protocol:
- A standard computers
use to communicate with one another, such FTP, HTTP, and
MIME.
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Q
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R
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S
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- Saving:
- Storing the
information or graphics found on the Internet for later
use. It's possible to save to a disk, a hard drive or a
computer network. The Internet Basics pages contain a
lesson on how to do this.
- Searching:
- Looking for files on
the Internet relevant to a research topic or interest.
It's possible to search by category as well as
keyword.
- Selecting:
- Clicking and dragging
the cursor across the desired text for the purposes of
editing it in some way-- deleting, saving, copying, etc.
This will turn the text a different color, which is also
known as "highlighting."
- Search
Engine:
- A program that
searches a database for information and Web sites on the
Internet. Alta Vista, Excite, InfoSeek, HotBot and Lycos
are some of the most popular search engines. Yahoo!,
often referred to as a search engine, is actually an
index of sites.
- Server:
- A computer connected
to the Internet which stores and provides information of
some sort, such as e-mail or Web pages. Also called a
"host."
- Spam:
- Unsolicited e-mail or
newsgroup postings, frequently advertising, but it can
also take the form of chain letters, virus warnings and
even false online petitions. Typically looked upon as
similar to junk mail or to telemarketing calls.
- Surfing:
- Moving quickly from
Web page to Web page. It can be likened to skimming
through magazines.
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T
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- Telnet:
- A command and program
used to access information and resources on a remote
computer (host). With Telnet your computer is temporarily
turned into a direct terminal to that host and no browser
is needed. Telnet is used to access extremely large
databases, such as the University of California's on-line
library catalog Melvyl, and is also frequently used for
Multi-User Dimension (MUD) gaming.
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U
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- UseNet:
- Also called
"Netnews." Part of the Internet that allows you to
participate in discussion groups on practically every
topic imaginable. A client program called a newsreader is
used to access the discussions. Deja News is a good place
to search for Usenet discussion groups.
- URL:
- Uniform Resource
Locator. The address of an Internet site or
page.
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V
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- Virus:
- A small computer
program designed to make copies of itself over and over.
It attaches to other programs and reproduces when the
other programs are run. You can get "infected" by a virus
by downloading infected files or programs from a network,
or by inserting an infected disk into your computer. Some
are relatively harmless, others can crash whole computer
systems.
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W
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- Webmaster:
- Person in charge of
maintaining a Web site.
- Web
Site:
- Also known simply as
a "site." A collection of web pages on a particular
subject, grouped or organized together to make the
information easier to access, much like chapters in a
book.
- World Wide
Web:
- Also known as "WWW"
or simply the "Web." The part of the Internet that allows
the user to navigate through graphical
information.
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