A |  B |  C |  D |  E |  F |  G |  H |  I |  J |  K |  L |  M |  N |  O |  P |  Q |  R |  S |  T |  U |  V |  W |  X

- A -

 

Adware

Adware is hidden software, often included with a useful software program, that automatically presents pop-up advertisements.

 

Anonymous FTP

Anonymous File Transfer Protocol -
Anonymous FTP enables anyone to download files from a properly configured FTP server.  This allows users without accounts to access files by entering the username anonymous, along with their e-mail address as a password.  Because anyone can access files that have been set up for anonymous FTP, Webmasters need to be careful to use it only for files meant for public access.

 

Applet

An applet is a program written in the Java^TM programming language that can be included in an HTML page, much in the same way an image is included.  When you use a Java technology-enabled browser to view a page that contains an applet, the applet's code is transferred to your system and executed by the browser's Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

 

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange -
Bland, unformatted text files are best saved in ASCII (pronounced "askee") format. But ASCII is more than a text file format--it's a standard developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to define how computers write and read characters. The ASCII set of 128 characters includes letters, numbers, punctuation, and control codes (such as a character that marks the end of a line). Each letter or other character is represented by a number: an uppercase A, for example, is the number 65, and a lowercase z is the number 122. Most operating systems use the ASCII standard, except for Windows NT, which uses the suitably larger and newer Unicode standard.

 

ATM

asynchronous transfer mode -
This standard packet-switching protocol for transmitting and receiving data uses uniform 53-byte cells. (Each cell has a 5-byte address header and 48 bytes of data.) These short, standardized cells can be processed through a digital ATM switch very quickly, allowing for data transmission speeds surpassing 600 mbps. ATM was designed to support multiple services, including voice, graphics, data, and full-motion video. It also allows telephone and cable TV companies to dynamically assign bandwidth to individual customers.

 

Attachment

Any file linked to an e-mail message is an attachment.  Many mail packages use MIME encoding to attach files.

 

AVI

Audio/Video Interleave -
One of three video technologies used on PC's. (The others are MPEG and QuickTime.) In AVI, picture and sound elements are stored in alternate interleaved chunks in the file.

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- B -

 

Bandwidth

The amount of data that can be transmitted at a given moment to a server.  The higher your bandwidth, the larger amount of traffic your site can handle at one time.

 

BinHex

A utility and encoding format that originated on the Macintosh that is used to convert binary files into 7-bit ASCII for communications over Internet e-mail.  Files formatted in BinHex use the .HQX extension. (See MIME, UUcoding, and Wincode.)

 

Bit

A bit is a binary digit, the smallest increment of data on a computer.  It can hold only one of two values:  0 or 1, corresponding to the electrical values of Off or On, respectively.  (Also see Byte and Kilobyte.)

 

Blackhole Server

Click here to visit IANA's FAQ's on the subject.

 

BPS

Bits per Second -
The term used for measuring modem data transmission speed.  A modem rated at less than 56 kbps is no longer sufficient to accomodate today's performance requirements.  (See Bit.)

 

Browser

A browser is a software program which reads data broadcast over the World Wide Web and translates the data from machine language to human readable format.  You are almost certainly using a browser to read this.  Browsers make it possible to view sites and navigate from one Internet node to another.  Among the more popular browsers are Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Netscape, FireFox and Opera (used mainly in europe).

 

Byte

In the world of PC's, a byte usually denotes a memory boundary alignment of 8 bits which the computer treats as a single unit.  Abbreviated as uppercase B.  In mini and mainframe computers, longer sequences like 16 and 32 bits (referred to as full words and double words respectively) are also possible.

   1 bit = smallest unit of memory
   1 byte (B) = 8, 16, 32 or 64 bits, depending on memory boundary alignment of the processor
   1024 bytes (B) = 1 kilobyte (KB), 1,024 bytes
   1024 kilobytes (KB) = 1 megabyte (MB) or 1,048,576 bytes
   1024 megabytes (mB) = 1 gigabyte (GB) or 1,073,741,824 bytes
   1024 gigabytes (GB) = 1 terabyte (TB) or, 1,099,511,627,776 bytes
   1024 terabytes (TB) = 1 petabye (PB) or 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes
   1024 petabytes (PB) = 1 exabyte (EB)
   1024 exabytes (EB) = 1 zettabyte (ZB),
   1024 zettabytes (ZB) = 1 yottabyte (YB),

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- C -

 

Cache

Caches contain pages of information stored by the Web browser on its initial access of each page.  Caches are located in RAM and/or on a local hard drive.  Their purpose is to reduce access time by eliminating the need to repeat downloading information which has already been downloaded, should you go back to re-visit a page.  A cached page can include text, graphics, sounds, and URLs of online places you have visited.

DO YOU KNOW HOW TO CLEAR YOUR CACHE?  YOU CAN DO IT... WE CAN HELP.

You should clear both your cache and your cookies frequently to free up disk space and reduce the probability of outsiders gathering information about your browsing habits.  Instructions for performing this task vary slightly, depending on the browser you are using.  As with all Windows-compatible software, you can identify the version of the browser you are currently using by clicking HELP at top of screen, then click on ABOUT in the pull-down menu.

• Instructions for MS Internet Explorer, click HERE.
• Instructions for AOL Browsers, click HERE.
• Instructions for Netscape Browser 8.1, click HERE.
• Instructions for Opera click HERE.
• Instructions for Opera 9.21, click HERE.
• Instructions for Safari, click HERE.
• Instructions for All other browsers, click HERE.

 

CAPTCHA

Acronym for for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart."  A type of challenge-response test used in computing to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer.  Click here for additional details.

 

CGI

Common Gateway Interface -
A standard which lays down rules for running external programs on a Web HTTP server.  External programs are called gateways because they open up an outside world of information to the server.

 

CGI-bin

The directory on a Web server where CGI scripts are stored.

 

Certificate

A document that is used to certify that a user or organization is who they claim they are.  The certificate contains information about who it belongs to, who it was issued by, expiration date and information that can be used to verify its contents.  The certificate is an important part of the SSL system for establishing secure connections.

 

Codec

Coder/Decoder or Compression/Decompression algorithm -
Codecs are used to encode and decode (or compress and decompress) various types of data, particularly those which would otherwise use up inordinate amounts of disk space, such as sound and video files.  Common codecs include those for converting analog video signals into compressed video files (such as MPEG) or analog sound signals into into digitized sound (such as RealAudio).  Codecs can be used with either streaming (live video or audio) or file-based (AVI, WAV) content.

 

CMS

Content Management System -
Software that enables one to add and/or manipulate content on a Web site

 

Computer Virus

Viruses are small files that attach to e-mails or downloaded files and infect your computer. Some can be harmless (they may place a funny picture on your monitor) or dangerous (they can go through your address book and send everyone within your address book the same virus).  Other dangerous viruses can wipe out your computer and all your information.  Some viruses can take over your machine and send spam from your computer.  You can become a spammer without your knowledge.

 

Cookie

Cookies are small data files written to your hard drive by some Web sites when you view them in your browser.  These data files contain information the site can use to track such things as passwords, lists of pages you've visited, and the date when you last looked at a certain page.

 

CPU

Central Processing Unit -
The CPU is your computer's brain.  It is a highly complex silicon chip ranging in size from that of a matchbook to a wallet.  The term CPU is also used to describe the whole box that contains the chip, along with the motherboard, expansion cards, disk drives, power supply, and so on.  Both uses are widespread, but only the first is really accurate.  The CPU takes instructions from system software and application programs then executes them through actions such as transferring data between RAM and a peripheral device (reading/writing), transferring data between two RAM locations, performing mathematical operations in RAM, etc.  The faster your processor, the more operations it can execute per second and the smoother things appear in your applications.

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- D -

 

DHTML

Dynamic HTML -
Dynamic HTML refers to Web content that changes each time it is viewed.  For example, the same URL could result in a different page depending on any number of parameters, such as geographic location of the viewer, time-of-day, previous pages viewed, and profile of the viewer.  Some technologies for producing dynamic HTML, include CGI scripts, Server-Side Includes (SSI), cookies, Java, JavaScript, and ActiveX

 

Display Resolution

See Wikipedia's explanation for Display Resolution.)

 

Domain Name

Domain names are the word sequences users enter in their URL bar to visit your site. They are attached to a DNS, short for Domain Naming System, which is used to translate numeric addresses (known as IP, or Internet Protocol, addresses)into words.  Each site you visit on the net has a numeric IP address behind its name.  (Also see ICANN, IP Address, and URL,)

 

DNS

Domain Name System -
The domain name system translates the host names and domain names to Internet or IP addresses (IP addresses are a series of numbers in the following format: 999.999.999.999).  The term refers to the conventions for naming hosts as well as the way the names are handled across the Internet.  For a complete explanation of how the system works, visit Domain Mart  (Also see ICANN)

 

DPI

Dots per Inch -
See Wikipedia's explanation for DPI.)

 

DSL

Digital Subscriber Line -
Digital subscriber lines carry data at high speeds over standard copper telephone wires.  With DSL, data can be delivered at a rate of about 30 times faster than through a 56-kbps modem.  Also, DSL users can receive voice and data simultaneously, so small offices can leave computers plugged into the Net without interrupting phone connections.  xDSL is the collective term for different variations of DSL, such as ADSL and HDSL.

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- E -

 

E-Commerce

Electronic Commerce - Refers to the ability to sell products through your Web site.

 

- F -

 

Firewall

A firewall is a combination hardware and software buffer that many companies put in place between their internal networks and the Internet.  A firewall allows only specific kinds of messages from the Internet to flow in and out of the internal network.  This protects the internal network from intruders and/or prevents hackers from breaking into the systems.

 

Freeware

Freeware is software you can download, pass around, and distribute without payment.

 

FTP

File Transfer Protocol -
The File Transfer Protocol is a software standard for transferring computer files between machines with widely different operating systems.  FTP is an 8-bit client-server protocol, capable of handling any type of file without further processing, such as MIME or Uuencode.

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- G -

 

GIF

Graphics Interchange Format -
A compact file format ideal for graphics containing only a few colors.  It was once the most popular format for online color photos.  However, GIF has lost ground to the JPEG format when it comes to photos.  GIF images are limited to 256 colors.

 

- H -

 

History list

A history list is actually a drop-down menu in a Web browser that contains a log of the latest document titles and URLs you have visited during your Web session(s).  It's a convenience feature that lets you jump back to where you've been without having to click repeatedly on the Back button.

 

Host

See Web Host

 

HTML

Hypertext Mark-up Language -
The language used to for preparing content subsequently read mainly by Web browsers.

 

HTTP

Hypertext Transfer Protocol -
The protocol used to transmit and receive all data over the World Wide Web.

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- I -

 

IANA - Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

Click HERE for details on areas of responsibility.  (Also see ICANN and WIANA.)

 

ICANN

ICANN is the global, non-profit, private-sector coordinating body acting in the public interest.  ICANN ensures that the DNS continues to function effectively - by overseeing the distribution of unique numeric IP addresses and domain names.  Among its other responsibilities, ICANN oversees the processes and systems that ensure that each domain name maps to the correct IP address.  (Visit ICANN.  Also See DNS and Domain Name).

 

IETF

Internet Engineering Task Force -
The IETF is a large open international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. It is open to any interested individual.

 

InterNIC

The Internet's Network Information Center -
An organization formed in 1993 to handle domain name registrations.  For more details, visit http://www.internic.net.

 

IP Address

The address which provides a unique identification of a server and the TCP/IP network to which it belongs.  Networks using the TCP/IP protocol route messages based on the IP address of the destination.  An IP Address is a 32-bit numeric address expressed as four numbers separated by periods (e.g. 195.92.95.107).  Each number can be zero to 255.  (Visit IANA for background on IP Addresses.  Also see Domain Name, ICANN, and URL.)

 

ISAPI

Internet Server Application Program Interface -
This application programming interface, created by Process Software and Microsoft, is (obviously) tailored to Internet servers. ISAPI uses Windows' dynamic link libraries (DLLs) to make processes faster than under regular APIs.

 

ISP

Internet Service Provider
A company that provides access to the Internet.  For a monthly fee, the service provider gives you a software package, username, password and access phone number.  Equipped with a modem, you can then log on to the Internet and browse the World Wide Web and USENET, and send and receive e-mail.

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- J -

 

Java

A programming language developed by Sun Microsystems for adding animation and other action to Web sites. The small applications (called applets) that Java creates can play back on any graphical system that's Web-ready, but your Web browser has to be java capable for you to see it. According to Sun's description, Java is a "simple, object-oriented, distributed, interpreted, robust, secure, architecture-neutral, portable, high-performance, multithreaded, dynamic, buzzword-compliant, general-purpose programming language.

 

JPEG

Joint Photographic Experts Group -
This file format for color-rich images was developed by the Joint Photographic Experts Group committee. JPEG compresses graphics of photographic color depth better than competing file formats like GIF, and it retains a high degree of color fidelity. This makes JPEG files smaller and therefore quicker to download. You can choose how much to compress a JPEG file, but since it is a lossy format, the smaller you compress the file, the more color information will be lost. JPEG files can be viewed by a variety of downloadable software on both the PC and Macintosh platforms.

 

- K -

 

KBPS

Your modem's speed is measured in the number of bits it can transfer in a second. Modems rated in kilobits per second are now the standard.  (See Bit.)

 

Kilobyte

Although kilo is Greek for a thousand, a kilobyte actually contains 1,024 bytes (or 2 to the 10th power).  In other words, a thousand bytes is actually less than a kilobyte. Remember that the next time you download a file. Abbreviated as K.  (Also see Bit and Byte.)

Unit	Equivalent
1 kilobyte (KB)	1,024 bytes
1 megabyte (MB)	1,048,576 bytes
1 gigabyte (GB)	1,073,741,824 bytes
1 terabyte (TB)	1,099,511,627,776 bytes
1 petabyte (PB)	1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes

 

- L -

 

LAN

Local-area Network -
A group of computers (workstations) linked together for the purpose of sharing and maintaining common information.  LANS are limited to distances of less than 500 meters and typically located in an individual office or building.  (Also see WAN.)

 

Linux

What do you do if you're not happy with any of the current operating systems? You build your own, of course. That's exactly what Linus Torvalds did. His freely distributed, Intel-processor-based alternative to Unix, Linux (pronounced lih-nucks), is currently used by hundreds of thousands--and possibly millions--of people around the world. While Linux began life primarily as a hobby for supergeeks, the operating system has made some inroads into corporate life, particularly as an inexpensive substitute for high-priced Unix Web servers. Linux is available from a number of vendors for several hardware platforms, including Intel x86, DEC Alpha, Sun Sparc, and Motorola PowerPC.

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Lorem Ipsum

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.  Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC.  It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout.  (See http://www.lipsum.com/.)

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- M -

 

Malware

A generic term used to describe a variety of malicious software such as viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, etc.

 

MBPS

Megabits per Second -
This abbreviation is used to describe data transmission speeds, such as the rate at which information travels over the Internet. Several factors can influence how quickly data travels, including modem speeds, bandwidth capacity, and Internet traffic levels.  (See Bit.)

 

Megabyte

(See Byte and Kilobyte.

 

MIME

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions -
The most common method for transmitting non-text files via Internet e-mail, which was originally designed for only ASCII text.  MIME encodes the files using one of two encoding methods and decodes it back to its original format at the receiving end.  A MIME header is added to the file which includes the type of data contained and the encoding method used.  The MIME "type" has become the de facto standard for describing files on the Internet (see MIME type). S/MIME (Secure MIME) is a version of MIME that adds RSA encryption for secure transmission.  (See Base 64, quoted printable encoding, BinHex, UUcoding, and Wincode.)

 

MPEG

Moving Pictures Experts Group -
MPEG is a standard for compressing sound and movie files into an attractive format for downloading or streaming across the Internet. The MPEG-1 standard streams video and sound data at 150 kilobytes per second.

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- N -

 

Newsgroup

Newsgroups can be thought of as worldwide bulletin boards, organized more or less stringently around a topic. They use the Network News Transfer Protocol and are available through news readers such as Outlook Express and Forte FreeAgent.

 

- O -

 

Open Source

a product whose sources or design documents are open for use, modification and redistribution, often open source software (OSS).  Open source does not necessarily mean free.

 

OSI

Open Source Initiative -
OSI is a non-profit corporation dedicated to managing and promoting the Open Source Definition for the good of the community, specifically through the OSI Certified Open Source Software certification mark and program.

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- P -

 

PDF

Portable Document Format -
This Adobe technology is a popular way of formatting documents in such a way that they can be viewed and printed on multiple platforms using the freely available Adobe Acrobat Reader.

 

Phishing

Phishing refers to fraudulent communications designed to trick consumers into providing personal, financial, or account information, such as User name and Password, credit card information, and social security number. These spam e-mails often create a false sense of urgency intended to provoke the recipient to take immediate action; for example, phishing e-mails frequently instruct recipients to "validate" or "update" account information or face cancellation.

 

PHP

A server-side, HTML-embedded, open source scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages.  Network Solutions currently runs PHP version 4.

 

.png

Portable Network Graphics (See Wikipedia and png home site for details.

 

POP3

Post Office Protocol version 3 -
POP3 is an application layer Internet standard protocol used to retrieve e-mail from a remote server to a local client over a TCP/IP connection.  Nearly all individual Internet service provider e-mail accounts are accessed via POP3.  (Also see SMTP.)

 

PORT

A computer circuit consisting of hardware and associated circuitry that links one device with another.  Visit the Lakeview Research Home for much useful information regarding ports.

 

PORT NUMBER ASSIGNMENTS

Default Port Numbers are:
    21 - FTP servers (File Transfer Protocol)
    23 - Telnet servers
    25 - SMTP Outbound Mail servers (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
    70 - Gopher servers
    80 - www HTTP (Web) servers (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)
    110- POP3 Inbound Mail servers (Post Office Protocol - Version 3)
    119- NNTP (News Net Transfer Protocol)
    144- NewS (News Net Transfer Protocol)
Visit IANA or Internet Security Systems for a complete list of Port Number Assignments.

 

PPP

Point-to-Point Protocol -
The Internet standard for serial communications.  PPP defines how your modem connection exchanges data packets with other systems on the Internet.

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- Q -

 

QuickTime

Developed by Apple Computer, QuickTime is a method of storing sound, graphics, and movie files. If you see a MOV file on the Web or on a CD-ROM, you'll know it's a QuickTime file. Although QuickTime was originally developed for the Macintosh, player software is now available for Windows and other platforms. If you don't have a QuickTime player, you can always download versions for either Mac or PC from Apple's Web site.

 

Quoted Printable Encoding

Any 8-bit byte value may be encoded with 3 characters, an "=" followed by two hexadecimal digits (0-9 or A-F) representing the byte's numeric value. For example, a US-ASCII form feed character (decimal value 12) can be represented by "=0C", and a US-ASCII equal sign (decimal value 61) is represented by "=3D". All characters except printable ASCII characters or end of line characters must be encoded in this fashion.

Printable ASCII characters except "=", i.e. those with decimal values between 33 and 126 excepting decimal value 61, may be represented by themselves.

ASCII tab and space characters, decimal values 9 and 32, may be represented by themselves except if these characters appear at the end of a line. If one of these characters appears at the end of a line it must be encoded as "=09" (tab) or "=20" (space).

If the data being encoded contains meaningful line breaks then they must be encoded as an ascii CRLF combination not as thier original byte values. Conversely if byte values 10 and 13 have meanings other than end of line then they must be encoded as =0A and =0D.

Lines of quoted-printable encoded data must not be longer than 76 characters. To satisfy this requirement soft line breaks may be added as desired. A soft line break consists of an "=" at the end of an encoded line.

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- R -

 

Resolution

See Display Resolution and DPI

 

RFC

Requests for Comments -
An RFC is a document describing the standards that make the Internet work.  The RFC document series is a set of technical and organizational notes about the Internet (originally the ARPANET).  Memos in the RFC series discuss many aspects of computer networking, including protocols, procedures, programs, and concepts, as well as meeting notes and opinions.

The official specification documents of the Internet Protocol suite that are defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG ) are recorded and published as standards track RFCs.  As a result, the RFC publication process plays an important role in the Internet standards process.  RFCs must first be published as Internet Drafts.

 

RSS

Really Simple Syndication -
is a lightweight XML format designed for sharing headlines and other Web content.

Click here to see the History Channel's excellent explanation of how it works.

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- S -

 

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Using search engines to let people know about your site and drive traffic to your site.  When a person searches on a term that is related to your Web site, a brief description of your site with a link to it will appear in their search results.  There are a number of different ways to approach Search Engine Marketing.  You can also pay to be listed on search results (in a different area from natural, non-paid search results) when a key word you designate is searched on.  This is called "paid placement" or "paid search results."  Yahoo!® Sponsored Search and Google AdWords™ are two programs that allow you to pay for placement.

 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) makes your site more appealing to search engines and gives them a better understanding of who they should send to your site.  Optimizing your Web site should result in a high placement in 'natural search results,' or in the area where companies aren't paying to be listed.

 

Serial Port

This is the communications port on your computer; it's also called the COM or RS-232 port. It's called serial because, although it has nine pins and many wires, the PC sends data on only one wire and receives data on one other wire. All the data bits have to follow one another on the single wire, as opposed to the parallel port, where eight separate wires transfer each bit of a byte.

 

Shopping cart

A program designed to handle the e-commerce section of a Web site.  Shopping cart software lets users browse for and purchase products online.

 

Spam

Broadly used term used to refer to any unwanted e-mail.

 

Spoofing

a general term for activities that involve disguising the source of a communication or the identity of a user.  Spammers often attempt to cover their tracks through e-mail spoofing, in which the spam e-mail appears to originate from one source when in fact it was sent from another.  Another type of spoofing can result from a PC hijacking, where the attacker assumes the identity of the victim to gain access to privileged or valuable information such as online banking.  (Also see Phishing.)

 

Spyware

Software unknowingly installed on a PC that secretly monitors the user's actions.  Spyware can range from the benign, such as a cookie tracking a user's Internet habits, to the malicious, such as a PC hijacker.

 

SSI

Server-Side Include -
A type of HTML comment that directs the Web server to dynamically generate data for the Web page whenever it is requested. The basic formats for SSIs are: <!--#command tag="value"...>, #include and #exec.  Web pages that contain SSIs often end with a .shtml extension.  Though not a requirement, the filename extension enables the Web server to identify those pages that need to be acted upon before they are sent to the browser.

 

SSL (Secure Socket Layer)

Secured Sockets Layer is a protocol developed by Netscape that transmits your communications over the Internet in an encrypted form.  SSL ensures that the information is sent, unchanged, only to the server you intended to send it to.  SSL addresses usually begin with 'https'. Online banking sites always use SSL technology to safeguard your personal information.

 

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol -
SMTP is the de facto standard for e-mail transmission across the Internet.  SMTP is a simple text-based protocol, where one or more recipients of a message are specified and verified to exist and the message text is transferred.  (Also see POP3.)

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- T -

 

T1 Connection

A phone or data connection that can support the transfer of up to 1.544Mbits of data per second.  T1 connections are popular among businesses and ISPs.  Most T1's are connected to T3, which can handle up to 43Mbits per second and are actual Internet backbone connections.

 

TCP/IP

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP)

 

Telnet

Telnet is an application that lets you log on to a Unix computer.  Provided you have an account on that Telnet server, you can then use its resources. A drawback of Telnet is that it's character-based, so you need to speak Unix to the other computer.

 

Trojan horse

A malicious, security-breaking program disguised as something benign, sent to you over the Internet.  For example, you download what appears to be a movie or music file, but when you click on it, you unleash a dangerous program that erases your disk, sends your credit-card numbers, passwords and other information to a stranger, or lets that stranger hijack your computer to commit illegal attacks that can virtually cripple a whole network.

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- U -

 

UDP

Acronym for User Datagram Protocol.  A connectionless protocol that, like TCP, runs on top of IP networks. Unlike TCP/IP, UDP/IP provides very few error recovery services, offering instead a direct way to send and receive datagrams over an IP network. It's used primarily for broadcasting messages over a network.  (Also see additional detail provided by Network Sorcery.)

 

Unicode

Unicode provides a unique number for every character, no matter what the platform, no matter what the program, no matter what the language.  (See additional detail provided by The Unicode Consortium.)

 

URL

Acronym for Uniform Resource Locator. A URL is the address for a resource or site (usually a directory or file) on the World Wide Web and the convention that Web browsers use for locating files and other remote services.  (Also see IP Address and Domain Name)

 

USB

Universal Serial Bus -
USB--designed by a consortium of PC manufacturers including Compaq, Digital, and IBM-can allow you to daisy-chain as many as 127 peripherals off that port and use them all at once. The standard also supports data transfer rates up to 12MB/sec, making it suitable for even high-bandwidth applications such as video.

 

Usenet

USENET is a worldwide network of thousands of Unix systems with a decentralized administration.  The Usenet systems exist to transmit postings to special-interest newsgroups, or discussion groups, covering just about any topic you can imagine.

 

UUcoding

Universal Serial Bus -
A common method for transmitting non-text files via Internet e-mail, which was originally designed for ASCII text. The UUencode utility encodes the files by converting 8-bit characters into 7-bit ASCII text, and the UUdecode utility decodes it back to its original format at the receiving end. Originating in the Unix community, UUcoding was one of the first methods for sending binary files as attached files over Internet e-mail. Today, MIME is widely used. (See BinHex, MIME, and Wincode)

 

Uudecode

See UUcoding

 

Uuencode

See UUcoding

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- V -

 

Virus

(See Computer Virus)

 

- W -

 

WAN

Wide-area Network -
A data communications network that covers a relatively broad geographic area and that often uses transmission facilities provided by common carriers, such as telephone companies.  (Also see LAN.)

 

WAV

The Windows standard for waveform sound files.  WAV files have the extension .wav.

 

Web Host

A Web host provides server space and services for Web sites developed and maintained by individuals or companies that do not have their own Web servers.  Many ISPs, such as America Online, will provide individual subscribers with a small amount of server space to host a personal Web page.  Other commercial ISPs will charge the user a fee depending on the software and services (such as statistical reporting) made available to the site being hosted.

 

WIANA

Wireless Internet Numbers Authority.  (Also see IANA.)

 

Wincode

A Windows utility written by George Silva that supports the UUcoding and MIME formats for converting binary files into 7-bit ASCII for transmission so they can be attached to e-mail over the Internet. See UUcoding, BinHex and MIME.  (See MIME, UUcoding, and BinHex.)

 

Worm

A computer program that can run independently, can propagate a complete working version of itself onto other hosts on a network, and can destructively consume computer resources.

 

WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get -
WYSIWYG (pronounced "whizzy-wig") refers to any technology that enables you to see images onscreen exactly as they will appear when printed out.

 

W3C

World Wide Web Consortium -
The W3C is a global organization which develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential.  W3C is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding.

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- X -

 

XML

XML is the Extensible Markup Language, a system for defining specialized markup languages that are used to transmit formatted data. XML is conceptually related to HTML, but XML is not itself a markup language. Rather it's a metalanguage, a language used to create other specialized languages.

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