среда, 26 ноября 2008 г.

Some Internet Programs

CGI: (Common Gateway Interface) - A programming language used to convert data gathered from a web page into another form. A CGI program might turn the content of a feedback form into an email message, or search a server's database with user-entered keywords.
cgi-bin: The most common directory to store CGI programs on a web server. The "bin" part of "cgi-bin" is an abbreviation of "binary", dating back to when programs were referred to as "binaries".
DNS: (Domain Name Server) - A computer running a program that converts domain names into IP addresses and vice versa. Domain Name Servers (also known as Name Servers) are the backbone of the Internet.
Java: A network-oriented programming language invented by Sun Microsystems specifically designed for creating programs that can be downloaded to your computer from a web page and immediately run. Using small Java programs ("applets"), Web pages can include features such as animations, calculators and other fancy or interactive tricks.
JDK: (Java Development Kit) - A software development package from Sun Microsystems containing the basic tools needed to write, test, and debug Java applications and applets.
QuickTime: A common video file format created by Apple Computers. Video files found on the Internet are often stored in this format, and require a browser plug-in to be viewed (.mov).

вторник, 25 ноября 2008 г.

Some More Internet Terms

Backbone: A high-speed line, or series of connections, that forms a major pathway within a network. This term is relative, as a backbone in a small network may be much smaller than non-backbone lines in a large network.
Download: The process of transferring data from a remote computer to a local computer. When you copy a file from a computer on the Internet to your computer, you are "downloading" that file.
FTP: (File Transfer Protocol) - A common method of moving files between two Internet sites. Most FTP sites require a login name and password before files can be retrieved or sent.
Gateway: Hardware or software set up to translate between two different protocols. For example, Prodigy has a gateway that translates between its internal email format and Internet email format. Another definition of gateway is any mechanism for providing access to another system. For example, AOL might be called a gateway to the Internet.
HTML: (HyperText Markup Language) - The language used to build hypertext documents on the WWW. They are nothing more than plain ASCII-text documents interpreted (or rendered) by a web browser to display formatted text and fonts, color, graphic images, and links.
HTTP: (HyperText Transfer Protocol) - The protocol for moving hypertext (HTML) files across the Internet. This requires a HTTP client program on one end and a HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used on the WWW.
Hypertext: Text in a document that contains a link to other text. Hypertext is used in Windows help programs and CD encyclopedias as well as web pages to link and reference related information across documents.
LAN: (Local Area Network) - A computer network restricted to a limited area, usually the same building or a floor of a building. Office computers are typically connected to a LAN.
Network: A network is created any time 2 or more computers are connected together to share resources. When 2 or more networks are connected, it becomes an internet.
Upload: The process of transferring data from a local computer to a remote computer. When you copy a file from your computer to a computer on the Internet, you are "uploading" that file.
URL: (Uniform Resource Locator) - The standard method of giving the address for any resource on the WWW. A URL might look like this: http://www.example.com/examples.html. The most common use of a URL is to enter it in a web browser to access that page on the Internet.
WWW: (World Wide Web) - The technical definition of the WWW is the global network of hypertext (HTTP) servers that allow text, graphics, audio and video files to be mixed together. The second, more loosely used definition is the entire range of resources that can be accessed using Gopher, FTP, HTTP, telnet, USENET, WAIS, and other such tools.
WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers): Developed in the early 1990s WAIS was the first truly large-scale system to allow the indexing of huge quantities of information on the Web, and to make those indices searchable across networks such as the Internet. WAIS was also pioneering in its use of ranked (scored) results where the software tries to determine how relevant each result it.
WAN (Wide Area Network): Any internet or network that covers an area larger than a single building or campus.
Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity): A popular term for a form of wireless data communication, basically Wi-Fi is "Wireless Ethernet".
ZIP: A compressed file format (.zip). Many files available on the Internet are compressed or "zipped" in order to reduce storage space and transfer times.

Internet "Saboteurs"

Finger: An Internet tool for locating people on other sites. Finger can also be used to give access to non-personal information, but the most common use is to see if a person has an account at a particular site. The most famous finger site was a Coke machine at Carnegie-Mellon University that students had wired to the Internet. They could then finger the machine and find out how many bottles remained and how long they had been in the machine so they wouldn't walk all the way there and find an empty machine or warm soda.
Firewall: A combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN into two or more parts for security purposes. A firewall is commonly used to separate a network from the Internet.
Netizen: A term referring to a citizen of the Internet, or someone who uses networked resources. The term connotes civic responsibility and participation.
Spam (or Spamming): To send a message or advertisement to a large number of people who did not request the information, or to repeatedly send the same message to a single person. "Spamming" is considered very poor Netiquette. CAUCE (The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email) is an organization dedicated to removing spam from the Internet.
Spyware: A somewhat vague term generally referring to software that is secretly installed on a users computer and that monitors use of the computer in some way without the users' knowledge or consent. Most spyware tries to get the user to view advertising and/or particular web pages. Some spyware also sends information about the user to another machine over the Internet.
Spyware is usually installed without a users' knowledge as part of the installation of other software, especially software such as music sharing software obtained via download.
Trolling: The act of deliberately posting false or inflammatory information in order to start a flame war or cause aggravation to others.
Trojan Horse: A computer program is either hidden inside another program or that masquerades as something it is not in order to trick potential users into running it. For example a program that appears to be a game or image file but in reality performs some other function. The term "Trojan Horse" comes from a possibly mythical ruse of war used by the Greeks sometime between 1500 and 1200 B.C. A Trojan Horse computer program may spread itself by sending copies of itself from the host computer to other computers, but unlike a virus it will (usually) not infect other programs.
Virus: A chunk of computer programming code that makes copies of itself without any concious human intervention. Some viruses do more than simply replicate themselves, they might display messages, install other software or files, delete software of files, etc. A virus requires the presence of some other program to replicate itself. Typically viruses spread by attaching themselves to programs and in some cases files, for example the file formats for Microsoft word processor and spreadsheet programs allow the inclusion of programs called "macros" which can in some cases be a breeding ground for viruses.
Worm: A worm is a virus that does not infect other programs. It makes copies of itself, and infects additional computers (typically by making use of network connections) but does not attach itself to additional programs; however a worm might alter, install, or destroy files and programs.

пятница, 14 ноября 2008 г.

Internet Communication:

Account: You are said to have an account on a host computer, or with an online information system, when you have registered with its administrators to use the system. There are usually restrictions on who can register, and registration may involve a fee. When you get an accout, you are issued a user name (userid) and a password that you use to log into the system. Some guest or anonymous accounts, set up for public access to some Internet computers, do not require prior registration, but limit access to a few file directories and allowed commands.
Bookmark: A pointer to a Web site of interest. Within browsers, pages can be "bookmarked" for quick reference, rather than remembering and typing the complete URL in the address bar.
Chat - real-time, synchronous, text-based communication via computer.
Custom Search Engine (CSE) - a Google service in which individuals can create a Google account (free) and create a search engine directed to search within up to 5,000 URLs or websites they select.
Email: (Electronic Mail) - Messages sent from one person to another via the Internet. Email can also be sent to a large number of addresses at once through a Mailing List.
Discussion Group: A section within USENET dedicated to a particular topic or interest. Discussion groups are also known as newsgroups.
Favorites - Another term for bookmarks used by the Internet Explorer web browser. A saved link to a favourite web page.
Field Searching is an ability to limit a search by requiring word or phrase to appear in a specific field of documents (e.g., title, url, link).
Hit: A "hit" is a single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server. For example, a page displaying 3 graphics would require 4 hits: one for the HTML document, and one for each of the 3 graphics. "Hits" are often used as a rough measure of load on a server; however, because each hit can represent a request for anything from a tiny document to a complex search request, the actual load on a machine from a single hit is impossible to define.
Instant Messaging (IM) - a text-based computer conference over the Internet between two or more people who must be online at the same time. When you send an IM the receiver is instantly notified that she/he has a message.
Masking: To conceal a web site's URL in some manner, normally by using a domain name. For example, if a URL shows up as "http://www.example.com/" but the web site is actually located at "http://www.somewhere-else.com/example/", that URL is said to be "masked".
Mailbox: The file or directory where your incoming email messages are stored on the host computer.
Mail Gateway: A network host that transfers email messages between dissimilar email systems, reformatting the addresses and headers to match the destination host network as necessary.
Mailing List: A list of email addresses for a group of people all interested in a particular topic. Mailing lists are used by a mail exploder to forward one message to all people on the list. Lists may be moderated. The moderator maintains the list and decides which messages to explode. In many cases, you can subscribe to or leave a mailing list by sending a message to the list's "request" address.
Mail Server: Software that distributes files or information in response to email requests. Mail servers are used on the BITNET network to provide ftp-like services.
MIME - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. A set of Internet functions that extends normal e-mail capabilities and enables computer files to be attached to e-mail. Files sent by MIME arrive at their destination as exact copies of the original so that you can send fully-formatted word processing files, spreadsheets, graphics images and software applications to other users via simple e-mail. Computer viruses are often transmitted via email attachments so if you receive an email with an attachment make sure you trust the source. Also make sure you have adequate Virus protection software and that the virus definitions are up to date.
Listserv - An e-mail list of e-mail addresses of people with common interests. Software enables people who belong to a list to send messages to the group without typing a series of addresses into the message header. Usually members of the group in the listserv have to subscribe to the mailing list.
Login: The user- or account-name used to gain access to a computer system. Also, the act of entering or "signing on" to a computer system.
Netiquette: The desired mode of manners and conduct for the Internet.
Newsgroup - An Internet "site" centered around a specific topic or course. Some newsreader software can "thread" discussion so there can be various topics centered around a central theme. An advantage over e-mail is that the messages are archived and don't reside in your e-mail account, taking up your memory, unless you set up a "sent mail" or "carbon copy" option. The messages can often be threaded according to a particular discussion.
Password: A code used to gain access to a locked system. Effective passwords should contain both letters and non-letters and not be common or easily guessed words.
Popularity Ranking - A Search Engine results ranking system chiefly used by Google. Google incorporates a popularity ranking or PageRank in with its results ranking. At a basic level this is how many other web pages link to a certain page. So page A linking to page B is a vote for page B. If page A is also ranked highly (more popular) then the vote has more weight. The actual algorithm is complex and its full nature a guarded secret to avoid unscrupulous webmasters cheating the system. To see what a pages PageRank is you can download the Google Toolbar.
Posting: A single message entered into a newsgroup, mailing list, or other communications system.
Redirection - A way for a web site to automatically redirect you to a different URL or web page. For example if a web page was renamed or moved you would normally get a 404 Page Not Found error. Instead of this a small piece of code can be used to redirect the user to the pages new location or different page completely.
Results Ranking - The order in which search engine results appear. When you search on a term (keyword) the search engine tries to decide which results are more relevant and display them in an appropriate order. Each search engine uses its own unique algorithm to determine this order. Most are based on the location and frequency of the keywords on a web page with more prominence or weight given to certain areas such as the page title. Whilst others, like Google, combine this with a popularity ranking system.
Register: To pay a software company for a product to receive the full working copy. Registration is most often required for shareware programs, which may be partially disabled or contain "nags" until registered.
Search Engine: A tool for locating information on the Internet by topic. Popular search engines include Yahoo, AltaVista, and HotBot.
Steamming. In keyword searching, word endings are automatically removed (lines becomes line); searches are performed on the stem + common endings (line or lines retrieves line, lines, line's, lines', lining, lined). Not very common as a practice, and not always disclosed. Can usually be avoided by placing a term in " ".
Stop Words. In database searching, "stop words" are small and frequently occurring words like and, or, in, of that are often ignored when keyed as search terms. Sometimes putting them in quotes " " will allow you to search them.
Sub-Searching is an ability to search only within the results of a previous search. Enables you to refine search results, in effect making the computer "read" the search results for you selecting documents with terms you sub-search on.
Subscribe: To become a member of a mailing list, newsgroup, or other online service.
Thread: An ongoing message-based conversation on a single subject.
Blog (weB LOG) A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in chronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominently. It is common for blogs to be available as RSS feeds.
Podcasting or Pod-casting - a form of audio broadcasting using the Internet, podcasting takes its name from a combination of "iPod" and broadcasting. iPod is the immensely popular digital audio player made by Apple computer, but podcasting does not actually require the use of an iPod. Podcasting involves making one or more audio files available as "enclosures" in an RSS feed. A pod-caster creates a list of music, and/or other sound files (such as recorded poetry, or "talk radio" material) and makes that list available in the RSS 2.0 format. The list can then be obtained by other people using various podcast "retriever" software which read the feed and makes the audio files available to digital audio devices (including, but not limited to iPods) where users may then listen to them at their convenience.
Web Bot - A term that applies to programs/applets (macros and intelligent agents) used on the Internet. Such bots perform a repetitive function, such as posting messages to multiple newsgroups or doing searches for information.
Web page - a document designed for viewing in a web browser. Typically written in HTML. A web site is made of one or more web pages.

Internet Surfing

Browser: A software program that is used to view websites and other Internet resources on the WWW.

Cookie: A piece of information (login names, passwords, online "shopping cart" items, user preferences, etc.) sent by a web server to a web browser and saved to the computer. These "cookies" can then be used at a later date to restore the information when the web server is accessed again. Cookies are usually set to expire after a predetermined amount of time.
Domain Name:
A unique name that identifies an Internet site. A domain name is the Internet's way of translating a numeric IP address into an easy-to-remember combination of words and numbers. A given machine may have more than one domain name, but a given domain name points to only one machine. For example, the domain names "example.com", "mail.example.com" and "sales.example.com" can all refer to the same machine, but each domain name can refer to no more than one machine.
Helper Application: A program allowing you to view multimedia files (images, audio, video) that your web browser cannot handle internally. The file must be downloaded before it will be displayed. There are some plug-ins that allow you to view the file over the Internet without downloading it first.
Home Page (or Homepage): Originally, a home page was the web page that your browser is set to use when it starts up. The more common definition refers to the main web page for any business or personal site.
Host:
Any computer on a network that is a repository for services available to other computers on the network. It is common to have one host machine provide several services, such as WWW and USENET.
internet: The vast collection of inter-connected networks that evolved from the ARPANET of the late 60's and early 70's.
Internet Explorer: A web browser developed by Microsoft Corporation to compete with Netscape.
internet: (Lower case I) An internet is created any time 2 or more networks are connected together.
Intranet: A network inside a company or organization that uses the same kinds of software found on the Internet, but is only for internal use. A company web server available only to employees would be an Intranet.
IP Number: (Internet Protocol Number) - A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots. 123.45.678.9 could be an IP number. Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number. Most machines also have one or more domain names that are easier for people to remember.
ISP: (Internet Service Provider) - A business that provides access to the Internet and WWW in some form, usually for pay.
Modem: (MOdulator, DEModulator) - An electronic device that lets computers communicate with one another, much as telephones work with people. The name is derived from "modulator-demodulator" because of their function in processing data over analog phone lines. Terminal Adapters are often (and mistakenly) referred to as modems.
Netscape: A web browser created by Netscape Communications Corporation. The Netscape browser was originally based on the Mosaic program developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). It provided major improvements in speed and interface over other browsers, but also engendered debate by being the first to create browser-specific elements for HTML.
NIC(1): (Networked Information Center) - (Networked Information Center) - Any office that handles information for a network can be referred to as an NIC. The most famous of these is the InterNIC, the original ofice of domain registration . Another definition of NIC is Network Interface Card, which plugs into a computer and adapts the network interface to the appropriate standard.
NIC(2) (Network Information Center) - a unique ID Code issued by Registrars.com to identify contact persons associated with a domain name. There can be up to 3 NIC handles per domain, referred to as 'ADMIN / TECH / BILL', each having its own area of responsibility.
NNTP: (Network News Transfer Protocol) - The protocol used by client and server software to move a USENET posting over a TCP/IP network. Most common web browsers use an NNTP connection to participate in newsgroups.
Node: Any single computer connected to a network.
Online: When someone is connected to the Internet, they are considered "online".
Security Certificate: Information that is used by the SSL protocol to establish a secure connection. Security Certificates contain information about its ownership, issuer, valid dates, and an encrypted "fingerprint" that can be used to verify the contents of the certificate. In order for an SSL connection to be created, both sides must have a valid Security Certificate.
Server / Client: A computer or software package that provides a specific kind of service to client software on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software (such as a WWW server) or to the machine that the software is running on (such as a mail server). A single server machine may have several different server software packages running on it.
Shell Account: A software application that allows use of another machines' Internet connection. Users do not have a direct Internet connection; instead, an Internet connection is made through a host computer's connection.

Site: A single web page or a collection of related Web pages.

Telnet: An Internet protocol allowing a PC to connect to a host computer and use that computer as if you were locally connected. This often provides the ability to use all the software and capabilities of the host computer.