Bulletin
board
is an electronic message center.
Most bulletin boards serve specific interest groups. They
allow users to read messages left by others and to leave their own
as well.
Chat room
is a location
on the Internet where users can discuss topics of common
interest by sending typed messages back and forth. The messages appear
to other users as soon as they are typed.
Client
is a user's computer.
Cookie
is a piece of data placed on a client's hard drive by a
server. It can be used for a variety of purposes. One such purpose
would be to store a name and password so that a user would
not have to enter this information every time he or she returned
to the same Web site.
Download
is to receive data or software over the Internet and store it so that it may be used later.
E-mail,
or electronic mail, is a way of sending
a message over the Internet to another specific user or group of users.
Firewall
is a combination of hardware and software that prevents a visitor to an
organization's
Web site from gaining access to other information stored on
the organization's computer network, such as corporate records
or employee information.
Forum,
or newsgroup, is an online discussion group in which
participants with a common interest can exchange open messages.
Home page
is the starting page of a Web site. It generally
includes tools and indexes to help visitors navigate through
the rest of the site. In many ways, a home page functions as
an electronic table of contents.
Hyperlink
is a programmed connection from one Web site to another. It
usually appears on a Web site as a highlighted or underlined word
or phrase. When a user clicks a mouse on the passage, the
client connects to the related Web site.
Hypertext markup language, or HTML,
is the programming language most commonly used by the World Wide Web.
Hypertext
transfer protocol, or HTTP, is the set of rules governing the transfer
of files between a server and a client. HTTP electronically oversees the connection of clients to Web sites.
Internet service provider or ISP is
a business that provides a client with the means to connect
to the Internet and maintains exchanges of information between
clients and servers.
Modem is
a device that converts a computer's digital information to
signals that can be transmitted over telephone lines. It also
converts signals it receives back to digital information.
Net
is a common abbreviation for Internet.
Network
is a communication system that links two or more computers.
Online
service is a business that provides Internet access plus
a wide range of exclusive content and features, such as chat rooms, games, and news reports. Examples include
America Online (AOL), Earthlink and MSN.
Search
engine is a program that allows a user to locate
information on the Internet by typing in key words or phrases. The
search engine then returns addresses of Web sites that most
closely match the request. Examples include Google, Yahoo,
Bing, Alta Vista.
Server, or
host, is a computer that provides requested resources, such as information or software, to a client via a
modem or network connection.
Surfing
is the process of visiting a number of Web sites in rapid succession.
Uniform
resource locator, or URL, is an electronic address that identifies a Web
site.
Web browser, or simply
browser, is a piece of software that allows a user to access Web sites. Examples are Internet Explorer,
Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Mozilla.
Web
site is a collection of information at a specific address on the World Wide Web.
World Wide Web, or WWW for
short, is a part of
the Internet that includes text, graphics, video, animation, and sound.