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GLOSSARY

AppleTalk

A suite of transport protocols first introduced in Mac OS 7 and included in all Apple systems since that release. One advantage of AppleTalk is that it's very easy to add and modify devices on an AppleTalk network.

Bandwidth

bandwidth is a measure of the amount of data passing through a point of network at a given time.

Bit

A single piece of data. A bit has a numerical value of either "1" or "0".

Bluetooth

An open technology specification for short-range radio links between computer, "smart" devices, and other portable machines (e.g. mouse, PDA, mobile phone...), that enables data to easily transfer from one device to another.

Browser

Software that allows you, the client, to view World Wide Web resources.

Byte

A chunk of data made up of 8 bits.

Click

Depress and quickly release a mouse button; double- and triple-click imply depressing and releasing a mouse button two or three times, respectively, within a short period.

Clipboard

A temporary storage area for programs, used for transferring text, images or other objects (by "copying" and "pasting") between programs.

Cookies

Cookies are pieces of information generated by a Web server and stored in the user's computer, ready for future access. More information is here.

CyberSpace

A nickname for the collective systems known as the Internet.

DHCP

Domain Host Control Protocol is a protocol for dynamically assigning IP addresses to networked computers. With DHCP, a computer can automatically be given a unique IP address each time it connects to a network, making IP address management an easier task for network administrators. When a computer logs on to the network, the DHCP server selects an IP address from a master list and assigns it to the system.

Domain Name

A unique identifier which assigns a name to a specific IP address. Since IP addresses are merely strings of numbers, the Domain Name system was developed to facilitate ease of recognition and recall of site addresses, i.e. our web site name weblab.co.nz translates in to an IP address 216.193.201.72

dpi

Dots Per Inch. The dpi measures the resolution.

Driver

A software program that sends instructions to a computer peripheral to tell it what to do.

Ethernet

Ethernet is a standard for connecting computers into a local area network (LAN). Enables to transfer data across, using copper twisted-pair cable.

Font

A style of type designated by a family name.

FAQ

A list with Frequently Asked Questions and their answers. Usually accompanies a Web site or Usenet newsgroup to provide an introduction to the site or group, so you can easily locate necessary information.

FTP

File Transfer Protocol is a method to transfer files from one location to another, either on local disks or via the Internet.

Finger

A protocol with which you can get information about a user on the Internet.

Firewire

See IEEE 1394

Homepage

The central document on a World Wide Web site. This document usually directs clients to the information that can be found within the site.
Also: the personal page for a person on the Internet, which contains information about him or her.

HTML

Hyper Text Markup Language is the language of the World Wide Web. HTML is used to write documents on the World Wide Web, and to collect other resources as data, images, video or audio together.

HTTP

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, a protocol to transfer files similar to FTP, but with a built-in identification of the types of the file (the MIME type). Primarily used to transfer HTML documents.

Hub

A hardware box is used to network computers together (usually over an Ethernet connection). It serves as a common wiring point so that information can flow through one central location to any other computer device on the network.

Hypertext

A document that contains highlighted areas which when selected automatically transfer the client to a different location within the original document, or another document, image, movie or other resource.

IEEE 1394

IEEE 1394, High Performance Serial Bus, is an electronics standard for connecting devices to your personal computer. IEEE 1394 provides a single plug-and-socket connection on which up to 63 devices can be attached with data transfer speeds up to 400 Mbps (megabits per second). Two popular implementations of IEEE 1394 is Apple's Firewire and Sony's i.Link.

IP

Internet Protocol, the most basic protocol to communicate on the Internet. An IP number is a numerical address consisting of four numbers separated by periods (i.e.216.193.201.72). Each IP address uniquely identifies a certain computer on the Internet. The domain name is used to make using them easier.

ISP

Internet Service Providers provide access to the services offered by the Internet.

LAN

Local Area Network is a short-distance network used to link a group of computers together. Typically limited to distances of less than 500 meters and provide low-cost, high-bandwidth networking capabilities within a small geographical area.

Modem

A modem modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to analog signals for conventional copper twisted pair telephone line and demodulates the incoming analog signal and converts it to a digital signal for the digital device.

Newsgroup

Usenet Newsgroups, as they're formally called, started out separately from the Internet. Right now, most people read newsgroups via the Internet, although it is also popular in the BBS world. A newsgroup is devoted to a specific topic, which can usually be guessed by its name. They are generally unmoderated, and everyone is free to contribute.

Resolution

The number of dots per inch used to represent an image.

Router

This piece of hardware, a special purpose computer, or software package that does what it says: it routes data from a local area network (LAN) to wide area network (WAN) or to another LAN. Routers also act as traffic cops, allowing only authorized machines to transmit data into the local network so that private information can remain secure.

Sans Serif

A type of font that does not have serifs, or lines crossing the ends of characters to enhance readability.

Search Engine

A system dedicated to the search and retrieval of information for the purpose of cataloging the results. Usually based on an index of several HTML documents, so you can easily locate the document(s) you are looking for.

Server

A computer system which can be accessed from remote systems for the purpose of exchanging data.

T-1

A type of network connection which allows for data transfer rates up to 1.5 mega-bits per second.

T-3

A type of network connection which allows for data transfer rates up to 45 mega-bits per second.

URL

An Uniform Resource Locator is the standard way to express the location of a resource on the Internet (i.e. http://www.weblab.co.nz).

Usenet

The collection of newsgroups.

Virtual Server

To assign multiple domain names to one computer, it runs several virtual servers. This way, different domain names can be used without having to hook up a new computer for each of them.

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi short for "wireless fidelity" is a popular term for high-frequency wireless local area network (WLAN) which is gaining acceptance as an alternative to the wired LAN. All for standards, 802.11, 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g, use the Ethernet protocol and CSMA/CA (carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance) for path sharing.