Use the index below or hit Crtl+F then enter a key word

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



A


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B
Bandwidth
measurement for the volume of information that's transmitted. The higher the bandwidth the faster the data transfers

Baud Rate
measurement of how quickly a modem transfers data

Beta (test/program)
beta test (pre-release phase of software) is the second stage of testing software where the program is distributed so people can take it for a test drive and report back with faults, problems and suggestions. A beta program indicates that the program has not been finished and isn't ready for general distribution.

BIOS
Basic Input Output System


Boot (up)
When you hit the power button to turn on your computer it "boots up"

BPS
Bits Per Second


Bounce
When you send an email and it doesn't get to the recipient it's "bounced" back to you. Check the addy and try again…

Browser
Software/Program used to display information from the web… like Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer

Buffer
Is the temporary storage area on your computer. Printers have their own!

Bug
An error in a program. Mostly found in Beta versions



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C
CAD
Computer Aided Design


Cache
area of memory that stores recently accessed data/information for quick access.

CDROM
Compact Disc Read Only Memory


Chat
Conversational Hypertext Access Technology


Cold Boot
When you computer starts from the power on button... also known as Hard Boot

Cookie
A wee file dropped into your system so that a web site can write data to it… it can store a password, username, preferences etc. It can also track your habits, where you go… what you do… Big Brother is watching you!!! Paranoid?? Don't be… not all cookies are evil but it pays to know the difference so do a bit of research before you start panicking

Compressed
Squished data! The majority of files available for download are compressed to save download time, space etc. You'll find that most have a .zip extension

Crash
When a program (or your system/computer) shuts down unexpectedly resulting in your data being lost. Often frightening, always annoying but rarely fatal!

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D
Dial-up Connection
Connection to the Internet via phone and modem

DOS
Disk Operating System


Download
Exactly that....downloading information/programs from the internet

DPI
Dots Per Inch
unit of measure for resolution

Driver
program which transfers data between hardware. Have hardware? Then you have drivers. Keep an eye on these and check for updated drives regularly.

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E
Ezine
Electronic magazine

Email
Electronic mail

Emoticons
punctuation marks, characters and symbols used to form facial expressions of feeling/emotion/mood…
:-) happy
:-( sad
also knows as Smileys

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F
Favorites/Bookmark
You can Bookmark (Netscape) or add to Favorites (Internet Explorer) any site/page for easy recall. When you add a site to Favorites it stores the url in your Favorites folder which is located at C:\windows\favorites

FAT
File Allocation table
It's a table that pin points the location of files

FTP
File Transfer Protocol
protocol for transferring files ;-)

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G
GIF
Graphic Image Format

Gigabyte
A thousand megabytes

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H
Hard disk
sits in your central unit storing all your information, operating system, applications etc.

Hardware
computer, printer, keyboard, monitor...

Hits
Describes the volume of traffic a site gets

Homepage
The first page on a site. Usually has an index.htm/l or default.htm/l file name

Hard Boot
When you computer starts from the power on button... also known as Cold Boot

HTML
Hypertext Markup Language
'Language' used to build a web site

HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
Protocol used for communication between server and www client

Hyperlink
Is an active link to another url or within the same document… take you from the bottom of page to the top

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I
IRC
Internet Relay Chat
'real time' communication with other people either via chat room, pager, messenger etc

ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network
high bandwidth telephone lines allow for approx 128K bps

ISP
Internet Service Provider
The company you signed up with to access the internet is your ISP and unless you've changed you default home page their site will the first one viewed when you log on to the net.

IP Address
Internet Protocol Address
Is a unique number like 111.222.333.4 that identifies your computer and acts as an electronic footprint. If you have a computer and your online you have one of these! Don't believe me? Hit Start>Run and type in winipcfg and there it is! The IP that your seeing is either static (you have the same number every time you log on) or it's not! Meaning that every time you log on your ISP assigns a new number which is the case for most people.

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J
Java
Programming language developed by SUN Microsystems… the little 'extras' that make a site come alive

JavaScript
As above but it's the language developed by Netscape

JScript
As above, above but Microsoft

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K


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L


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M
MIME
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
Email message protocol so that it can contain text, graphics, audio, video etc.

Mirror Site
An site set-up as an alternate to the primary site.

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N
Netiquette
Internet etiquette….table manners for the net! Don't SHOUT, spit, drool, be rude or offensive.

Newbie
Someone who is new to the net.

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O
OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer
If your software came preinstalled then you stand a pretty good chance of having an OEM version. This means the software has been 'personalised' by the manufacturer to run on their systems.

Online
You're connected to the net or to another computer.

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P
Patch
Not a complete program. It's a 'patch' to fix/repair an existing program that you already have that may be out of date, needs repairing or to elimated a few bugs.

PC
Personal Computer
Generally refers to IBM-compatible computer

Plug-In
A small program which enhances a program. For your browser you can install Macromedia's Shockwave, RealAudio Player etc for graphics programs you can install filters, brushes etc

POP
Point Of Presence
or
POP
Post Office Protocol
The protocol used to read/access your email from the server. When someone sends you an email message it's stored on your ISP server until you log in to get it, the POP then kicks in to send to move it from the server to the Inbox on your own computer. With POP email you need to use a program like Microsoft Outlook/Outlook Express to access your mail.

Post
Sending a message to a mail list, bulletin board, newsgroup

PPP
Point-to-Point Protocol


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Q


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R
RAM
Random Access Memory
short term memory for your computer where applications are temporarily stored for quick access. The more RAM you have, the more programs you can have running at one time and the faster the access speed. When you shutdown or reboot your RAM is cleared.

ROM
Read Only Memory
You can only read the data not change it. Perfect example being a CD ROM… you can read from it but not change, or add to the information stored.

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S
Site
Can be a single page or a collection of pages

Smiley
punctuation marks, characters and symbols used to express feeling/emotion/mood…
:-) happy
:-( sad
also knows as Emoticons

SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol


Snail Mail
The 'paper, envelope and stamp' kind of mail

Soft Boot also known as Warm Boot
When you 'restart' your computer, not start from the the power on button (Cold/Hard Boot)


SPAM
Junk Mail!!

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T


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U
Upgrade
Not a complete program. You use an upgrade to further enhance and/or update existing software to a later version. If you own Windows 98 you can 'upgrade' this to Windows ME

URL
Uniform Resource Locator


USB
Universal Serial Bus


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V
Virus
A dirty rotten scoundrel of a program that causes a variety of problems for not only the recipient but also (depending on the particular virus) for the people stored in the recipients book! Consequences of being in recipient of one of these creatures can range from an annoying pop up dialog box right through the fatal destruction of all the data stored on your computer!! Scan! Scan! Scan!

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W


Warm Boot also known as Soft Boot
When you 'restart' your computer, not start from the the power on button (Cold/Hard Boot)


WWW
World Wide Web


WYSIWYG
What You See Is What You Get
Means exactly that…what you see is what you're going to get so if that's what you see on your screen then that's what's going to be printed out. You can get WYSIWYG html editors to create a web page which enables the user to type, drag and drop the content to exactly where they want it. Pronounced "wizziwig,"

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X

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Y

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Z
ZIP
File compression…to zip (compress) a file

Zine
Electronic magazine

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