Glossary of the Internet

Internet Glossary

The following definitions are meant to be simplified enough for the average-to-novice computer user to understand without encroaching on a more precise or technical description. It is offered to everyone with the hope of de mystifying the complex, often esoteric world of computer networks, online terminology, communications protocols, and the multiple faces of the World Wide Web. Use the handy link bars to quickly jump to the alphabetical item of your choice. Please share your comments, suggestions, or corrections with the Web Administrator
A
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ACROBAT
    A product of Adobe Systems that permits the exchange of documents without platform dependency. The reader or viewer is free but there is a cost for the software that actually creates the document.

ADSL
    Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line transforms a normally slow telephone line between a local telephone exchange and the customer into a high-speed digital line. Asymmetric means that data moves more quickly from the exchange to the customer than the reverse. This is well suited for the needs of the World Wide Web, in that one mouse click (customer to exchange) may result in the enormous transmission of data (exchange to customer).

ANONYMOUS FTP
    Please see FTP - Anonymous.

ARCHIE
    Software that will search FTP (Anonymous) sites, and give you a list of where a file can be located. You must know the exact name of the file or it's substring.

ASCII
    American Standard Code for Information Interchange - This is the standard 128 code number set used by computers to represent the letters, numbers, and punctuation of a keyboard. For example, the letter A equals #65. Generally speaking, when a people refer to an ASCII text file, they mean that it is free of formatting codes which are inserted by word processing software (tab, font, bold, lines, printer codes).

ATTACHMENT
    A separate file that is "attached" to an e-mail. It can be any type of file, such as graphics, documents, texts, or binary. Attachments are usually coded in some format because e-mail is text or 7-bit and graphic or binary files are 8-bit. See also E-MAIL, BINHEX, MIME, UUENCODE.

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BACKBONE
    The main wiring trunk of a network that connects the main server(s) with the hubs or switches that then deliver packet signals of information to all computer users. Many network administrators use high speed fiber optic cable or catagory 5/6 wire.

BANDWIDTH
    The volume of "stuff" that can be sent through a cable measured in bits-per-second (speed). The more text, data, or video that you want to send in the same amount of time requires more bandwidth. For example, one page of text is about 15,000 bits and full-motion video requires about 10,000,000 bits each second. Displaying full-motion video is difficult because of the high volume of information that must be received. In other words, if you want to push more water (per second) through a garden hose (fixed size) you must "increase" the speed of the water. Increasing the size of the hose is like asking the phone companies to upgrade their cables. See also BPS,

BAUD
    A term for the changes of state that occur in a modem's carrier signal. Many people confuse this with bps (bits-per-second) which is the modem's speed. For example, a 9600 bps modem is running at 2400 baud, but is moving 4 bits per baud (2400 x 4 = 9600 bps). Since advertising tends to highlight a modems bps capability, the term baud is becoming obsolete.

BINARY
    A numbering system comprised of two digits, 1 (turned on) or zero (turned off). Eights bits combine to form a byte which represents one character. All keyboard characters can be represented by an 8 digit binary number from 00000000 to 11111111. The letter A equals 01000001 in binary.

BINHEX
    BINary HEXadecimal - One of various methods for converting non-text files such as graphics, spreadsheets, executable applications, and sound files into 7-bit ASCII, because Internet e-mail can only handle the ASCII format. Binhex tends to be used mostly by Macintosh users. See also MIME, UUENCODE.

BIT
    Binary DigIT - A single digit representing an electrical state of either a 1 (on) or a zero (off).

BITNET
    Because It's There NETwork - A network of educational sites apart from the Internet. Listservs (the most popular form of e-mail discussion groups) originated on BITNET. These computer mainframe networks are probably the only international networks that are shrinking, because of the rise in popularity of the Internet.

BOUNCE
    Bounced e-mail is returned from an Internet Service Provider who is not able to deliver the message. Snail-mail postal workers can always guess at handwritten addressed letters, but electronically guided software does not have this option. One incorrect character means undeliverable. See also E-MAIL, ISP.

BPS
    Bits Per Second - A measurement of how fast data is transmitted. A 28.8 modem sends/receives 28,800 bits per second. This is "almost" the limit of acceptable-error-free transmission on analog (home) phone lines, but the newest modems are approaching 57,600 bps. Even a relatively clean line still has some noise, and the faster the data travels through the line, the more destructive are the hits to good data. Modems at these ranges depend on higher compression and greater error checking to insure transmission. See also MBS.

BYTES
    A set of Bits (usually 8) that represent a single character of data. The letter A is 01000001 in binary.

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CACHE
    A mixture of your computers memory and dedicated directories where visited web pages, graphics, and sound files are stored. This permits quick access to previously viewed material instead of repeatedly downloading every item from a web page on every visit. For example, when you hit your Back or Forward browser buttons.

CGI
    Common Gateway Interface - A set of rules that describes the interaction of a Web Server with resident software. A CGI program (mostly scripts) will take information from a server and do something with it, such as taking data from a web page form and sending it as an e-mail message. Without CGIs, your form data would just set in the browser.

COOKIE
    A harmless (for now) file that is placed on your hard drive by a web server so that it can gain information about your surfing habits at a later time. The privacy loophole in this technology is that some web sites use banners where the cookie is placed, not by them, but by the advertiser (DoubleClick.Com) and it is this third party who would be able to build a massive portfolio on your entire web surfing habits, from all the many cookies they place on your computer through the many web sites that use their advertising banners.

CRACKER
    A hacker with an inordinate desire to successfully invade or Crack a secure network. Just as you crack an egg to carefully break it open without spilling its contents on the floor, crackers study how to crack security codes and break into a secured network without spilling their presence to everyone. Some crackers are only curious and love the challenge, while others maliciously intend to destroy the network system. "All crackers are hackers but not all hackers are crackers!" See also HACKER.

D
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DOMAIN NAME
    A unique name of two or more parts, separated by dots or a hyphen, that identifies a web site from all other web sites. Usually the left part is the most specific and the right is the most general. Every computer on the Internet has an IP (Internet Protocol) number which is actually used by the servers and routers. The domain is the human language equivalent of this number because people like to use text for web sites instead of numbers, and the Domain Name System (DNS) is that part of an ISP that does all the matching up of names and numbers. This web site is located at the domain of COB-NET.ORG with an extension to the right of the period (ORG) called the Root. See also IP, ISP, URL.

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E-MAIL
    Electronic Mail - A message sent from one computer user to another through an electronic connection that may be over a corporate network or the global Internet. Face to face meetings are most desireable and telephone conversations come close but e-mail offers these distinct advantages: global communication at no cost, quick transmission and response times, recipient can read mail at their convenience, global account recipients can read their mail from anyone elses computer (you don't need to be at home). See also BOUNCE.
    Most Internet Service Providers (ISP) allow special mail options such as priority transmission and the attachment of special files such as photographs. See also ATTACHMENT.

ETHERNET
    A vendor-neutral standard for networking computers together over a LAN that transmits data betweem rates of 10 MBPS (10,000,000 bps) or fast Ethernet at 100 MBPS. Robert Metcalfe selected this name in 1973 to describe his cable based circuitry on the principle that worked the same way as the old "luminiferous ether" was once thought to send electromagnetic waves through space. This technology was then adopted for standardization by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and first published in 1985 as: "IEEE 802.3 Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) Access Method and Physical Layer Specifications." See also LAN, NETWORK, WAN.

EXPLORER
    Microsoft's own browser, also called MSIE (MicroSoft Internet Explorer). This product is actually more of an integral part of the framework of the Windows 95/98/2000/NT operating systems, because many of the file management operations take place within the Explorer environment.

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FAQS
    Frequently Asked QuestionS - A document that lists the most frequent questions, along with the appropriate answer, that are requested on a particular subject. Most FAQS are usually written by people who grow weary of repeatedly answering the same question.

FDDI
    Fiber Distributed Data Interface - A standard for transmitting data on fiber optical cables at a rate of 100 Mbps (100,000,000 bps), which is 10 times the speed of Ethernet.

FIREWALL
    A strategy for separating a LAN from outside tampering by erecting a security wall that will not allow outsiders to easily enter the system, or, allow insiders to freely surf outside the system. For example, suppose one person on a LAN has a modem to surf the Internet without software or hardware restrictions. If that person downloads a virus infected file, everyone on the LAN is affected by the virus. See also TRACKING.

FLAMING
    An exchange of vain, derogatory, or profane e-mail messages.

FLAME WAR
    (Generally speaking) A style of retribution in which one or more persons unattendedly, and continuously overloads a persons e-mail box with a high volume of nuisance messages with the intention of denying the receiver any "normal" e-mail traffic. In most cases the receiver must close the account and open another one.

FTP (Anonymous, Password)
    File Transfer Protocol - A standard method for transmitting files between two Internet sites. FTP sites or accounts require a login (log into) name for access. The most common public name is "anonymous" and requires (usually) no password. Your browser generates the communication behind the scenes. A restricted FTP account, such as a web site, needs a specific login name and password. Otherwise, anyone could upload anything to someone else's web site.

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GIGABYTE
     A billion bytes or a thousand megabytes, and usually abbreviated as GB. In practical theory, a computer hard disk with a capacity of 2.6 GB would be able to contain 26,000 files with each file occupying 100,000 bytes of space. This would obviously not include the space necessary for the operating system, boot sectors, and other temporary file storage. See also KILOBYTE, MEGABYTE, TERRABYTE.

GOPHER
     A method of making menus of information available over the Internet. It is a Client/Server system which requires users to have Gopher software. It is gradually being replaced by the increasing flexibility of the World Wide Web. The concept started at the University of Minnesota, home of the "Golden Gophers."

GUI
    Graphical User Interface - (pronounced "goo-ey") It is an interface that uses graphical components such as icons, buttons, dialog boxes, pull-down menus, and a huge dependence on mouse interaction to allow the user to perform more complex operations which would otherwise be very tedious and extremely time consuming. MAC and Windows use GUI's.

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HACKER
    A person with an unusally intense desire to discover how computers and related devices work. They are usually driven by an inner sense of curiosity or fascination, and nearly reach levels of ecstasy upon successfully soldering every necessary component to the tracks of a logic board. Some hackers eventually become crackers. "All crackers are hackers but not all hackers are crackers!" See also CRACKER.

HOMEPAGE
    A web document having one of various file extensions (htm, html, asp) which serves at the focus, or starting point of an online party, that may offer additional web pages. Many times people refer to the opening or main document of a web site as the "home" page. In some instances, numerous parties may have a homepage under the umbrella of another web site that hosts their online presence. Church of the Brethren Network is a "web site" that hosts a growing number of homepages for congregations, church camps, and distinctively Brethren agencies (FOBG). See also WEB SITE.

HTML
    Hyper Text Markup Language - A language used to create Hypertext documents for the World Wide Web. Each page is a basic text document with codes that control the appearance of text and graphics. These codes are referred to as "tags." They are enclosed in angle brackets (< xxx >), and work in pairs with a forward slash to signify the ending tag. A beginning tag turns on an effect, and the closing tag turns off the effect. For example, the Bold effect is turned on with <B> and turned off with </B>. All text situated between these tags is Bolded to the exclusion of the remaining text. Tags may also load graphics, turn on colors, and set up a link to another page, or another web site.

HTTP
    Hyper Text Transport Protocol - A protocol for moving files on the Internet, and is the beginning of a web site address. See also URL.

HYPERTEXT
    Text in a web page that will allow the user to link to another page. It is usually blue in color to make the link stand out from the remaining text, and the cursor usually turns into a little hand with raised first-index finger when placed over the Hypertext.

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INTERNET
    The "inTERnet" was created in the 1960s. Click here to read about the In-'TER'-net and the World Wide Web.

INTRANET
    An "inTRAnet" is a private computer network which uses the same software as the public Internet. In other words, some corporations and organizations have web servers that are accessible only to their employees.

IP
    Internet Protocol - Every computer on the Internet has an IP number. Your home or business computer is assigned an IP number by your ISP every time that you dialup. It is often referred to as a "dotted-quad" because it is comprised of four numbers separated only by a dot, such as 201.462.893.11 - each set of numbers referring to a class. Servers and routers actually use these IPs during transmission. But these numbers would be difficult for people to remember, so human language Domain Names are assigned to IPs for the benefit of people who prefer to access web sites by text instead of numbers.
    Local Area Networks using TCP also use IP numbers. If your business computer is linked to a Windows NT network, the server dynamically assigns it an IP each time that you log in. For legal reasons and tracking purposes, many system administrators use Static IPs. In other words, they preassign permanent IP numbers to network computers. These "internal network" IP numbers come from reserved blocks of numbers that will not conflict with Internet IP numbers. See also DOMAIN, ISP, URL.

IRC
    Internet Relay Chat - A reference to several huge, multi-user, world-wide servers that are linked together, and allow anyone to create a channel. Everything that is typed in a channel is seen by everyone in that channel, unless it is a privately designated channel for something like a conference call.

ISDN
    Integrated Services DigitalNetwork or as some technicians say - "It Still Does Nothing." This is a network of cables with digital transmissions. Regular telephone lines transmit analog signals which require computers to use modems to translate digital to analog and vice versa. A digital network allows computers to send digital signals directly to each other. Transmission speeds up to 128,000 bps are possible, although in practice most exchanges operate at 56,000 to 64,000 bps. ISDN is available in most urban areas.

ISP
    Internet Service Provider - A company with direct access to the Internet which provides services to customers such as web browsing, homepages, e-mail, business advertising, or conferencing for a set monthly fee. Since the average computer user cannot afford servers, routers, modems, bridges, or an enormous phone bill for a 24 hour continuously open line, ISPs are the gate through which customers utilize the Internet. Some may be only local businesses while others might be regional corporations, and there are a few national enterprises offering access to subscribers from any dialup connection. All have distinct advantages and disadvantages and the price of services usually reflects their options.
    Almost every ISP offers E-mail capability because it is often the most utilized service. In fact, users often pick a service provider just because of the e-mail options that they offer, particulars such as POP3 or IMAP account(s), unlimited aliases, redirection, and domain forwarding. See also E-MAIL.

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JAVA
    A programming language invented by Sun Microsystems that offers fully executable programs on various operation platforms. When surfing the Internet, browsers can download small programs called "applets" (abridged form of application) that do fancy things. Plain text is too often boring, and graphics can be little more than "eye-candy." JAVA applets make the experience of web surfing more enjoyable with animations, flashing, and just plain fancy tricks. Java Script is a smaller version of Java that was developed by the Netscape Corporation, to be used as a scripting language from within the browser.

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KILOBYTE
    One thousand bytes (actually 2^10 = 1024). File sizes are often referenced by their "K" size. A file size of 29,887 bytes would be called a 29K file. See also GIGABYTE, MEGABYTE, TERRABYTE.

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LAN
    Local Area Network - Typically, a group of computers in one location that are linked together in such a way as to share information and applications. Most LANs have one server and reside in the same building or the same floor. However, depending on the equipment, a LAN could also incorporate a small college. In some government installations there are several LANs networked to each other. It is common for state and federal employees to be logged into numerous servers from one terminal at the same time, with a different login name, password, and directory access privileges for each server! See also ETHERNET, NETWORK, WAN.

LISTSERV
    ListServers originated on BITNET, but are now very common on the Internet. In principle, they allow people in different locations the ability to discuss topics and express opinions to which everyone else on the list may reply. A server has an automated list of people and their e-mail addresses. When it receives an e-mail from one individual it automatically sends that message to everyone on the list. Each person may then reply, either to the public listserv or privately to that individual.

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MBS
    Mega Bits per Second - 1,000,000 bps. See also BPS.

MEGABYTE
    A million bytes or a thousand kilobytes, and usually abbreviated as MB. For example, a file size of 2,530,817 bytes would be displayed as 2.5 MB. See also GIGABYTE, KILOBYTE, TERRABYTE.

MIME
    Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions - One of various methods for converting non-text files into 7-bit ASCII. It is also used by Web Servers to identify files sent to Web Clients, and becoming more popular for general transfers of all types of multimedia data, especially by programs such as Eudora. New file formats can be easily accommodated by simply updating the browsers list of MIME types. See also BINHEX, UUENCODE.

MODEM
    MOdulate DEModulate - A device that connects your computer to the telephone line. It modulates the digital signal from your computer into an analog signal that will be sent by the phone company over a line to another computer with a modem that will demodulate the signal back into a digital signal for the second computer.

MOSAIC
    The first World Wide Web browser. See also INTERNET, NETSCAPE.

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NETSCAPE
    This browser was a clear favorite by choice until Microsoft forced vendors to bundle their own Internet Explorer as the default browser in Windows 95 and Windows 98. Netscape was created by the same people who invented MOSAIC, the first web browser at (the National Center for Supercomputing Applications) located at the University of Illinois. These developers then took Sun Micro Systems Java language and created Java Script, a non-executable script that could be embedded in HTML to do many lively things that otherwise unimaginative HTML was unable to do. Actions such as mathematical calculations, defined navigation, and system identification of browser and monitor resolution. See also INTERNET.

NETWORK
    A general term for computers that are linked in such a way that each can share resources with the others over short or very long distances. LAN typically refers to a network in one location, WAN refers to a region, and network can mean both. "All LAN's are networks, but not all networks are LAN's." See also ETHERNET, LAN, WAN.

NODE
    A device that interacts with signals over a network. Most people associate a node with a computer which is generally true. But a node could also be a Repeater (a device which helps network signals along the system). For example, the Novell operating system will allow thirty nodes between two Repeaters. However, each Repeater is also recognized as a node, so you can only hook up twenty-nine computers between two Repeaters.

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ONLINE
    The capability and readiness of one device to communicate with another device or network. For example, a printer has an online button which determines it's "readiness" to receive data from a computer. In slang terminology, it refers to people who have an e-mail address in answer to the question: "Is he/she online?"

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PACKET
    A "chunk" of data moving around a LAN or the Internet. Data exiting a "networked" computer is broken up into chunks or packets. Each packet has the address of its origin along with the address of its destination. This allows packets from various sources to inter-mingle on the same cable, and be sorted or routed all along the way. See also ROUTER.

PASSWORD
    A secret code used to gain access to a privileged system. Good passwords are constructed of dissimilar characters, e.i., letters, numbers, spaces (not all systems!), and punctuation. Many systems allow case sensitivity. In other words, capitals and lower case letters may be distinguished. Passwords can be so artfully designed that they are easily forgotten. Most system adminstrators require or force network personnel to change their passwords at pre-assigned intervals (every 40 days, 60 days).

POP
    Post Office Protocol and describes the way e-mail software receives mail from a server. When you obtain a SLIP, PPP, or Shell account, usually it means that a POP account comes with it. You instruct your e-mail software to use the POP to get your mail.
    POP can also mean Point Of Presence - A location from where a network can be connected to with a dial up phone line. If an ISP located in Harrisburg says that they will have a POP in St. Louis, they mean that a person in St. Louis will be able to call a local number and be connected to the Harrisburg network over one of several leased lines.

PORT
    An Internet port refers to a number that is an integral part of an address. It will appear right after the domain name. Every service on an Internet server will listen on a specific port number. Most services have standard port numbers. Web servers usually listen on port 80. The URL for this site is www.tgx.com/cob, but the number 80 will pop up after "com" when a request is acknowledged by the server. Do not set your Bookmark to include port numbers, "unless" the server listens on a non-standard number! This is true of some Gopher sites.

PPP
    Point to Point Protocol - A protocol that allows a computer to "truly" access the Internet through a TCP/IP provider connection over a regular telephone line. PPP is gradually replacing the older SLIP connection. See also SLIP.

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    No entries are available for the letter "Q."

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RFC
    Request For Comments - The Internet Engineering Task Force is a consensus body that facilitates discussions and standards for the Internet. Each new standard retains the acronym RFC. The official standard for e-mail is RFC 822.

ROUTER
    A hardware device or special software that inspects each packet along its way on a network or between several networks. They are constantly looking at destination addresses of each packet and determining the route to send them. See also PACKET.

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SERVER
    A computer or software package that offers "services" to client software on other computers or a network. A computer server may have more than one server software package in operation at the same time.

SLIP
    Serial Line Internet Protocol - A diminishing standard for connecting a computer to the Internet. It is gradually being replaced with PPP. See also PPP.

SYSOP
    SYStem OPerator - A person who is responsible for the physical operation of a network of computers, online service, or online forum. In the case of a network, a system adminstrator will decide what tasks should be performed at what times (backups), and the sysop performs those tasks. In the case of an online formum, they answer forum related questions posed by members of that forum.

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T-1
    A special type of long distance telephone line that is leased by a provider. It has the capability of moving digital impulses at the speed of 1.5 mbs (1,544,000 bps). This is fast, but still not fast enough for full-screen, full-motion video which requires at least 10,000,000 bps. T1 is the most common line for connecting networks to the Internet.

T-3
    There are twenty-eight T-1's a T-3 cable. It has the capability of transmitting about 650 voice calls or moving digital impulses at a speed of 45 mbs (44,736,000 bps). This will handle full-motion video.

TCP/IP
    Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol - Originally designed for an operating system called UNIX, this collection of protocols is the software that defines the Internet. To be truly on the "net," your computer must use these protocols. Depending on the provider, TCP/IP may reside on your computer or with the service provider. It was designed in the early 1980's to make the loose connection of ARPANET networks communicate with one standard.

TELNET
    A command or program that makes a connection to a special host computer. The host requires a login name and password for you to utilize its resources. Your computer is also demoted to a dumb terminal. That means that your CPU is next to meaningless and your monitor can only display what the host allows. In other words, you are no longer using your own computer. You are running whatever the host has been designed to offer you.
    The advantage of this type of connection is that the host may possess a lot more processing power and software than you have on your own machine. It's a little bit like being able to drive a bigger car without needing to buy and maintain it.
    Anti-Microsoft entities see this "concept" as a way to combat the software giant, by offering the public, dumb terminals for $200 and let them use (e.i. rent) the provider's host computer. The advantage is that you don't need a personal computer with lots of speed, memory, or a hard drive, because this resides on the host. Additionally, you don't need to upgrade to a faster computer with fancier "bells & lights" every two years, because the power and software resides on the host.
    The disadvantage of this concept is that you have a "dumb terminal" which cannot store anything you see, because it lacks a hard drive, memory, and controller boards. If you start building these options back into the home unit, you've defeated the whole purpose.

TERRABYTE
    1,099,511,627,776 bytes. See also GIGABYTE, KILOBYTE, MEGABYTE.

TRACKING
    A strategy for apprehending crackers who have been allowed to invade a LAN. Different than a Firewall which is (depending on the software) often unreliable after a breach of security. Tracking allows a cracker to enter and navigate the LAN, but tracks his movements by "tagging" him and recording where he goes, what he does, and attempts to determine the origin of his call. The US Government and many corporations are gradually changing more and more LANs to Tracking systems rather than Firewalls.
    In other words, the idea is to allow the cracker to "think" he has successfully invaded a LAN without detection, and then give him enough rope to hang himself. Tags are both reliable and submissible in court as evidence of unauthorized entrance. See also FIREWALL.

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UNIX
    The multiuser operating system that is the backbone of most Internet servers. UNIX began in 1969 as a research tool at AT&T Bell Labs when they pulled out of the MULTICS (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) project. Researchers were not satisfied with the alternatives so they began work on UNIX which is (as the story goes) a word play on MULTI_CS. Replace "multi" with "uni" and "cs" with "x." Another story also says that the name was coined by the programmers who created it, who also realized that during their long period of development (away from female contact) they had become eunuchs.

URL
Uniform Resource Locator - A standard method for requesting the opportunity to acquire information from an Internet site. The first few letters indicate what type of site it is.
Prefix         Type                   What it represents
-------------------------------------------------------------------
http://        World Wide Web         Browse HTML documents
ftp://         FTP                    Download files
telnet://      Telnet                 Log into a server
news:          Newsgroup              Read and write to other users
URL's also have domain extensions or Roots which indicate what kind of WWW site you are visiting.
Ext              Type
---------------------------------
.com/            Commercial
.org/            Organization
.edu/            Educational
.net/            Network
.gov/            Government
.mil/            Military
See also DOMAIN, IP.
USENET
    A world-wide system of discussion groups that share information and opinions over decentralized machines, perhaps, only half of which are on the Internet. There are thousands of special interest groups which are usually headed by a moderator who regulates the guidelines for that group. Many of these groups (i-m-h-o) were created to ridicule their subjects, so don't accidentally wander onto a firing range. For example, if you love Barney the Dinosaur, don't walk into alt.barney.die.die.die! See also INTERNET (1979).

UUENCODE
    Unix to Unix ENCODEing - A standard for converting files from Binary to ASCII so that they can be sent across the Internet via e-mail. Uuencoding tends to be used by IBM PC or Windows users. See also BINHEX, MIME.

V
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VERONICA
    Very Easy Rodent Oriented Netwide Index to Computerized Archives - Developed at the University of Nevada, it is a constantly updated database of the names of (almost) every menu item on the thousands of Gopher servers.

W
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

WAIS
    Wide Area Information Servers - A software capability that permits a user to index huge quantities of information, and use those indices to search across networks and the Internet. The search results are scored according to how relevant the hits are, and subsequent searches can refine the next search process to find more information.

WAN
    Wide Area Network A network that covers a geographical area much larger than a single building or university, such as a government agency. Some corporations have stores and warehouses in different states linked together as a WAN. If products are ordered from a store in one city, the items and quantities are deducted from the computers of the appropriate warehouse to give up-to-date inventories to the other stores. See also ETHERNET, LAN, NETWORK.

WEBSITE
    An online party offering one or more documents, of which the first, main, or opening page is generally referred to as the "home" page. See also HOMEPAGE.

WWW
    Click here to read about the Internet and the World Wide Web.

X
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XMODEM
    A 1970's protocol to send 128-byte blocks of data by modem. It adds an error checking byte called the "checksum." The receiving computer looks at a block of data and compares it with the checksum to evaluate if the transmission was reliable.

Y
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YMODEM
    An improvement on XMODEM that allows each computer to make adjustments to the block size if the phone lines contain too much static. It also adds a header block at the beginning of the transmission listing the name(s) of files(s) being transferred, thus, allowing for multiple files to be sent (batching).

Z
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ZMODEM
    Still a further improvement over XMODEM and YMODEM, this protocol is becoming the unofficial standard because of a substantial increase in speed, plus the ability to quickly recover from interruptions.
"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high,
I cannot attain unto it."

Psalm 139:6