While it has undoubtedly become such a significant part of
most of our lives, the Internet still raises much confusion, if not uncertainty in, about
its language. The technically gifted have come up with so much advances in information
technology and their corresponding terms at such an astronomical rate. This, in turn, has
brought about effects on normal people who have no choice but to get on "this thing
they call the Internet." The most apparent of which is the preponderance of IT terms
in their everyday vocabulary. While the web-savvy have managed to catch up with the
dizzying plethora of Internet jargon techies have cooked up, the more unfortunate ones are
at a lost, often misusing these words to the amusement, if not utter repugnance, of those
who do understand. Technophobes, moreover, are growing more paranoid that this is an
international conspiracy of technicians and engineers to dispel chaos all over the world.
True, it is far-fetched, but then again, what will they do? Confuse us to death? I
don’t think so.
Still confused? What follows is a list of some common words
relating to the Internet.
| |
What it is (definitions
are from webopedia.com) |
What it is not |
| Internet |
A global network of
computers. Millions of computers all over the world are connected to it, all of which have
some degree of access to most of the information available on this network. It is
decentralized, unlike online services (such as America Online), meaning nobody really
controls it. |
A new corporate paradigm
designed to make everyone’s lives better. Contrary to what a lot of Americans have
heard, NO, NOBODY* INVENTED OR OWNS IT.
*To be understood liberally. |
| E-mail |
Short for electronic
mail, the transmission of messages over communications networks. Some networks have e-mail
systems that only transmit messages within their networks, but most networks are connected
to the internet, implying the transmission of e-mail (as these messages have been
popularly called) all over the world. |
Paper mail (also known as
snail mail) that your computer receives from the post office. The messages need not to be
on paper to be sent or received via e-mail. You have to be
connected to a network for e-mail to work. |
| Web Page |
A document on the World
Wide Web. Every Web page is identified by a unique URL (Uniform Resource Locator). |
A web site (most of the
time). When you go to a web site, what you see is that site’s home page. Some web
sites though consist only of one web page. |
| Web Site |
A site (location) on the
World Wide Web. Each Web site contains a home page, which is the first document users see
when they enter the site. The site might also contain additional documents and files. Each
site is owned and managed by an individual, company or organization. |
A web page (most of the
time). People often interchange web site and web page. While in some cases, this is
acceptable, most often it is not. A web site consists, most of the time, a number of web
pages or even other web sites that are linked together. |
| Hyperlink |
An element in an
electronic document that links to another place in the same document or to an entirely
different document. Typically, you click on the hyperlink to follow the link. Hyperlinks
are the most essential ingredient of all hypertext systems, including the World Wide Web. |
A fast-moving chain.
(Laugh all you want but you have no idea how gullible or dumb some
people are.) |
| WWW (World Wide Web) |
A system of Internet
servers (systems that provide access to the Internet) that support specially formatted
documents. The documents, plenty of which are known as web pages, are formatted in a
language called HTML (see below) that supports links to other documents, as well as
graphics, audio, and video files. This means you can jump from one document to another
simply by clicking on hot spots. Not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web. |
Anything that involves
spiders. |
| Server |
A computer or device on a
network that manages network resources. For example, a file server is a computer and
storage device dedicated to storing files. Any user on the network can store files on the
server. |
People on a computer
somewhere in the world sending you web pages. |
| ISP (Internet Service
Provider) |
A company that provides
access to the Internet. For a monthly fee, the service provider gives you a software
package, username, password and access phone number. Equipped with a modem, you can then
log on to the Internet and browse the World Wide Web and send and receive e-mail. Also
known as IAP (Internet Access Providers) |
A company that provides
you free Internet access |
| Browser |
A software program
designed to locate and display Web pages. Browsers are designed to read Hyper Text Markup
Language (HTML), which is simply the authoring language that is used to write Web pages. |
A dog. |
| HTML |
Short for Hyper Text
Markup Language, the authoring language used to create documents on the World Wide Web |
A corporate buzz word |
| Hyper Text |
A special type of
database system, invented by Ted Nelson in the 1960s, in which objects (text, pictures,
music, programs, and so on) can be creatively linked to each other. |
Fast-moving text |
| Firewall |
A system designed to
prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in
both hardware and software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to
prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the
Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through
the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified
security criteria. |
An actual physical wall
that surrounds your computer. |
| Cookies |
A message given to a Web
browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file called cookie.txt.
The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the
server. The main purpose of cookies is to identify users
and possibly prepare customized Web pages for them. When you enter a Web site using
cookies, you may be asked to fill out a form providing such information as your name and
interests. This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your Web browser which
stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same Web site, your browser will send
the cookie to the Web server. The server can use this information to present you with
custom Web pages. So, for example, instead of seeing just a generic welcome page you might
see a welcome page with your name on it. |
Yummy. We have no idea
why computer people really name computer stuff after food (actually, some of us do, but
the reasons really do not make any sense). They just do. |
| Domain Name |
The address of the files
or resources on the World Wide Web that you wish to locate, or browse. |
Anything that sounds
like, "this is my turf" or anything to that effect. |
| Spam |
Junk e-mail; unsolicited
e-mail |
A good thing |
