Internet Jargon

• Chat Rooms: A place on the Internet where people meet and "chat" with other users in real time. Chat rooms are usually organized by topic.



• Download: To receive files or information from a remote computer. Every time you open a web page you are downloading information.



• Email: Electronic mail; messages are sent over the Internet and can be read almost instantly.



• Emoticons: Symbols used in emails and chat rooms to show emotions. Examples: :) is happy :( is sad.



• File Transfer Protocol (ftp): the basic process a computer uses to transfer files from one computer to another over the WWW.



• Frames: A technique used in designing web pages that divides the display area into smaller independent areas each with its own scroll bar and address. Although frames provide flexibility, they are not always viewable.



• Hits: If you run a query on a search engine, the hits are the web sites found to match your search.



• Homepage: A home page can be the main page or table of contents of a web site OR it can be the web page you set your computer to download when you open the browser or when you click the home button.



• Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): The language of the web. All web pages are written in HTML and then interpreted by a web browser making them viewable.



• Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http): The basic process a computer uses to locate, retrieve, and share information over the WWW.



• Icons: Images (they can be photographs or graphics) that act as shortcuts to links, commands, or files.



• Internet: A network of computers all over the world that communicate and share information over the phone lines, cable lines and other wires.



• Internet Service Provider (ISP): A company that provides access to the Internet. The ISP takes care of all the connections and calls that have to be made when you connect to the Internet. America Online is one of the most popular ISP’s currently available.



• Java: A programming language that can be run on any type of computer, which makes it very useful in designing applications for the WWW. The applications will sometimes be called Java applets.



• JavaScript: A scripting language that allows designers to make their web sites more interactive. JavaScript is usually embedded into the HTML code and can only be used on web browsers that are set to read JavaScript.



• Links or Hypertext Links: A link is a bit of text or an image that when clicked upon will take you to a new web page. When you roll your mouse over a link, the mouse pointer will always change from an arrow to a pointing hand.



• Modem: The telephone-like device that calls other computers and servers and enables you to access the WWW.



• Search Engines: A web application that searches for keywords or phrases and returns a list of related documents. AltaVista, Yahoo, and Google are examples of search engines.



• Server: A computer that houses web sites.



• Subject Index: A type of search engine that classes web sites according to their subject. When you run a search, the computer looks through all the subject headings and returns only those web sites that are classified under that subject. Yahoo and Snap are examples of subject indexes.



• Telnet: An application that allows you to call up another computer server from your computer using the Internet. Telnet is usually used to access email accounts.



• Uniform Resource Locator (URL): The address of web site. A URL is always unique and usually consists of three parts. First the server or host name. This is usually www. Second a word or set of words that identify the site (also known as the domain name). This can be anything—it is usually the company’s name. Finally, a suffix that identifies what type of site it is. These suffixes are limited. Examples are .com and .net for companies, .org for not-for-profits, and .gov for government agencies. Examples URL’s include: www.honda.com and www.whitehouse.gov



• Web Browser: The software that translates HTML documents and accesses files and software related to that document. The browser makes web pages viewable and easy to use. The two most popular browsers are Netscape and Internet Explorer.



• Web page: A single screen of information within a web site. A web page is to a web site as a page is to a book.



• Web Site: A collection of linked web pages that are dedicated to a certain subject.



• World Wide Web (WWW): A vast network of computers around the world that project web sites and are interlaced via hypertext links.

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