Section: Vocabulary

Vocabulary / Main Concepts

The Internet

- A network of networks connecting computers worldwide.

Mainframe

- A large, multi-user computer.

Processor

- The central part of the computer that handles all the information manipulation.

Personal Computer (PC)

- A computer based on integrated circuit technology designed for single person use.

Local Area Network (LAN)

- A combination of hardware and software designed to allow many computers within a small area such as a building or campus to communicate with each other.

TCP/IP

- Transfer Control Protocol / Internet Protocol - The underlying protocol of the Internet.

http

- HyperText Transfer Protocol - The protocol that supports the world wide web. Like other Internet protocols, it is based on TCP/IP.

ARPANET

- Advanced Research Projects Agency Network - One of the earliest ancestors of the Internet.

NSFNET

- National Science Foundation Network - The name given to the combination of ARPANET and university research computers. Now sometimes referred to as the "NSF backbone".

InterNIC

- Internet Network Information Center - An international coalition of Internet organizations that has what control there is of the Internet.

IAB

- Internet Architecture Board - An organization that sets standards for the Internet.

Hacker

- Originally used to describe a person extremely skilled at computing. The term is used generally to refer to people who use such skills in illegal or unethical manners (such as breaking into accounts that do not belong to them).

Virus

- In the computing world, a virus is a program which has been designed to act much like a biological virus; it attacks files and makes copies of itself. The term has spread to refer to any number of programs which are designed to sneak into a victim's files and cause destruction.

Safe Computing

- Simple precautions and programs you can use to protect yourself from computer viruses.

World Wide Web

- (the web, w3, WWW) - A protocol that is extremely popular because of its ease of use and support for hypertext and multimedia.

Protocol

- A standard for storing, reading, and transferring information on the Internet.

Hypertext

- Text that has been specially prepared so that when a user clicks on certain words or phrases, she is taken directly to a new page. The world wide web is an excellent example of hypertext.

Multimedia

- The integration of text, graphics, and other elements which could include video, audio, or other types of media into one document. The world wide web supports limited multimedia.

Web Browser

- A special program designed to help a user navigate the Internet. As of this writing, the most popular browsers were Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. There are many others available.

URL - Uniform Resource Locator

- The address location of a WWW document. The URL usually starts with http:// (specifying it is a document designed specifically for the world wide web), then contains the name of the machine that holds the document, then has the name of the document itself. URLs are usually entirely in lower case, and are always one word. The URL can often be typed directly into a location box to direct a browser quickly to a certain location on the web.

Search Engine

- A special web page that connects the user to a computer with a database program containing many web pages. The user types in a list of words to search, and the program returns a list of links that contain the words.

Bookmark

- In the world wide web, a bookmark is a location you have told your browser to "remember". There is usually some kind of command in the menu structure that allows you to easily return to files you have bookmarked.

History List

- Most browsers keep a list of all the places you have recently visited. You can return to a place on your list by examining the list through a command on the menus, or via the forward and back buttons.

HyperLink

- Any text in a hypertext document that is designated as a link to another document. In most web browsers, hyperlinks are underlined, and are usually a different color than other words on the screen.