Tech Terms

Address
The unique name or number, also called a URL, that specifies the location of a file on the Internet or on another network.

Animation
A special type of image file that can store multiple images in a single file and produce the illusion of movement when an application displays the images sequentially.

Applet
A small application that can be embedded in a Web page to enhance the look of or add functionality to the page. See also Java.

ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a code that represents letters, numerals, punctuation marks, control characters and symbols, and makes it possible to transfer information from one computer to another.

Cache
The folder on your hard disk in which Microsoft Internet Explorer stores web pages and other files, such as images, as you view them. By storing these files on your hard disk, Internet Explorer can display pages you previously visited more quickly, because it displays the files from your hard disk rather than from the web.

Certificate
A digital signature, issued by a certification authority, that verifies the identity of a secure website. Certificates ensure that no other website can assume the identity of a secure site. This helps make sensitive online transactions, such as shopping, banking and stock trading, more secure by preventing unauthorized access to information sent to or from a secure site.

CGI Script
(Common Gateway Interface) scripting language to create/process fill-in-the-blank forms on the web.

Character set
A group of alphabetic, numeric and other characters needed to display text in a specific language.

Chat
Live communication with other users logged onto the same website

ColorSync
A color management system included with the Macintosh operating system. ColorSync improves color consistency between different devices, such as monitors and printers.

Compression
The process of reducing the size of a file by changing its format so that it requires less storage space or takes less time to transfer.

Cookie
A text file on your hard disk that websites use to store information about you and your preferences for the site. Only the information you provide or the choices you make while visiting a website can be stored in a cookie.

CPM
Cost per thousand impressions

Decompression
The process of restoring a compressed file to its original size and format

Domain name
The unique name of the server and a suffix that identifies the location of the server or the type of organization that maintains the server — the right two parts of an email address after the @. Domain names are often used in URLs. For example, the domain name, <microsoft.com> is part of the URL <http://www.microsoft.com/>. Extensions or top-level domains are:

com : commercial organization
edu: education organization (usually a college or university)
gov: U.S. government body or department
int: International organization like NATO
mil: U.S. military site
net: network organization
org: organization or anything else, usually a not-for-profit group

Download
To copy a file from the Internet, a network server or a file server to a computer.

DSL
Digital Subscriber Line: A combination of technologies that offers digital image and sound transmission over phone lines at comparable speeds as cable TV — about 25 times the speed. Subscribers need some special equipment such as an Ethernet card to connect, and only the most urban phone companies are offering this to date. Phone companies hope to compete with cable TV for providing Internet access

EDI
Electronic Data Interchange

Email
Electronic mail. The most widely used Internet service. One can get an email address at work, free from the web or a subscription to an ISP. An address will include: username@hostname.extension

Extension
See file name extension.

Extranets
Secured computer networks running over the Internet or proprietary networks where companies make product information available to customers.

File helper
See helper application.

File name extension
The characters that follow a period in a file name and indicate the file's format or type. For example, the file Image.gif uses the .gif file name extension, which indicates that the file is a GIF image.

Firewall
A security system that prevents computers on a network from communicating directly with computers on another network. Instead, all communication is routed through a proxy server, which determines whether a particular message or file may pass to or from the network.

Flame
Angry, inflammatory message sent by email or posted on newsgroups or bulletin boards

Frame
A rectangular section of a web page that is itself a separate HTML document. Web pages can have multiple frames, each with the same capabilities as an unframed web page, including scrolling and linking to another frame or website.

FTP
File Transfer Protocol, a protocol used for copying files to and from remote computer systems on a network, such as the Internet. FTP sites are frequently used on the Internet for making files and folders publicly available.

GIF
Graphic Interchange Format, a file format commonly used for transmitting bitmap images on the Internet because its file size is typically smaller than comparable formats.

Hyperlink
See link.

Hypertext
A type of electronic document that contains pointers or links to other hypertext document.