Code that automatically installs and runs on your computer, such as scripts or ActiveX controls.

Technology to alter your operating system’s desktop so that it can receive the information broadcast by the channel Web sites and display it on your computer without requiring extra communications software.

An image to view while the browser retrieves the larger image from the Web server.

See Network Backbone

The amount of data that can travel through a communications circuit in one second.

Bandwidth is measured in bits per second.

A Web site whose contents can be delivered automatically to a subscriber’s computer.

HTML formats (e.g., italic, bold, size) that can be applied to characters.

The process of scanning a file a reducing its size by eliminating duplicate words of phrases and replacing them with codes for later decompression.

Cascading Style Sheets, level 2 (CSS2). is a style sheet language that allows authors and users to attach style (e.g., fonts, spacing, and aural cues) to structured documents (e.g., HTML documents and XML applications). By separating the presentation style of documents from the content of documents, CSS2 simplifies Web authoring and site maintenance.  CSS2 supports media-specific style sheets so that authors may tailor the presentation of their documents to visual browsers, aural devices, printers, Braille devices, handheld devices, etc. This specification also supports content positioning, downloadable fonts, table layout, features for internationalization, automatic counters and numbering, and some properties related to user interface

A collection of related information that can be searched by topic.

The process of restoring a compressed file to its original state.

Applies the decompression process to a compressed file.

A secret code attached to e-mail proves your identity to others and allows you to send and receive encrypted, or coded messages to ensure their privacy.

A series of protocols allowing some telephone companies to offer a higher grade of service.

See Digital Subscriber Line.

See Newsgroups

Means to transfer a copy of a file from the public directory to your own computer.

The electronic transfer of messages between hosts on the Internet.

A unique address that consists of a User ID, the @ symbol, and a host name or domain address.  For example userID@Host Name.

An image not displayed on the Web page itself, but rather a link appears on the page that represents the image.

A common way to retrieve files from the Internet.  FTP provides a means of logging onto or connecting to a computer elsewhere on the internet.

See graphic file formats.

JPEG:
GIF:
BMP:

A Web page that contains general information about the Web site.  Usually the anchor point from which pages on the site can be accessed.

A special language for describing the format of a Web page so it can be viewed by a Web browser.  A file that consists of HTML codes describes how the web page should appear on the screen.

An image that appears directly on the Web page your browser has accessed.

The first technology developed using a DSL protocol.

(E.g., GIF), The image is sent  “stepwise,” i.e., parts of the whole image are conveyed with each transmission.

See Bandwidth

Like a Web page, but available only to an internal network, not to all users on the Web.

Controls how data moves around on the Internet.  After TCP divides a message into segments, IP stuffs each segment into a packet called an IP datagram.  IP labels each datagram with the source and destination address of the packet.  IP sends the packet toward its destination, handling the routing from one host to another, even to a different physical network.

See graphic file formats.

A specific word or phrase for which to search.

1,024 bps.  Among other things, an Internet bandwidth measurement.

Most LANs run either an Ethernet network, which has a bandwidth of 10 Mbps, or Fast Ethernet, which operates at 100 Mbps.

Indicates the appearance of each element on a web page, such as a heading or bulleted list.  Markup tags are necessarily very general so that many different browsers can read the document and determine how to display it.

1,048,576 bps.  Among other things, an Internet bandwidth measurement.

An encoding of 8-bit binary files as text that allows text-only mail clients to handle the data.  It is decoded at the other end by the mail client or programs like WinZip.

A program that manages online meetings.  NetMeeting allows participants to write notes on an electronic “whiteboard,” to send and receive typed messages, and to exchange files.  Record the results of an online meeting, archive the results, and put them on a Web server so that those who missed the meeting can “replay” it at a later time.

This includes the long-distance lines and supporting technology that transports large amounts of data between major network nodes.

Special software needed to retrieve messages posted to a newsgroup.

Stores and manages the messages that are posted to various newsgroups.

Interested users subscribe to a news group and then exchange messages with other subscribers on that topic using regular e-mail.

(e.g., GIF) The image is transmitted one line at a time.

A method for showing an PowerPoint presentation online.  It may or may not include an online meeting.  A broadcast in its simplest form is analogous to the broadcast of a television show: the broadcast is sent electronically to all participants at a prearranged time.

A method of sharing and exchanging information with people at different locations in real time as if all the participants were in the same room together.

A numbered list.  For example chronological information.

A personal code that verifies you have the right to read incoming mail.

Connects regular computers or networks over longer distances.  Regular service to most residential and business customers provides a maximum bandwidth of between 28.8 Kbps and 56 Kbps.

A message sent to a Newsgroup.

The act of sending an e-mail message to a newsgroup.

By choosing a URL, a particular page from a menu or clicking a hypertext link, your browser then transfers the information to your computer.

Providers of information broadcast their content to the Web users who have requested it.

A written request in question form that tells the search engine to find documents that contain a keyword.

A computer in a distant location on the Internet.

Software that retrieves information from a database according to a query.  (A special kind of Web page that finds other Web pages that match a word or phrase you enter into it). 

Software that helps you find information on the Web.

e.g., See digital ID, encryption, active content.

An area of the internet(?) (e.g., web sites)  to which you can assign a certain level of security.

Usually with the .exe extension, extracts its compressed files without a separate decompression program.

A program you can try before buying.

Internet uses SMTP Client/Server protocol  to transport Internet mail.

Charting the relationship between all the pages in a Web presentation.

Choices regarding the appearance of text formatted with that tag.

Handles data integrity (making sure data gets to its destination without errors). It disassembles and reassembles the data.  It numbers the segments so they can be reassembled in the correct order.

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol: Asynchronous protocol because it can handle message traffic from multiple sources and to multiple destinations at the same time.

A page created by someone else that you retrieve and use as a model for your own page.

A bulleted list where the order does not matter.

Means to transfer a copy of a file from your own computer to a public directory.

Account name that identifies you on the network.

A desktop object such as a weather map, an investor ticker, or updating news service.

A structure that contains the primary Web page, additional related pages, and the hypertext links that allows users to move among the pages.

High capacity hard disk on a computer that can be accessed  electronically by specifying the its address in a Web browser.

The electronic location of a Web page.

Entering and editing without an internet connection

Global information-sharing system that allows you to find and view electronic documents, called Web pages.

What you see is what you get.

Compressed files with the zip file extension.