Computer Tips and Tricks

—————————————————————————————————————

Accessible
Easy to understand and use.

Applet
A small program, written in a language called “Java” that can be placed in a web page and runs automatically when the page opens on your computer. Applets are normally used for special effects.

ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange
A code used by computers to represent all the letters, numbers etc on a computer keyboard.

Bandwidth
How much stuff you can send through a connection to the Internet.

Baud
The rate at which a modem (the piece of equipment that can connect your computer to the Internet) can send or receive information.

Bit – Binary DigIT
The smallest unit of computerised data.

BBS – Bulletin Board System
The computerised equivalent of a notice board. People can meet or send messages without everyone being connected to the computer at the same time. Bulletin Board Systems have now largely been replaced with forums on the Web.

Bps – Bits-Per-Second
A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another. A 28.8 modem can move 28,800 bits of information per second.

Browser
Software that is used to look at various kinds of Internet information.

Byte
A measurement of data. Usually there are 8 Bits in a Byte – sometimes more, depending on how the measurement is being made.
Go to Top

CGI
A small program that takes information entered on a web page and does something with it, like turning a webform into an e-mail message. Examples of CGI programs are web site guestbooks or online shopping facilities.

Chat Room
A place on the Internet where people go to “chat” with other people.

Click
Press a button on a mouse, a trackball or an action switch.

Client
A software program that is used to connect to, and obtain data from, another computer – often across a great distance. Client programs are very specialised and are designed to work only with particular kinds of information. A Web Browser is a Client.

Cookie
A small piece of information sent by a Web server to your computer. A cookie will not harm your computer and is often used to store information such as the page layout you prefer. This saves you from having to select the same things every time you go to a web site.

Counter
A number seen on some web pages which indicates the number of visits the page has had.

Cyberspace
A word used to describe the Internet. The term was coined by science-fiction novelist William Gibson in 1984 in Neuromancer.

Domain Name
The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general.

Download
The transfer of information (eg. your email or a piece of software) from the Internet onto your computer.

E

E-mail – Electronic Mail
Messages sent from one person to another via computer.

Ethernet
A very common method of linking computers together.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
Documents that list and answer the most common questions on a particular subject. FAQs are usually written by people who have tired of answering the same question over and over again.

Flame
A unpleasant or insulting comment sent by email or posted on a newsgroup. Flames have one objective – to upset you and are best ignored.

Flame War
A series of flames amongst a group of people in a discussion.

FTP – File Transfer Protocol
A very common method of moving files between two computers.

FU – Followup
An option which can be set when replying to a newsgroup posting. The Followup determines how any future replies will be sent (eg via email or to the newsgroup)

GIF – Graphic Interchange Format
A type of image file commonly found on the World Wide Web.

Gigabyte/GB
A measure of stored information on a computer. 1000 or 1024 Megabytes, depending on who is measuring.

Header
Part of every email or Usenet post, it comes before the message and contains, amongst other things, the message writer, date and time. Headers are not normally visible when reading emails or newsgroup articles.

Hits
The number of pieces of information downloaded from a web site. Some people claim that it indicates the number of people who have visited a web page but this is incorrect. All of the text on a web page counts as 1 “hit” and every single image on a web page counts as another “hit”. So the more images there are on a web page, the greater the number of hits that are made in order to see the whole page.

Home Page
The main, or front, web page for a business, organisation or person.

Host
Generally, the name given to a computer that provides information for other computers. For example, a host may be the computer on which a web site is physically located.

HTML – HyperText Markup Language
The script language used to create web pages.

HTTP – Hypertext Transport Protocol
The language used by computers on the World Wide Web to communicate with one another.

Hypertext
Generally, any text that contains links to other documents. Specific words or phrases in the document can be selected by a reader and will cause another document to be retrieved and displayed.

Index
The front, or main page, on a web site

Internet
The name given to the collection of world-wide inter-connected computers. The Web is not the Internet – it is only one part of the Internet.

Intranet
A private network inside a company or organisation that uses the same kinds of software that you would find on the Internet, but which is only available for internal use.

IP Address
A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots.
Eg: 194.117.133.22

Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number.

IRC – Internet Relay Chat
A live chat facility.

ISDN – Integrated Services Digital Network
Basically a way to move more data over existing regular phone lines very quickly.

ISP – Internet Service Provider
The company that provides your access to the Internet eg AOL, Freeserve

J

Java
A programming language specifically designed for writing programs that can be safely downloaded to your computer from the Internet and immediately run without fear of viruses or other harm to your computer or files.

JPG/JPEG – Joint Photographic Experts Group
A type of image file (often a photographic image) found on the World Wide Web.

Keyword
A word you might use to search for a Web site. For example, searching the Web for the keyword “disability” might help you find this site.

Kilobyte/KB
A thousand bytes. More accurately, 1024 bytes.

LAN – Local Area Network
A computer network limited to the immediate area – often the same building.

Link
A piece of text or an image which, when clicked upon, will move you from one web page to another or one site to another.

ListservÂ®
A common kind of emailing list. The registered trademark of L-Soft international, Inc.

Load
Short for download and upload. If someone asks “How long did that page take to load?”, he/she is referring to the time it takes a page to appear on your screen – including all the pictures.

Location
An Internet address.

Logon
To connect to the Internet or some other computer system

Mailing List
An email system that allows people to participate in discussions together.

Megabyte/MB
Approximately a million bytes (1024 kilobytes).

Mirror
To maintain an exact copy of something. Probably the most common use of mirrors on the Internet refers to organisations that maintain exact copies of web sites in a number of different places. Mirrors are normally used to provide access to something on the Internet via a computer that is actually physically closer to you. The closer the computer, the faster (in theory) the information you asked for will arrive.

Modem – MOdulator, DEModulator
A device that allows you to connect your computer to other computers via a phone line.

MOO – Mud, Object Oriented
A role-playing environment that groups of people use to play games. MOO and MUD are text based games which means that there are no pictures – just words.

MUD – Multi-User Dungeon or Dimension
A (usually text-based) multi-user simulation environment. Sometimes used for fun whilst others are used for serious software development, or education purposes. A significant feature of most MUDs is that users can create things that stay after they leave and which other users can interact with in their absence, thus allowing a world to be built gradually and collectively.

Navigate
To move around a web page, to move from web page to web page or move from web site to web site.

Net
Shortened term for Internet

Netiquette
Etiquette on the Internet. Guidelines on how to behave in various places on the Internet.

Netizen
A citizen of the Internet.

Network
Two or more computers connected together so that they can share things.

Newbie, Newbug
Terms used to describe people new to the Internet as a whole or any particular section of it. This probably means you!

Newsgroup
The name for discussion groups on USENET.

NNTP – Network News Transport Protocol
The computer method used to carry USENET postings back and forth.

Online
a) Being able to access the Internet
b) Actually connected to the Internet

Password
A code (often a mixture of letters and words) used to get into something on a computer system. If you are given a password, do not leave copies of it lying around and don’t share it with other people!

Plug-in
A piece of software that adds things to another, larger, piece of software. Common examples are plug-ins for web browsers such as Shockwave or Flash – both of which allow you to see special animations on the Web or even play games on web sites.

POP
a) Post Office Protocol – The method by which e-mail is collected for delivery to your computer.
b) Point of Presence – The point at which you connect to the Internet via your ISP..

Port
The place where information goes into or out of a computer, or both. E.g. the printer port on a personal computer is the plug a printer is normally attached.

Portal
A web site that can help you find other web sites.

Post(ing)
A single message sent to a newsgroup.

Protocol
A set of rules that lets computers agree how to communicate over the Internet.

Query
A word, group of words or question that is typed into the input box on a search page. The query should describe what you are looking for.

RFC – Request For Comments
A way of creating a standard on the Internet. Standards allow computers – and people – to talk to one another over the Internet.

Server
A computer, or a software package, that carries out a specific job such as delivering mail.

Site
A place on the Internet.

SMTP – Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
The method used to send email on the Internet.

Spam (Spamming)
The electronic version of junk mail. It involves the sending of emails (often commercial advertising) to a large number of people who didn’t ask for it.

SQL – Structured Query Language
A specialised computer language for sending questions to databases and getting results back out again.

Surf
To “look around” the Internet, or more specifically, the World Wide Web.

Sysop – System Operator
The person responsible for the physical operation of a computer system or network.

TCP/IP – Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
A method which allows you to connect to the Internet.

Trojan Horse
A virus that pretends to be one thing when in fact it is something else. Typically, Trojan horses take the form of a game that deletes files while the user plays.

Upload
The transfer of information from your computer onto the Internet. When you send out your email, you are uploading it to a mail server.

UNIX
A computer operating system designed to be used by many people at the same time. It is the most common operating system for larger computers on the Internet.

URL – Uniform Resource Locator
Information used to locate and access information on the Internet. Often called an “address”

Usenet
A system of discussion groups.

UserID, Username
The name you type in to identify yourself to a computer.

V

Virus
A program which you can introduce onto your computer by accident and which is designed to cause problems. Many viruses spread themselves using email.

Virus Checker
A program which you can use to protect your computer against virus infections. In order to be effective, virus checkers have to be updated regularly.

Web Browser
A program (software) that is used to surf the World Wide Web. The most popular Web Browsers are Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer.

Web Site
A place on the Internet that holds information. For more information, see this description

WWW
An abbreviation of World Wide Web

World Wide Web
That part of the Internet that allows text, pictures and sound to be mixed together.

XYZ