Handy Definitions

baud rate - the numbers of bitds per data that a modem can transmit per second

CPU - central processing unit. The core of the computer.

download - to receive a file sent from another computer

e-mail - electronic mail. To send or receive messages via computers on a network

FTP - file transfer protocol. A standardized, text based method of transferring files between computers.

hardware - the physical pieces of equipment that comprise your computer system.

home page - the top document in a series of linked web pages.

HTML - hypertext markup language. A set of ASCll characters that creates a hypertext document when embedded in a text document and interpreted by Web Browser software.

hyperlink - a way to connect different hypertext documents on the World Wide Web. Hyperlinks appear as highlighted text or graphics that are special encoded. While on a web page the mouse pointer changes to a hand when it rests on a hyperlink.

hypertext - files of text, sounds, images and actions linked through specially encoded text or graphics.

Internet - a noncommercial, self-governing collection of computer networks devoted mostly to communication and research. It is not an on-line service and has no central computer.

ISP - Internet Service Provider. a commercial provider of Internet connections.

LAN - Loca Area Network. Computers in small geographic areas such as a school. LANs share data over private communication links. Our computers at this school are on a LAN. All of the computers can connect to the Dataserver which stores our files.

MB - Megabytes. One million bytes. The storage capacity of magnetic media such as floppy disks, hard disks, and memory.

modem - modulation/demodulation. A device that lets computers communicate over lines

network - computers and peripherals that are connected

RAM - Randon-Access memory. The part of a computer's memory used for documents and programs. RAM is erased when the computer is turned off.

server - a computer dedicated to servicing requests from users at a high rate of demand. Servers often have massive storage capacities and high processing speeds. The server at our school is the dataserver.

spider - a program that crawls over internet pages to find keyword for search engines.

software - the programs and applications that run on the computer.

upload - to transmit a file on your computer to another computer

URL - Uniform Resource Locator. A naming, or addressing, protocol for computers connected to the Internet.

WAN - Wide Area Network. Covers a larger area than LAN: WANs share data over public communication links.

Web - another term for World Wide Web.

Web browser - software that surfs the Internet. When the user provides a URL, a Web browser connects to a remote computer and displays its home page. The browser we use at our school is Internet Explorer. There are other browsers such as Netscape Navigator but we do not use it here.

WWW - World Wide Web. A network-wide, menu based program providing hypertext and hypermedia links to other information sources throughout the Internet.