A
Alpha --- (DEC/Alpha) a 64-bit
processor (CPU) architecture. Your Pentium, Celeron, AMD, Cyrix,
or Via C3 machine is a 32-bit machine.
AMD --- Advanced Microchip Devices.
Makers of the Athlon, Duron, and K6 CPU chips. Major competitor
of Intel.
B
Browser --- a "client"
program (software) for viewing HTML
pages on the "World Wide Web." The
most popular
Web Browsers are Internet Explorer and Netscape. Opera,
Konqueror, Lynx, and others also exist and are used.
BSD --- an advanced operating system that originated at U. Cal, Berkley
("Berkley Systems Distribution"). Currently, development is continued by 3 groups of 'user communities' - FreeBSD,
OpenBSD, and NetBSD. Taken as a whole, *BSD is one of the major branches of UNIX system development.
C
Central Processing Unit
- Alternatively the main processor chip
Client - a program
(software unit) that communicates with services on a server, most
generally from a remote location.
Popular E-mail clients include Outlook Express and Eudora.
Popular Web Browser clients include Internet Explorer, Netscape
and Opera. A popular Instant Messaging client is AOL's Instant
Messenger.... & c., & c., & c.,
CPU --- see
"Central Processing Unit."
D
E
F
Firewall - a program that
monitors incoming information on Internet "Sockets"
(ports) on a local machine in hopes of
ensuring security of the system. Many popular antivirus programs
now include firewalling software. A popular firewall
program is ZoneAlarm from http://www.zonelabs.com/
G
H
HTML - HyperText
Markup Language:
A programming language that produces "web pages" (text
and images, etc.) when viewed with a "web browser."
HTTP --- HyperText
Transfer Protocol: This is the
'language' that WWW servers
and your web browser use
to transfer text and images from the "World Wide
Web" to your computer via the Internet.
I
Intel --- An industry leader in computer
electronic components. Intel created the first microprocessor, and remains on the cutting edge of this type of
technology. Intel was founded in 1968 by researchers from Fairchild Semiconductor, a division
of the Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation, including Dr. Gordon Moore, who is famous for "Moore's
Law," a prediction of the continued growth in processing power available from the microchip.
Internet --- the
collective term for thousands upon thousands of "Local
Area Networks" that are connected to
each other by wire or fiber optic cables owned by communications
companies or by radio, and use various
protocols to communicate with each other.
Strictly speaking, this is NOT the "World Wide Web,"
although the WWW and its protocol, http, is a part
of the "Internet Suite" of protocols, and WWW traffic
makes up the majority percentage of all Internet traffic.. Technically, the
Internet is a giant WAN.
Internet Explorer - see
"Web Browser." also see
http://www.microsoft.com/ie/
J
K
L
LAN --- see "Local
Area Network."
Local Area Network ---
a group of computers, in the same general physical area,
connected together via wire in order to
communicate, share data, or share services available on a
"server." This definition is becoming dated as
"wireless" networking
becomes popular.
M
Moore's Law --- The observation made in 1965 by Gordon
Moore, co-founder of Intel, that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year
since the integrated circuit was invented. Moore predicted that this trend would continue for the foreseeable future.
In subsequent years, the pace slowed down a bit, but data density has doubled approximately every 18 months, and this
is the current definition of Moore's Law, which Moore himself has blessed. Most experts, including Moore himself,
expect Moore's Law to hold for at least another two decades.
N
Netscape --- see "Web
Browser." also see http://www.netscape.com/
O
Opera --- see "Web
Browser." also see http://www.opera.com/
P
Processor, Processor Chip
--- see "Central Processing Unit."
Q
R
S
Server --- a computer
that runs "services" for other computers. Any computer
can act as a server with the proper
hardware, software, and resources.
Services --- a
euphemism, in poor taste, for "X Window System."
SMTP --- Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol.
The 'language' that your E-mail Server uses to talk to other mail
servers.
T
Telnet --- This is an internet protocol that opens a command
"shell" on a remote machine, i.e. it is for controlling computers over a
network from a terminal in another location. Uses port 23, and information
is not encrypted, so it is falling out of favor in today's "hostile" Internet.
U
V
VMS --- An advanced operating system, originally designed by
DEC (now owned by Hewlett-Packard), that operates on the VAX and Alpha architectures. Support for the Itanium
platform has been announced.
W
WAN --- Wide Area
Network. The opposite of Local
Area Network; Wide Area Networks are seperated
geographically.
Technically, the Internet itself is a
gigantic, worldwide WAN which is owned by
various individuals and corporate or governmental
entities.
World Wide Web --- The
incredibly huge collection of HTML
documents existing on servers connected
to the Internet.
These documents use hyperlinks to connect
to other documents, other servers, or to programs on either the
local computer or the server, creating a big tangle of information that has
become known as the "World Wide Web." See HTML,
hyperlinks.
Note: The "World Wide Web" and
the "Internet" and not
synonymous. The World Wide Web is part of the Internet,
but the Internet is much more than the World
Wide Web.
WWW --- see "World
Wide Web."
X
X --- see X Window
System.
X Window System ---
X Windows --- a
euphemism, in poor taste, for "X Window System."
Y
Z