Bandwith
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Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can travel a
communications path in a given time, usually measured in seconds.
If you think of the communications path as a pipe, then bandwidth
represents the width of the pipe that determines how much
data can flow through it all at once. |
Byte
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A byte is a series of bits of a particular length, usually
8. Computer storage space is measured in bytes. A Kilobyte
(or 1 K) represents 1024 bytes and a Megabyte (1 Mb) represents
one thousand "K" bytes, or one million bytes.
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CGI
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An acronym for Common Gateway Interface, CGI is an interface
program that enables an Internet server to run external programs
to perform a specific function. Also referred to as gateways
or CGI "scripts," these programs generally consist
of a set of instructions written in a programming language
like C or PERL that process requests from a browser, execute
a program and format the results in HTML so they can be displayed
in the browser. Gateway scripts are commonly used to add interactivity
to a web page by allowing users to do things like fill out
and submit forms for processing (as in an order form for an
online catalog); query databases by submitting search requests;
and register or gain access to password-protected areas of
a site. CGI scripts are also used to implement a variety of
tracking and measurement systems on a website.
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Clickable Image
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A clickable image is any image that has instructions embedded
in it so that clicking on it initiates some kind of action
or result. On a web page, a clickable image is any image that
has a URL or more than one URL embedded in it (i.e. hidden
behind it). This can be accomplished simply by including an
<A HREF> anchor tag in an HTML <IMG> (image) tag.
Embedding more than one URL in an image requires constructing
an image map.
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Cookies
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A cookie is a file sent to a web browser by a web server
that is used to record one's activities on a website. For
instance, when you buy items from a site and place them in
a so-called virtual shopping cart, that information is stored
in the cookie. When the browser requests additional files,
the cookie information is sent back to the server. Cookies
can remember other kinds of personal information, such as
your password, so you don't have to re-enter it each time
you visit the site; and your preferences, so the next time
you return to a site, you can be presented with customized
information. Some people regard cookies as an invasion of
privacy; others think they are a harmless way to make websites
more personal.
Most cookies have an expiration date and either reside in
your computer's memory until you close your browser or saved
to your hard drive. By the way, cookies cannot read information
stored in your computer.
You can use a text editor to view cookie files. For Windows
users of Netscape Navigator, the file is called cookies.txt
and is located in the the same folder as Netscape. Macintosh
users can find it in the Netscape folder in the System/Preferences
folder. Internet Explorer creates separate files for each
cookie and stores them in folders named Cookies or Temporary
Internet Files.
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Database
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A database is a structured format for organizing and maintaining
information that can be easily retrieved. A simple example
of a database is a table or a spreadsheet.
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Directory
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A directory is a system that your computer uses to organize
files on the basis of specific information. Directories can
be organized hierarchically so that files appear in a number
of different ways, such as the order in which they were created,
alphabetically by name or by type, and other ways.
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Domain Name
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A domain name is the unique name that identifies an Internet
site. The Internet is made up of hundreds of thousands of
computers and networks, all with their own domain name or
unique name server and IP address. Domain names always have
two or more parts separated by dots. (www.yourname.com) A
given server may have more than one domain name pointing to
it, but a given domain name points to only one server. Your
domain name is reserved with the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN"). Therefore,
no other person in the world can then have that exact domain
name. A registrar member is used to access this central data
base and to make changes or updates, usually by using a form
of authorization such as contact e-mailing or password verification.
For example, you.com is the domain name belonging to you
and pointing to a host computer of your choice. Once a registrar
registers a unique domain name, it will be assigned to a particular
server, or host, computer. You then put documents onto that
server computer. That computer is called a host because it
holds your digital documents which are called when someone
enters your domain name into an Internet web site browser.
You can then have an e-mail address of you@you.com or him@yourbusiness.com
and her@yourbusiness.com and so on.
It is predicted that in the future domain names will be as
common as a phone number or mailing address. So it's a good
idea to at least reserve one for use later by parking it.
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E-mail Address
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This refers to a computer mailing address to which electronic
mail may be sent. Each computer system handles e-mail addressing
differently, but relies on various protocols for exchanging
mail with other, dissimilar systems
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Encryption
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A way of coding the information in a file or e-mail message
so that if it is intercepted by a third party as it travels
over a network it cannot be read. Only the persons sending
and receiving the information have the key and this makes
it unreadable to anyone except those persons (your browser
does it automatically).
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File Permissions
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When you place files on a UNIX system, you can assign the
files various levels of permission, specifying who can access
them, and what type of access they can have. The permission
levels regarding who can access files are: owner (the person
who created the files), group (such as a group of individuals
specifically identified, or global (anyone). The type of access
can be set to permit the users to read (look at the contents
and copy it), write (edit or change the contents, rename and/or
move the files), or execute (run a file as a UNIX program).
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Forms
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Forms are web pages comprised of text and "fields"
for a user to fill in with information. They are an excellent
way of collecting and processing information from people visiting
a website, as well as allowing them to interact with web pages.
Forms are written in HTML and processed by CGI programs. The
output can be sent as an e-mail form, stored online, printed,
and/or returned to the user as an HTML page. When you enter
a keyword in the search field of an Internet directory, you
are filling in a form. It is then processed by a CGI program,
returning a list of possible matches with your keyword. Forms
are also used for online catalogs, surveys, requests for information,
and conferencing
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FTP
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This is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol -- a very common
method of transferring one or more files from one computer
to another. FTP is a specific way to connect to another Internet
site to retrieve and send files. FTP was developed in the
early days of the Internet to copy files from computer to
computer. With the advent of the World Wide Web, and web browser
software, you no longer need to know arcane FTP commands to
copy to and from other computers. In your browser, you can
use FTP by typing the URL into the location box at the top
of your screen. For example, typing ftp://name.of.site/directory/filename.zip
transfers the file filename.zip to your computer's hard disk.
Typing ftp://name.of.site/directory/ gives you a listing of
all the files available in that directory if you have anonymous
ftp access.
If your web browser doesn't have built-in FTP capability,
or if you want to upload files to a remote computer, you will
need to use an FTP client program to transfer files. To use
FTP, you need to know the name of the file, the computer where
it resides, and the directory it's in. Most files are available
via "anonymous FTP," which means you can log into
the machine with the user name "anonymous" and use
your e-mail address as your password.
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Hits
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Technically, this term refers to the number of files that
are downloaded from a web server. Keeping track of hits is
a way of measuring traffic to a website that can be misleading.
The number of hits a site receives is usually much greater
than the number of actual visitors. That's because a web page
can contain more than one file. For example, each graphic
element is a separate file, so a page with nine graphics would
count as ten hits, one for each graphic and one for the HTML
file. In this scenario, a page may have 10,000 hits, but only
1,000 visits.
However, many people think of "a hit" as one page
view.
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Homepage
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Also referred to as a web page, the home page is the starting
point of a Web presentation. It is a sort of table of contents
for what is at the website, offering direct links to the different
parts of the site.
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Host
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A host is any computer directly connected to a network that
acts as a repository for services (such as e-mail, Usenet
newsgroups, FTP, or World Wide Web) available for other computers
on the network.
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Host Name
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Every computer that is directly connected to the Internet
has a numerical identification, called an IP address, and
a name, called a host name. Most people using the Internet
don't need to know the host name of a computer in order to
link to it. The Web URLs and e-mail addresses are all you
really need to know.
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HTML
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An acronym for Hypertext Markup Language, HTML is the computer
language used to create hypertext documents. HTML uses a finite
list of tags that describe the general structure of various
kinds of documents linked together on the World Wide Web.
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Image Map
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An image map is a graphic divided into regions or "hotspots.",
that when clicked, call a a web page that is linked to a particular
region. A typical example of an image map is a website that
offers national information organized by state. Clicking on
a state on a map of the United States calls up the appropriate
page.
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Ip Address
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An IP address is a numeric code that uniquely identifies
a particular computer on the Internet. Just as a street address
identifies the location of your home or office, every computer
or network on the Internet has a unique address, too. Internet
addresses are assigned to you. You register your address as
both a name (pagedesigning.com), which is referred to as the
Domain Name, and a number (123.456.789.100), which is generally
referred to as the IP address or IP number. This is known
as "pointing" your Domain Name to your IP address.
If you change host servers, you request a new IP address to
be assigned to your Domain Name. Someone typing your Domain
Name into a browser will not know that you are at a new IP
address.
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Javascript
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JavaScript is a scripting language that allows dynamic behavior
to be specified within HTML documents
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Navigation Tools
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Navigation tools allow users to find their way around a website
or multimedia presentation. They can be hypertext links; clickable
images or icons; or image maps. Navigation tools are usually
present either at the bottom or top (or both) of each page
or screen, and typically allow users to return to the previous
page, move forward to the next page, jump to the top of the
current page, and return to the home page.
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Path Name
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A pathname indicates the location of a particular file or
directory by outlining the route or "path" from
the host name (if the file resides on a remote server) through
the directory structure to the desired file name or directory
name. Each name in the series of names that define a path
is separated by a slash. If the file is located in the current
working directory on your computer, it is referred to only
by its filename.
Pathnames can be absolute or relative. An absolute pathname
provides the full path (address) of a file, including the
computer system, directories, and subdirectories (if any)
it resides in. Relative pathnames are used to describe a file
or directory location on the user's system relative to the
user's current location on the system (i.e., based on which
level of the directory structure the user is in).
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Perl
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An acronym for Practical Extraction and Reporting Language,
PERL is a robust programming language frequently used for
creating CGI programs on web servers. PERL is faster than
UNIX shell script programs, it can read and write binary files,
and it can process very large files. The major advantage of
PERL over C as a programming language is that PERL does not
need to be compiled.
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POP Server
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A POP server uses the Post Office Protocol, to hold users'
incoming e-mail until they read or download it
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Search Engines
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A search engine is a type of software that creates indexes
of databases or Internet sites based on the titles of files,
keywords, or the full text of files. The search engine has
an interface that allows you to type what you're looking for
into a blank field. It then gives you a list of the results
of the search. When you use a search engine on the Web, the
results are presented to you in hypertext, which means you
can click on any item in the list to get the actual file.
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Server
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A server is a computer that handles requests for data, e-mail,
file transfers, and other network services from other computers
(i.e., clients). Computers connected to the Internet which
store web pages are referred to as Hosts, or Host Servers.
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SMTP
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An acronym for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, SMTP is the
protocol used for routing e-mail across the Internet
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SSI
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SSI stands for Server Side Includes. Most paid hosting sites
provide it. SSI is a Perl based coding which allows information
to be gathered from the server and display (or use it) on
the presented web page. It allows you to "dynamically"
insert a piece of information into a web page. A couple main
uses of SSI are showing the current date or displaying a common
navigation on many pages (one file being displayed on many
pages).
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SSL
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An acronym for Secure Socket Layer, SSL is a protocol developed
by Netscape Communications Corporation for securing data transmission
in commercial transactions on the Internet. Using public-key
cryptography, SSL provides server authentication, data encryption,
and data integrity for client/server communications.
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UNIX
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UNIX is the trademarked name of the multiuser, multitasking,
time-sharing operating system developed at AT&T's Bell
Labs in 1969. Many websites are maintained on UNIX systems.
While technically the name UNIX refers to only a few trademark-licensed
versions, it is often used to refer to the many versions currently
available on the market. The differences to the user are slight.
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Uploading
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Often confused with downloading, uploading a file means loading
it from your computer onto a remote one. Most people do a
lot more downloading than uploading.
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Url
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An acronym for Uniform Resource Locator, a URL is the address
for a resource or site (usually a directory or file) on the
World Wide Web and the convention that web browsers use for
locating files and other remote services. |
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