A to Z of Internet Jargon
For all techno dinosaurs
Have you joined the revolution and surfed the net yet or is it all alien to you?
Here is an A to Z of some of the terms you might come across if you decide to have a go!
Think of the internet as a huge library. Your Internet Service Provider or ISP is your bus to the library building. There are a great many ISPs available to chose from, some you have to pay for such as AOL, some are free. Once at the library you will need a Browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, this is your doorway into the library. Once inside you will need a Search Engine (librarian) to find what you are looking for e.g. Google, Yahoo, Lycos. When you find your book you have found your web page.
A separate file that can be attached to an email message. It could be a word processed document or a visual image. If you don’t know who it is from be careful, you can unwittingly download viruses this way. If in doubt, delete.
A favourites list.
When you access a page on the web your browser saves its text and graphics in a folder on your hard disk called a cache. The next time you visit that page on the web the parts that haven’t changed are loaded from the cache rather than the web.
Chat Room
A web page where you can send and receive messages in ‘real time’.
The web browser your computer automatically runs when you connect to the net.
Domain
Part of an email address that appears before the @ sign. It usually refers to the internet address of the machine your email account is held on.
Download
When you load a file from the net to your computer.
Electronic mail. You have to be connected to the web to send and receive mail but not to read it.
Encryption
Method of ‘scrambling’ email messages for security so they appear as ‘gobbledegook’ to everyone but the intended recipient.
A program which the author lets you use free of charge.
A visit to a page (these are counted by the companies to see how many people access their site).
Homepage
This can be either the page your web browser automatically loads when you run it or your own personal page.
HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)
Is the code that creates every web page. Your web browser reads the HTML and then shows the page on your screen.
HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)
The protocol used to carry traffic between a browsers computer and the website. Most modern browsers already have the http:// part of the address stored so you can start to key in the address with www.
The word or phrase you enter into a search engine to try to find the website you want.
The white box at the top of your browser window where you type in the address of a website.
The place where messages are saved by your ISP until you decide to download them. When they arrive in your computer they wait for you to read them in your in-box.
When you are not connected to the net and hence not incurring call charges. You can read pages off-line.
POP 3 (Post Office Protocol 3)
Is the protocol used by your email program to retrieve messages from your ISP’s mail server.
Portal
Website that is or proposes to be a major starting point or anchor site. Portals usually have links to other sites.
Public Domain
The virtual realm where shareware and freeware programs exist. If something is in a public domain you should be able to use it without infringing any copyright rules.
As it happens.
Page print out.
Secure Server
A company that handles encrypted data for secure transactions. When you are connected to a secure server your credit card details cannot be read by anyone else.
Shareware
A program you can trial free of charge though often for a limited period or with certain features disabled. If you wish to continue using you usually have to pay a registration fee.
Spam
The electronic equivalent of junk mail. You can install software to block spam emails. If you receive any unsolicited messages, especially if they have attachments, delete them immediately without reading them.
If you upload a file you transfer it from your computer on to the net.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
The jargon for a Website Address.
Person who maintains the information on a website.
World Wide Web (www)
the easy to use, pointy-click, multimedia part of the Internet.
The most popular form of compressing files for transfer over the internet to save time.
This page was last updated on 3 October 2009
