Speak Like a Geek: The Complete
Archive
- access counter
- A small program inserted in a
Web page that tracks the page's hit count (how many times it's
been accessed).
- access provider
- See service provider.
- anchor
- A word or phrase in a Web page that's
used as a target for a link. When the user selects the link, the
browser jumps to the anchor, which may exist in the same document
or in a different document.
- anonymous FTP
- An FTP session where you log in
using "anonymous" as your user ID, and you enter your
e-mail address as the password. Most modern Web browsers support
anonymous FTP and will handle the logging in part for you automatically.
99 and 44/100 this of all your FTP sessions will use anonymous
FTP.
- applet
- A Java program.
- arachnerd
- A person that spends way too much
time either surfing the Web or fussing with their home page.
- archie
- An Internet service that searches a database
of FTP sites for a file. Named after, but not to be confused with,
the comic strip character of the same name.
- bandwidth
- A measure of how much stuff can be
stuffed through a transmission medium such as a phone line or
network cable. There's only so much bandwidth to go around at
any given time, so you'll see lots of Net paranoia about "wasting
bandwidth." Bandwidth is measured in baud or bits per second.
- Barney page
- A page whose sole purpose in life
is to capitalize on a trendy topic. The name comes from the spate
of pages bashing poor Barney the Dinosaur that were all the rage
a while back. Recent Barney pages have been dedicated to O.J.
and the Pentium chip fiasco.
- baud
- This is a measure of how much bandwidth
a transmission medium has. Its technical definition is "level
transitions per second," but nobody knows what that means.
Most people prefer to use bits per second to describe bandwidth
because it's easier to understand.
- bit
- The fundamental unit of computer information
(it's a blend of the words "binary" and "digit").
Computers do all their dirty work by manipulating a series of
high and low electrical currents. A high current is represented
by the digit 1 and a low current by the digit 0. These 1's and
0's-or bits-are used to represent absolutely everything that goes
down inside your machine. Weird, huh?
- bit-spit
- Any form of digital correspondence.
- bits per second (bps)
- Another, more common,
measure of bandwidth. Since it takes eight bits to describe a
single character, a transmission medium with a bandwidth of, say,
8 bps would send data at the pathetically slow rate of one character
per second. Bandwidth is more normally measured in kilobits per
second (Kbps-thousands of bits per second). So, for example, a
14.4 Kbps modem can handle 14,400 bits per second. In the high
end, bandwidth is measured in megabits per second (Mbps-millions
of bits per second).
- body
- The section of the Web document where you
enter your text and tags. See also head.
- bookmarks
- In a Web browser, a list of your favorite
Web pages, which you can set while you are surfing. To return
to a page, just select it from the list. In the Internet Assistant
HTML editor (see Chapter 18), bookmark is another name
for an anchor.
- bps
- See bits per second.
- browser
- The software you use to display and
interact with a Web page. When cobbling together your own pages,
you'll need to bear in mind that there are two kinds of browsers:
those that display only text and those that support graphics and
other fun elements.
- byte
- Eight bits, or a single character.
- byte-bonding
- When computer users discuss things
that nearby noncomputer users don't understand. See also geeking
out.
- Century-21 site
- A Web site that has moved to
a new location and now contains only a link to the new address.
- character reference
- Sounds like something you'd
put on your résumé, but it's really an HTML code
that lets you insert special characters in your Web pages (such
as é). See also entity name.
- clickstream
- The "path" a person takes
as they navigate through the World Wide Web.
- cracker
- A programmer who breaks into computer
systems either to trash them or just for the sheer thrill of doing
it (and, of course, to brag about it later). A hacker who has
succumbed to the dark side of The Force.
- cyberspace
- The place you "go to" when
you reach out beyond your own computer (usually via modem) and
interact with information or people on other computer systems.
- cybersurfer
- A person who surfs cyberspace.
- digerati
- The beautiful people of the online
world; the Internet intelligentsia. It's a blend of the phrase
"digital literati."
- dirt road
- A frustratingly slow connection to
a Web site. "Geez, that GIF still hasn't loaded yet? The
Web server must be on a dirt road." See also JPIG
and spinner.
- domain name
- The part of your e-mail address
to the right of the @ sign. The domain name identifies a particular
site on the Internet.
- emoticon
- See smiley.
- entity name
- An HTML code that lets you insert
special characters in your Web pages (such as "
and ö). Entity names are easier to use than character references,
but they aren't supported by all browsers.
- external image
- A Web page image that the browser
can't handle, so it passes the buck to a graphics program that
displays the image in a separate window. See also inline image.
- FAQ
- The aficionado's short form for a Frequently
Asked Question. The correct pronunciation is fack.
- flooded
- A page rendered unreadable because of
a poorly chosen background image. "I had to bail out of that
page because the background was flooded with some butt-ugly tartan."
See also wrackground image.
- foo, bar, and foobar
- These words are used as
placeholders in descriptions and instructions. For example, someone
might say "To change to the /foo directory on a UNIX system,
use the command cd /foo." Here, "foo" acts as a
generic placeholder for a directory name. If two placeholders
are needed, then both "foo" and "bar" are
used, like so: "To FTP two files named foo and bar, use the
mget command: mget foo bar." "Foobar" is often
used as a single placeholder. It's derived from the military acronym
FUBAR (sanitized version: Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition).
- form
- A Web document used for gathering information
from the reader. Most forms have at least one text field where
you can enter text data (such as your name or the keywords for
a search). More sophisticated forms also include check boxes (for
toggling a value on or off), radio buttons (for selecting one
of several options), and push buttons (for performing an action
such as submitting the form).
- frames
- In Netscape 2.0, rectangular Web page
areas that contain separate chunks of text, graphics, and HTML.
In other words, you can use frames to divide a single Web page
into two or more separate pages.
- Frequently Asked Questions list
- A list of questions
that, over the history of a newsgroup or Web site, have come up
most often. If you want to send a question to a newsgroup or to
a Web site's administrator, it's proper netiquette to read the
group's FAQ list to see if you can find the answer there first.
- FTP
- File Transfer Protocol. This is the usual
method for retrieving a file from another Internet computer and
copying it to your own. Note that it's okay to use FTP as both
a noun (a method for transferring files) and a verb ("Hey
bozo, before posting to this group you should FTP the FAQ file
and give it a good look"). See also anonymous FTP.
- geek
- Someone who knows a lot about computers
and very little about anything else. See also nerd.
- geeking out
- When geeks who are byte-bonding
start playing with a computer during a noncomputer-related social
event.
- GIF
- Graphics Interchange Format. The most commonly
used graphics format on the Web.
- Gopher
- A system that displays Internet documents
and services as menu options. You just select a menu choice and
the Gopher will either display a document or transfer you to a
different gopher system. Gophers get their name from the mascot
of the University of Minnesota, where the first Gopher system
was born.
- greenlink
- To use the Web for monetary gain.
- hacker
- Someone who enjoys exploring the nuts
and bolts of computer systems (both from the hardware side and,
more often, from the software side), stretching these systems
to their limits and beyond, and programming for the sheer pleasure
of it. Not to be confused with cracker.
- head
- This is like an introduction to a Web page.
Web browsers use the head to glean various types of information
about the page (such as the title). See also body.
- hit
- A single access of a Web page. A hit is
recorded for a particular Web page each time a browser displays
the page.
- hit-and-run page
- A Web page that gets a huge
number of hits and then disappears a week later. Most hit-and-run
pages contain pornographic material and they get shut down when
the Web site's system administrators figure out why their network
has slowed to a crawl. See also slag.
- hit count
- The number of hits a particular page
has had. Many pages have installed access counters to track (and
display) the number of hits they've had.
- home page
- The first Web document displayed when
you follow a link to a Web server.
- horizontal rule
- A straight line that runs across
a Web page. Useful for separating sections of the page.
- host
- See Web server.
- hosting provider
- A company that provides you
with storage space (usually at a fee) for your Web pages. The
company runs a Web server that enables other Internauts to view
your pages.
- hot potato
- A shortcut pronunciation of http://.
See also triple dub. For example, instead of spelling out
http://www.yahoo.com, you could say "hot potato triple dub
dot yahoo dot com."
- hotlist
- A collection of links to cool or interesting
sites that you check out regularly.
- HTML
- HyperText Markup Language. The collection
of tags used to specify how you want your Web page to appear.
- HTML editor
- A program that makes it easier to
mark up a document by using menu commands and toolbar buttons
to insert tags.
- hypertext link
- See link.
- Image map
- A "clickable" inline image
that takes you to a different link, depending on which part of
the image you click on.
- inline image
- An image that gets displayed within
a Web page. See also external image.
- Internaut
- An Internet traveler; a cyberspace
surfer.
- Internet
- A worldwide collection of interconnected
networks. A breeding ground for geeks, nerds, hackers, and crackers.
- jargonaut
- A person who deliberately creates
and disseminates Internet jargon; someone interested in Net jargon.
- Java
- A programming language designed to create
software that runs inside a Web page.
- JPEG
- A common Web graphics format developed
by the Joint Photographic Experts Group. See also GIF.
- JPIG
- A Web page that takes forever to load because
it's either jammed to the hilt with graphics, or because it contains
one or two really large images. See also dirt road and
spinner.
- Kbps
- Kilobits per second (thousands of bits
per second).
- link
- A word or phrase that, when selected, sends
the reader to a different page or to an anchor.
- luser
- A blend of "loser" and "user."
Someone who doesn't have the faintest idea what they're doing
and, more importantly, this individual refuses to do anything
about it.
- Mbps
- Megabits per second (millions of bits per
second).
- mouse potato
- The computer equivalent of a couch
potato.
- multimediocrities
- CD-ROM discs that are jam-packed
with second-rate pictures, sounds, and programs. Also applies
to some lame Web sites.
- nerd
- An idiot totally lacking in personal hygiene
and social skills.
- Net
- The hip, short term for the Internet.
- netiquette
- An informal set of rules and guidelines
designed to smooth Internet interactions. Netiquette breaches
often result in the offender being flamed (sent a nasty e-mail
message).
- network
- A collection of two or more computers
(usually dozens or hundreds) connected via special cables so they
can share resources such as files and printers. The Internet is,
in its most prosaic guise, a worldwide collection of networks.
- newbie
- A person who is (or acts like they are)
new to the Internet. Since this term is almost always used insultingly,
most Net neophytes try to behave as non-newbie-like as possible.
The best way to avoid this label is to bone up on netiquette.
- notwork
- A downed network.
- nymrod
- A person who insists on converting every
multiword computer term into an acronym.
- one-link wonder
- A Web page that contains only
a single useful link.
- plug-in
- A program that attaches itself to a
Web browser. The functionality of the program then becomes an
integral part of the browser. An example is WebFX, a VRML plug-in
for Netscape.
- publish
- To make a Web page available to the
World Wide Web community at large.
- roadblock
- A Web page that serves no other purpose
other than to let you know that there is nothing available at
this URL, but that something will be coming soon.
- Serial Line Interface Protocol
- A method of Internet
access that enables your computer to dial up a service provider
and exchange info reliably.
- server
- A computer that sends out stuff. Check
out Web server for an example.
- service provider
- A business that sells Internet
connections to individuals and small companies. Also called an
access provider.
- slag
- To bring a network to its knees because
of extremely high traffic. "That Babe of the Week page has
totally slagged the network." See also notwork.
- SLIP
- See Serial Line Interface Protocol.
- smiley
- A combination of symbols designed to
indicate the true intent or emotional state of the author. The
classic smiley is the sideways happy face :-). Smileys are fine
in moderation, but overusing them not only indicates that your
writing isn't as clear as it could be, but it also brands you
as a newbie.
- spinner
- An extremely slow link. The name comes
from Mosaic's globe icon, which spins while the program tries
to access a site. If the site is particularly slow, the only sign
you have that anything is actually happening is the spinning globe.
See also and JPIG.
- sundowner
- A person who changes his or her daily
sleep schedule to coincide with being awake when Web traffic is
lowest (i.e., late at night).
- surf
- To leap giddily from one Web page to another
by furiously clicking on any link in sight; to travel through
cyberspace.
- tags
- The HTML commands, in the form of letter
combinations or words surrounded by angle brackets (<>).
They tell a browser how to display a Web page.
- target
- See anchor.
- Telnet
- A program that lets you log onto another
computer on the Internet and use its resources as though they
existed on your machine. The most common use for Telnet is to
use software (such as an e-mail program) on another computer.
- title
- A short description of a Web page that
appears at the top of the screen.
- triple dub
- A shortcut pronunciation of WWW.
See also hot potato.
- ubiquilink
- A link found on almost everyone's
hotlist. "Yahoo must be on every hotlist on the planet. It's
a total ubiquilink."
- Uniform Resource Locator
- See URL.
- URL
- A Web addressing scheme that spells out
the exact location of a Net resource. For example, Yahoo's URL
is http://www.yahoo.com/. See Chapter 7 "Making the Jump
to Hyperspace: Adding Links," for an almost-comprehensible
explanation of how URLs work.
- Usenet
- A system that distributes a collection
of newsgroups throughout the Internet.
- vanity plate
- An annoyingly large Web page graphic
that serves no useful purpose. See also JPIG.
- vaporlink
- A link that points to a nonexistent
Web page.
- VRML
- Virtual Reality Modeling Language. Used
to create Web sites that are 3-D "worlds" that you "enter"
using a VRML-enhanced browser. You can then use your mouse to
"move" around this world in any direction.
- Web
- See World Wide Web.
- Web browser
- See browser.
- Web host
- See Web server.
- Web server
- A computer that stores your Web pages
and hands them out to anyone with a browser that comes calling.
Also known as a Web host.
- World Wide Web
- A system of documents containing
text, graphics, and other multimedia goodies. Each Web document
serves two purposes: It contains information that is useful in
and of itself, and it contains specially marked words or phrases
that serve as "links" to other Web documents. If you
select the link, the Web loads the other document automatically.
- wrackground image
- A background image that ruins
a page by making the text unreadable. See also flooded.
- WWW
- See World Wide Web and triple dub.
- YOYOW
- You own your own words. This refers to
the copyright you have on the text in your Web pages.
