Browser: A client program that allows users to read hypertext documents on the Web, and navigate between them. Examples include: Netscape Navigator, Lynx, and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Bookmark: A feature of most browsers that allows you to save important links so they can be found immediately without having to look up and type in the Web site address.
Bounce: What your e-mail does when it cannot get to its recipient — it bounces back to you.
Chat: Conversational Hypertext Access Technology. To have a conversation online by typing messages into a keyboard.
Chat Room: A real-time electronic forum; a virtual room where visitors can meet others and share ideas on a particular subject. There are chat rooms on the Internet and on other online services like America Online.
Click: Using your mouse to direct the arrow/cursor on the screen to a certain section or word that is highlighted then pressing the button on the mouse.
Communications Software: A program that tells a modem how to work.
Domain: The last part of a Web or e-mail address, such as .com, .org, or .edu
Dot: A period in a Web or e-mail address.
Down: When a public-access site runs into technical trouble and you can no longer access it, it’s down.
Download: To copy a file from a host system to your computer.
E-mail: Electronic mail. A way to send a private message to someone on the Net. Used as both a noun and a verb.
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol. A system for transferring files across the Internet.
Handshake: Two modems trying to connect do this to agree on how to transfer data.
Internet: A worldwide system linking smaller computer networks together. Networks connected through the Internet use a particular set of communications standards to communicate.
Java: A programming language that can be used to create animations and interactive features on the Web.
HTML: Hypertext Mark Up Language. The basic language used to create Web pages.
Log on/log in: Connect to a host system or public-access site.
Modem: A peripheral device that connects computers to each other for sending communications via the telephone lines. The modem modulates the digital data of computers into analog signals to send over the telephone lines, then demodulates back into digital signals to be read by the computer on the other end; thus the name “modem”: for moedulator/demodulator. Modems are used for sending and receiving e-mail, connecting to bulletin boards, and surfing the Internet. There are standards to ensure that modems made by different manufacture’s can communicate with each other.
Network: A communications system that links two or more computers. It can be as simple as a cable strung between two computers a few feet apart or as complex as hundreds of thousands of computers around the world linked through fiber optic cables, phone lines, and satellites.
Online: When your computer is connected to an online service, bulletin-board system, or public access site.
Search Engine: A program on the Internet that allows users to search for files and sites by using key words. Examples include Yahoo, Excite, and Infoseek.
Server: A computer that can distribute information or files automatically in response to specifically worded e-mail requests.
Snail mail: Mail that comes through a slot in your front door or a box mounted outside your house.
URL: Uniform Resource Locator. An Internet address which tells a browser where to find an Internet resource. For example, the URL of NEUROSURGERY://ON-CALL® is www.neurosurgery.org
WWW: World Wide Web. A hypermedia-based system for browsing Internet sites. It is named the Web because it is made of many sites linked together. Users can travel from one site to another by clicking on links. Text, graphics, sound, and video can all be accessed on the Web.