Internet Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P R S T U V W

A

Agents

A technical name for programmes that perform specific tasks on behalf of a user (e.g. search engines.

B

Backbone

Either a single, high-speed line, or a series of computer connections, that forms a major route inside a network.

Bandwidth

This controls how much information can be sent through a connection. The wider the bandwidth, the faster the download time.

Bit

[Binary digit]

This is the smallest unit used to measure computer data.

Bookmark

A placeholder in your browser, which marks an Internet page so that you can return directly to it at any time. The page's address is stored in your browser in the "bookmark" or "favorites" section.

BPS

[Bit per second] The speed at which data is transferred.

Browser

A programme on your computer that retrieves pages of text and graphics from other computers on the Internet (e.g. Internet Explorer)

The browser software displays the window in which you view your web pages.

Back and Forward Buttons

As you browse the Internet, your computer remembers the path of your browsing. The back and forward buttons on your browser allow you to browse back and forth among pages that you visited during that session. Please note that this will not work in a secure website. If you use the back and forward buttons you will get an error message such as "page has expired". To find out more about secure websites, please view the glossary.

Stop Button

The stop button stops your browser from downloading a page. If a page is taking too long to download, you can stop it if all the content you need is already there, or if you don't want to wait anymore. If the page appears to be "stuck", you can stop it and click the refresh button.

Refresh Button

The refresh button allows the site to reload by forcing your browser to repeat the information retrieval. This is useful if you pushed the stop button too soon, or if you think new content may have been added since you initially downloaded the page.

Home

The first page you see every time you logon to the Internet is the Town2Town homepage this has been set up as your default homepage if you clicked on "make this your home page". Clicking the Home button returns you to the homepage quickly and easily.

Search Button

Clicking the search button will open a window on the left hand side of your screen. This will allow you to do a word search on the Internet. The search function allows you to look for anything on the Internet. A common search would be to look for a web page that contains a particular word. Fill in the word(s) in the text box and click on "search". The results that come up will show links to web pages that contain that word. These searches often need to be "refined" because the search result can realistically have thousands of links or online documents to view. By using the + sign, e.g. shopping+clothes, you can look for only the web pages that include both words. Most search engines on the Internet explain how to further refine your searches. >Btw [by the way] Usually used in the online chatrooms.

Byte

A single item made up of around 8 bits.

C

Caching

When browsing the web, one often returns to the same pages again and again. Obviously, it doesn't make sense for the browser to keep asking the server for the same files, so it retains a copy of the most recently accessed pages and sorts them for easy access. This process is called caching.

CD ROM [Compact Disk Read Only Memory]

A Compact Disk able to store large quantities of data, usually around 650Mb.

Client

This is the software that is able to read information from the server software for another computer, and displays it on your computer (e.g. a browser).

Cookie

This is information sent by a web server that is saved by your web browser. This information is then recalled every time you go back onto that site. It helps tell you which sites your have visited, and can even be used to personalize web pages for you.

Cyberspace

A term used by the novelist William Gibson in his ground breaking novel Necromancer. It describes a place of "consensual hallucination".

Cursor

The mouse driven pointer which lets you move freely around your computer screen. Your cursor turns into a hand or other icon when it moves over "hot" spots to indicate that the link is active.  

Desktop

Your desktop is the first screen your computer presents to you when you use Windows. It shows your files and folders in a graphic form, so that they are easily accessible, and can be moved around on the screen, much as you would items on a real desktop.

Domain Name

These are the names that are given to identify sites. They usually consist of at least 2 parts: the name of the site and the type of site, separated by a dot. (E.g. www.oppieweb.com, www.oppiweb.com,

 www.absa.co.za, www.amazon.com).

Download

To copy files from a computer, and save them onto yours. The opposite would be to upload.

Drive

A piece of hardware that provides the housing of disks that store data. These disks can have new data saved to them, as well as being read from them (e.g. hard disk in your C: drive; Stiffy disk in your A: drive and CD ROM in your CD drive).  

Email

Electronic mail, which is sent over the Internet. You will automatically receive an email address when you sign up for Internet Access. An email address will always contain the @ symbol (e.g. john@town2town.info)

FAQ

[Frequently Asked Questions] These are lists of question and answers most often asked about a certain topic.

File

A unit of information, given a name and stored on your computer.

Fire Wall

A computer security wall composed of software and hardware, which stops various files or intruders from entering the system.

Flame War

An online discussion that becomes a series of personal insults, usually in a chat room.

Frame

Some of the pages contain frames. Each frame displays a separate web page. On this site frames are used to create a user friendly Text Link Browser.

FTP [File Transfer Protocol]

An easy way to transfer information to web sites. Usually used to update content to a site.  

G

GIF [Graphic Interchange Format]

A format used to store images that are generally quite simple, with large areas of flat color.   

Hit

This is each electronic instruction that is received by the web server from the browser. This includes requests for each graphic element.

Homepage

The main page of a website, usually containing menu options and information on a company, organization, or personal details.

Host

The computer that provides services to other computers on a network like Town2Town.info. We are looking forward to hosting your web site!

Hotspot

Describes a graphic or pieces of text on a web page, which links to other pages when clicked on.

HTML

[Hypertext markup language] The code used by programmers to layout and connects pages and text on the Internet.

HTTP

[Hypertext transfer protocol] When this abbreviation appears at the beginning of a URL, it indicates that the document it names is on the World Wide Web.

Hypertext

The concept of following links to related pages of information.

Help:

The page I'm downloading seems to be stuck. What do I do?

Press the "Stop" button on your browser, and then the "Refresh" button. If this doesn't work, it means that the page probably contains a large amount of graphics, and will take a long time to download, or that you have a slow modem and need to upgrade for quicker download time.

Is it safe for me to give out my credit card details on the Internet?

If you're using an accredited online store, then you can be sure that security measures have been implemented to protect your card. If you are still in doubt, you can check if the site you are using is secure by looking at the status bar at the bottom of your screen. If there is an icon of a lock there, it means the page is secure.

What does it mean if I'm told the page cannot be displayed?

You are trying to enter a secure site which you do not have authorization to access. The site you are trying to access is currently "down" or offline. There is something wrong with your server connection.

How do I find a single word on a web page?

Go to your toolbar; click on edit, and then on "Find on this page". Type in the word you're looking for and press enter. If that word is on the web page, it will be highlighted for you.

There should be a picture. But instead there's a block with a red cross in it. What do I do?

Right click on the cross, and select "show picture" from the menu. If this does not work, it means that you do not have the necessary software to view that particular picture.

How do I use the search engine?

Search engines allow you to either perform a word search or a search by category. If you want to search by category, click on the relevant field and continue to follow the words that relate best to what you are looking for. If you want to perform a word search, fill in the word(s) in the text box and click on "search". If you would like to further refine your search, you can us the + sign, e.g. shopping + clothes. You can also use inverted commas to make sure the search engine looks only for those words appearing in that sequence, e.g. "mountain biking".

Can I search for other things besides words with search engines?

Yes. Many search engines, such as AltaVista and Yahoo allow you to search for images and text files.

What do the letters after the last dot of a web address/domain name stand for?

These are the main extension:

. com = commercial enterprise such as town2town.com

. org = non-profit organization

. net = network

. edu = educational

. tv = television related

. aero = Aviation