|
application server |
A common type of Internet
server that stores PC office applications, databases, or other applications
and makes them available to client programs that request them.
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|
application service provider (ASP) |
A company that manages and
delivers application services on a contract basis.
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| blog
|
Short for Web log, a personal
Web page that often carries diary- like entries or political commentaries.
Blogs are fast proliferating as new software allows users to create Web
pages without having to learn the technical details of HTML and Web
authoring.
|
|
broadband connection |
An Internet connection such
as DSL or cable modem that offers higher bandwidth, and therefore faster
transmission speed, than standard modem connections.
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|
business-to-business (B2B) |
E-commerce transactions that
involve businesses providing goods or services to other businesses.
|
|
business-to-consumer (B2C) |
E-commerce transactions that
involve businesses providing goods or services to consumers.
|
| cable
modems |
A type of broadband Internet
connection that uses the same network of coaxial cables that delivers TV
signals.
|
| cookie
|
Small files deposited on a
user's hard disk by Web sites, enabling sites to remember what they know
about their visitors between sessions.
|
|
cyberspace |
A term used to describe the
Internet and other online networks, especially the artificial realities and
virtual communities that form on them. First coined by William Gibson in his
novel, Neuromancer.
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|
data-driven Web site |
A Web site that can display
dynamic, changeable content without having constantly redesigned pages, due
to an evolving database that separates the site's content from its design.
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| digital
cash |
A system for purchasing goods
and services on the Internet without using credit cards.
|
| digital
divide |
A term that describes the
divide between the people who do and do not have access to the Internet.
|
| DSL
(digital subscriber line) |
A type of broadband
connection to the Internet offered by phone companies.
|
| direct
connection |
A dedicated, direct
connection to the Internet through a LAN, with the computer having its own
IP address.
|
|
electronic commerce (e-commerce) |
Business transactions through
electronic networks.
|
| email
server |
A specialized server that
acts like a local post office for a particular Internet host.
|
| XML
|
Extensible Markup language, a
language that enables Web developers to control and display data the way
they control text and graphics. Forms, database queries, and other
data-intensive operations that can't be completely constructed with standard
HTML are much easier with XML.
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|
extranets |
Private TCP/IP networks
designed for outside use by customers, clients, and business partners of an
organization. These networks are typically for electronic commerce.
|
| file
transfer protocol (FTP) |
A communications protocol
that enables users to download files from remote servers to their computers
and to upload files they want to share from their computers to these
archives.
|
|
filtering software |
Software that, for the most
part, keeps offensive and otherwise inappropriate Web content from being
viewed by children, on-duty workers, and others.
|
| HTML
(hypertext markup language) |
An HTML document is a text
file that includes codes that describe the format, layout, and logical
structure of a hypermedia document. Most Web pages are created with HTML.
|
| Internet
service provider (ISP) |
A business that provides its
customers with connections to the Internet along with other services.
|
|
internetworking |
Connecting different types of
networks and computer systems.
|
| intranet
|
A self-contained
intraorganizational network that is designed using the same technology as
the Internet.
|
| Java
|
A platform-neutral,
object-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems for use
on multiplatform networks.
|
|
JavaScript |
A Web scripting language
similar to, but otherwise unrelated to, Java.
|
|
narrowband connections |
Dial-up Internet connections;
named because they don't offer much bandwidth when compared to other types
of connections.
|
| open
standards |
Standards not owned by any
company.
|
|
packet-switching |
The standard technique used
to send information over the Internet. A message is broken into packets that
travel independently from network to network toward their common
destination, where they are reunited.
|
|
peer-to-peer (P2P) computing |
See peer-to-peer model.
|
| plug-in
|
A software extension that
adds new features.
|
| portal
|
A Web site designed as a Web
entry station, offering quick and easy access to a variety of services.
|
|
satellite Internet connections |
A broadband technology
available through many of the same satellite dishes that provide television
channels to viewers. For many rural homes and businesses, satellite Internet
connections provide the only high-speed Internet access options available.
|
|
streaming audio |
Sound files that play without
being completely downloaded to the local hard disk.
|
|
streaming video |
Video clip files that play
while being downloaded.
|
| URL
(uniform resource locator) |
The address of a Web site.
|
| virtual
private networks |
Networks that use encryption
software to create secure "tunnels" through the public Internet.
|
| Web
authoring software |
Programs such as Macromedia's
Dreamweaver that work like desktop publishing page layout programs to allow
users to create, edit, and manage Web pages and sites without having to
write HTML code.
|
| Web bug
|
An invisible piece of code
embedded in HTML-formatted email that is programmed to send information
about its receiver's Web use back to its creator.
|
| Weblog
(or blog) |
See blog.
|
| Web
server |
A server that stores Web
pages and sends them to client programs-Web browsers-that request them.
|
| Web
services |
New kinds of Web-based
applications that can be assembled quickly using existing software
components.
|
| World
Wide Web (WWW) |
Part of the Internet, a
collection of multimedia documents created by organizations and users
worldwide. Documents are linked in a hypertext Web that allows users to
explore them with simple mouse clicks.
|
| XHTML
|
Markup language that combines
features of HTML and XML; its advantage is its backward compatibility with
HTML. |