Glossary
Welcome to the Apollo Internet Media Glossary, which has been defined to help visitors understand some of the common terms used.
Applet
A small Java program that can be embedded in an HTML page. Java applets can perform interactive animations, immediate calculations, or other tasks without having to send a user request back to the server.
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ASCII - (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
This is the defacto world-wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111.
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ASP
Active Server Pages. A Microsoft specification for dynamically creating Web pages with a .ASP extension that utilize ActiveX programming - usually VB Script or Jscript code. When a browser requests an ASP, the Web server generates the code to create a HTML page and sends it back to the browser. Typically used to pull dynamic content from databases for display.
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Bandwidth
A term used to describe how much data you can send through a connection to the Net. The transmission capacity of a given medium, in terms of how much data the medium can transmit in a given amount of time. The greater the bandwidth, the faster the rate of data transmission. Information carrying capacity of a communication channel.
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Blog - (weB LOG)
A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in chronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominently.
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Broadband
Generally refers to connections to the Internet with much greater bandwidth than you can get with a modem. There is no specific definition of the speed of a "broadband" connection but in general any Internet connection using DSL or via Cable may be considered a broadband connection.
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Browser
A Client program that is used to look at various kinds of Internet resources. The most widely used are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Safari, and Opera.
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Cache
A section of computer memory set aside for storing frequently-used data from a disk drive, speeding up the transfer of information.
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Cookie
The most common meaning of "Cookie" on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser that the Browser software is expected to save and to send back to the Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server. Depending on the type of Cookie used, and the Browsers' settings, the Browser may accept or not accept the Cookie, and may save the Cookie for either a short time or a long time. Cookies might contain information such as login or registration information, online "shopping cart" information, user preferences, etc. When a Server receives a request from a Browser that includes a Cookie, the Server is able to use the information stored in the Cookie. For example, the Server might customize what is sent back to the user, or keep a log of particular users' requests. Cookies are usually set to expire after a predetermined amount of time and are usually saved in memory until the Browser software is closed down, at which time they may be saved to disk if their "expire time" has not been reached.
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CSS - (Cascading Style Sheet)
A standard developed for specifying the appearance of text and other elements. CSS was developed for use with HTML in Web pages but is also used in other situations, particularly for styling XML. CSS is typically used to provide a single "library" of styles that are used over and over throughout a large number of related documents, as in a web site. A CSS file might specify that all numbered lists are to appear in italics. By changing that single specification the look of a large number of documents can be easily changed.
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DHTML - (Dynamic HyperText Markup Language)
DHTML refers to web pages that use a combination of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to create features such as letting the user drag items around on the web page, some simple kinds of animation, and many more.
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DNS - (Domain Name System)
The Domain Name System is the system that translates Internet domain names into IP addresses. A "DNS Server" is a server that specifically performs this kind of translation.
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Domain Name
The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general. E.g. www.apollo-media.com, www.marinedata.com.
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E-commerce
Performing business transactions on the Internet - which may include the use of credit cards, 'shopping trolleys', forms, and secure servers.
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Email - (Electronic Mail)
Messages, usually text, sent from one person to another via computer. E-mail can also be sent automatically to a large number of addresses.
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Extranet
A type of Internet Web site that is a closed community protected by a password and/or firewalls. It is typically provided by businesses for suppliers and key customers.
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Firewall
A combination of hardware and software that separates a Network into two or more parts for security purposes. A firewall filters network traffic and only allows through legitimate traffic. Typically used to separate an internet connection from the rest of the network (even if it is just one PC).
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FTP - (File Transfer Protocol)
A very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a way to login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files. There are many Internet sites that have established publicly accessible repositories of material that can be obtained using FTP, by logging in using the account name "anonymous", thus these sites are called "anonymous ftp servers". FTP was invented and in wide use long before the advent of the World Wide Web and originally was used from a text-only interface.
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GIF - (Graphic Interchange Format)
A common format for image files, especially suitable for images containing large areas of the same color. GIF format files of simple images are often smaller than the same file would be if stored in JPEG format, but GIF format does not store photographic images as well as JPEG.
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Hit
As used in reference to the World Wide Web, 'hit' means a single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server; thus in order for a web browser to display a page that contains 3 graphics, 4 hits would occur at the server: 1 for the HTML page, and one for each of the 3 graphics.
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Home Page (or Homepage)
Several meanings. Originally, the web page that your browser is set to use when it starts up. The more common meaning refers to the main web page for a business, organization, person or simply the main page out of a collection of web pages, e.g. "Check out so-and-so's new Home Page."
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HTML - (HyperText Markup Language)
The coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web. HTML looks a lot like old-fashioned typesetting code, where you surround a block of text with codes that indicate how it should appear. The "hyper" in Hypertext comes from the fact that in HTML you can specify that a block of text, or an image, is linked to another file on the Internet. HTML files are meant to be viewed using a "Web Browser".
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Intranet
A private network inside a company or organization that uses the same kinds of software that you would find on the public Internet, but that is only for internal use. Compare with extranet.
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IP Address - (Internet Protocol Number)
A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g. 165.113.245.2 Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. Many machines (especially servers) also have one or more Domain Names that correspond to an individual IP number, that are easier for people to remember.
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ISP - (Internet Service Provider)
An institution that provides access to the Internet in some form, usually for money.
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Java
A programming language developed by Sun Microsystems used for cross-platform Web-based applications. Its primary contribution to the Web has been in the form of Java Server Pages (JSP), J2EE and it is also used in 'applets' - mini-programs written in Java that run in browsers.
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JavaScript
JavaScript is a programming language that is mostly used in web pages, usually to add features that make the web page more interactive. When JavaScript is included in an HTML file it relies upon the browser to interpret the JavaScript. When JavaScript is combined with Cascading Style Sheets(CSS), and later versions of HTML (4.0 and later) the result is often called DHTML.
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JPEG - (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
JPEG is a format for image files that compresses the image into a smaller file making it quicker to download. JPEG format is preferred to the GIF format for photographic images as opposed to line art or simple logo art. There is a trade off between image quality and compression - the more compressed the file, the worse the quality of the image.
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Keyword
A word or words which can be searched for in documents or menus. Often used by search engines to detect the relevance of a page to a search.
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LAN - (Local Area Network)
A computer network limited to the immediate area, usually the same building or floor of a building.
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Linux
A version of the Unix operating system designed to run on PCs. Controversial because it has been developed as part of the Open Sources movement and given away free of charge.
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Meta Tag
A specific kind of HTML tag that contains information not normally displayed to the user. Meta tags contain information about the page itself, hence the name ("meta" means "about this subject") Typical uses of Meta tags are to include information for search engines to help them better categorize a page. You can see the Meta tags in a page if you view the pages' source code.
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MP3
A popular, highly compressed file format used for music.
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MPEG
A family of multimedia standards developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group, commonly used to refer to audio or visual files saved with MPEG compression schemes. Files usually have an .mpg extension (pronounced 'Em-Peg').
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PDF - (Portable Document Format)
A file format designed to enable printing and viewing of documents with all their formatting (typefaces, images, layout, etc.) appearing the same regardless of what operating system is used, so a PDF document should look the same on Windows, Macintosh, Linux, etc. The PDF format is based on the widely used Postcript document-description language. Both PDF and Postscript were developed by the Adobe Corporation.
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Proxy Server
A Proxy Server sits in between a Client and the "real" Server that a Client is trying to use. Client's are sometimes configured to use a Proxy Server, usually an HTTP server. The clients makes all of it's requests from the Proxy Server, which then makes requests from the "real" server and passes the result back to the Client. Sometimes the Proxy server will store the results and give a stored result instead of making a new one (to reduce use of a Network). Proxy servers are commonly established on Local Area Networks.
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SEO - (Search Engine Optimization)
The practice of designing web pages so that they rank as high as possible in search results from search engines. There is "good" SEO and "bad" SEO. Good SEO involves making the web page clearly describe its subject, making sure it contains truly useful information, including accurate information in Meta tags, and arranging for other web sites to make links to the page. Bad SEO involves attempting to deceive people into believing the page is more relevant than it truly is by doing things like adding inaccurate Meta tags to the page.
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Server
A computer, or a software package, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a WWW server, or to the machine on which the software is running, e.g. "Our mail server is down today, that's why e-mail isn't getting out." A single server machine can (and often does) have several different server software packages running on it, thus providing many different servers to clients on the network.
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SMTP - (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
The main protocol used to send electronic mail from server to server on the Internet.
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Spyware
A somewhat vague term generally referring to software that is secretly installed on a users' computer and that monitors use of the computer in some way without the users' knowledge or consent. Most spyware tries to get the user to view advertising and/or particular web pages. Some spyware also sends information about the user to another machine over the Internet. Spyware is usually installed without a users' knowledge as part of the installation of other software, especially software such as music sharing software obtained via download.
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SQL - (Structured Query Language)
A specialized language for sending queries to databases. Most industrial-strength and many smaller database applications can be addressed using SQL. Each specific application will have its own slightly different version of SQL implementing features unique to that application, but all SQL-capable databases support a common subset of SQL. An example of a SQL statement is: SELECT name,email FROM people_table WHERE country='uk'
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SSL - (Secure Socket Layer)
A protocol designed by Netscape Communications to enable encrypted, authenticated communications across the Internet. Usually addressed with HTTPS:// at the front of the name. Many browsers will display a padlock to show that it is a secure connection.
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URL
Uniform Resource Locater. This is the name for the address of any resource on the Internet (usually a domain name). You type the URL into your browser, and are taken to that address.
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VOIP - (Voice Over IP)
A specification and various technologies used to allow making telephone calls over IP networks, especially the Internet. Just as modems allow computers to connect to the Internet over regular telephone lines, VOIP technology allows humans to talk over Internet connections.
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VPN - (Virtual Private Network)
Usually refers to a network in which some of the parts are connected using the public Internet, but the data sent across the Internet is encrypted, so the entire network is "virtually" private.
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XML - (eXtensible Markup Language)
A widely used system for defining data formats. XML provides a very rich system to define complex documents and data structures such as invoices, molecular data, news feeds, glossaries, inventory descriptions, real estate properties, etc. As long as a programmer has the XML definition for a collection of data (often called a "schema") then they can create a program to reliably process any data formatted according to those rules.
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